Opinion ID: 420804
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: adequacy of counsel

Text: 18 Glick claims he was denied effective assistance of counsel because his trial attorney 5 allegedly failed to conduct adequate pretrial preparation and was therefore unable to present an effective defense at trial. Glick points specifically to counsel's failure both to investigate the existence and nature of the two earliest mineral appraisals and the Goldring appraisal, and to determine the possibility of obtaining favorable independent expert testimony from Stickel concerning the value of the limestone. 19 The Sixth Amendment demands that defense counsel exercise the skill, judgment and diligence of a reasonably competent defense attorney. Dyer v. Crisp, 613 F.2d 275, 278 (10th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 945, 100 S.Ct. 1342, 63 L.Ed.2d 779 (1980). In considering an allegation of incompetent counsel, the court must first determine whether the attorney's performance fell below this standard. The court must then determine whether the inadequacy has had or threatens some adverse effect upon the effectiveness of counsel's representation or has produced some other prejudice to the defense. United States v. Morrison, 449 U.S. 361, 365, 101 S.Ct. 665, 668, 66 L.Ed.2d 564 (1981). 6 20 The proper standards for evaluating a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based upon allegations of inadequate trial preparation were recently addressed in Washington v. Strickland, 693 F.2d 1243 (5th Cir.1982) (en banc), petition for cert. granted, --- U.S. ----, 103 S.Ct. 2451, 75 L.Ed.2d ----. Effective counsel must conduct a reasonable amount of pretrial investigation, id. at 1251, which will necessarily depend upon a variety of factors including the number of issues in the case, the relative complexity of those issues, the strength of the government's case, and the overall strategy of trial counsel. Id. 21 [A]n attorney who makes a strategic choice to channel his investigation into fewer than all plausible lines of defense is effective so long as the assumptions upon which he bases his strategy are reasonable and his choices on the basis of those assumptions are reasonable. Id. at 1256. Courts presume, in accordance with the general presumption of attorney competence, that counsel's actions are strategic. Id. at 1257; see DuPree v. United States, 606 F.2d 829, 830 (8th Cir.1979) (per curiam), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 919, 100 S.Ct. 1284, 63 L.Ed.2d 605 (1980). An attorney's decision not to interview witnesses and to rely on other sources of information, if made in the exercise of professional judgment, is not ineffective counsel. Plant v. Wyrick, 636 F.2d 188, 189-90 (8th Cir.1980). Whether to call a particular witness is a tactical decision and, thus, a 'matter of discretion' for trial counsel. United States v. Miller, 643 F.2d 713, 714 (10th Cir.1981). Counsel is not inadequate in failing to call a witness whose testimony would only have been cumulative in nature. Id. 22 In applying the above standards to the allegations before us, we note the lack of any objective showing that the missing appraisals were available, credible, or favorable to Glick. We have only Glick's self-serving statements as to the existence and contents of the two early appraisals and the Goldring report. Moreover, we will presume in the absence of any evidence to the contrary that counsel's decision not to produce the documents, even if they were available, was a matter of trial strategy. 23 We also conclude that defense counsel's decision not to call Stickel as a witness was a question of trial tactics. The Stickel report, which tended to support Glick's assertion that the limestone was valuable, was admitted into evidence. Counsel stated to the court that he was unsure of Stickel's value as a witness for Glick because Chisholm still owed Stickel about $40,000. Counsel had read the transcript of Stickel's testimony on behalf of Chisholm in the Portland trial, and was thus in a position to evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of calling Stickel to testify for Glick. Under these circumstances, the determination not to call Stickel for the defense was a reasonable tactical decision. See Washington v. Strickland, 693 F.2d at 1255. We have considered Glick's other allegations of inadequacy and find them unpersuasive. 24 Finally, we note that Glick's trial counsel is a criminal law specialist, a former prosecutor, and a member of the California Council of Criminal Justice. He had been hired by the Justice Department to represent United States Attorneys charged with perjury. 25 After reviewing the record, we agree with the Government that counsel's trial strategy was apparently to convince the jury that the Government had hidden witnesses and documents helpful to the defense. Moreover, the absence of the documents and testimony made it possible for counsel to imply to the jury that the evidence would have been favorable to Glick. We conclude on this record that Glick received effective assistance of counsel. 26 AFFIRMED.