Opinion ID: 1926440
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ineffectiveness of trial counsel in the guilt phase

Text: Appellant raises several claims of ineffectiveness of counsel during the guilt phase. [16] In order to establish an ineffectiveness claim, appellant must demonstrate: (1) that the underlying claim is of arguable merit; (2) that counsel's action or inaction was not grounded on any reasonable basis designed to effectuate appellant's interest; and (3) that there is a reasonable probability that the act or omission prejudiced appellant in such a way that the outcome of the proceeding would have been different. Commonwealth v. Kimball, 555 Pa. 299, 308, 724 A.2d 326, 331 (1999). If it is clear that appellant has not met the prejudice prong of the ineffectiveness standard, the claim may be dismissed on that basis alone and this Court need not determine whether the first and second prongs have been met. Commonwealth v. Travaglia, 541 Pa. 108, 118, 661 A.2d 352, 357 (1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1121, 116 S.Ct. 931, 133 L.Ed.2d 858 (1996). Appellant first claims that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the trial court's emphasis of the criminal record of defense witness, Michael Golden. [17] This claim is meritless. Here, the prosecutor was cross-examining the witness concerning his decision to testify for the defense. Without any prompting from the prosecutor, the witness interrupted the questioning with the following outburst: If your honor would allow me to speak here about something. You say you pulled my record. N.T. 1/26/93 at 119. The court interrupted the witness and informed him that his record was not at issue and that no one had asked him any questions regarding his criminal record. The court instructed the witness to merely answer the questions that were asked of him. Thus, contrary to appellant's assertion, the trial court acted to prevent the witness from revealing his criminal record. The court was merely reacting to an unsolicited outburst on the part of the witness concerning the witness's criminal record, which the prosecution had not asked about. Accordingly, trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to the trial court's efforts to prevent prejudice to appellant from the outburst of a defense witness. Appellant's next claim is that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request a pre-trial psychiatric examination of appellant, given that appellant had previously suffered head injuries during a professional boxing career. This claim is meritless. Appellant fails to offer any evidence of his alleged mental defects. In addition, the trial court stated in its opinion that it never observed the slightest trace of psychological impairment that would have raised questions as to whether a pre-trial psychiatric evaluation was necessary. Trial Ct. Slip Op. at 65. Appellant testified coherently and articulately at a pre-trial suppression hearing, at the penalty hearing, and at the post-verdict hearing. Accordingly, this claim must fail. Next, appellant asserts that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request that the trial court issue a curative instruction after the court struck the testimony of Natalie Grant concerning appellant's motive  the drug transaction with the victim. See discussion supra. This claim is meritless. As previously discussed, the trial court immediately ordered the witness's hearsay testimony concerning motive to be stricken from the record. N.T. 1/25/93 at 26. The trial court further immediately advised the jury that it was to disregard the testimony. Additionally, in its final instructions, the trial court reiterated to the jury that it could not consider any evidence that the court had ordered stricken from the record. Thus, it was not necessary for counsel to request a curative instruction when the court sufficiently instructed the jury regarding the stricken testimony. Next, appellant claims that trial counsel was ineffective for allegedly telling appellant that he could not testify during the guilt phase. This claim flies in the face of the record. The trial court conducted a colloquy with appellant on the record concerning appellant's right to testify. Appellant stated under oath that he discussed his right to testify with his trial counsel and that he had made his own decision to assert his Fifth Amendment right not to testify. N.T. 1/26/93 at 138-142. The trial court advised appellant that he was under no obligation to take counsel's advice regarding his decision whether or not to testify and appellant indicated that he understood. The trial court specifically asked appellant if he chose to remain silent solely because counsel advised him to do so, and appellant indicated that his refusal to testify was of his own free will. Id. Accordingly, no relief is warranted. Appellant next asserts that counsel was ineffective for failing to present certain defense witnesses at trial. To prevail on a claim of trial counsel's ineffectiveness for failure to call a witness, the defendant must show: (1) that the witness existed; (2) that the witness was available; (3) that counsel was informed of the existence of the witness or should have known of the witness's existence; (4) that the witness was prepared to cooperate and would have testified on appellant's behalf; and (5) that the absence of the testimony prejudiced appellant. Commonwealth v. Pursell, 555 Pa. 233, 724 A.2d 293, cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 120 S.Ct. 422, 145 L.Ed.2d 330 (1999). Appellant argues that defense counsel should have called appellant's aunt, uncle and wife to testify during the guilt phase of trial about his alleged impoverished living conditions, that he had borrowed money from them and that he earned his living as a tailor, for the purpose of contradicting the prosecution's theory of the case that appellant made his money from being a drug dealer. During the penalty phase of trial, defense counsel had called these witnesses to testify as to appellant's familial relationships. Evidence regarding his alleged poverty and sources of income was only elicited by the prosecutor on cross-examination, not by defense counsel. Defense counsel could reasonably have determined that the testimony offered by the witnesses would have been unhelpful to appellant since his alleged poverty may reasonably have been seen by the jury as an incentive for him to get involved in drug dealing. Moreover, the testimony of appellant's aunt and wife may have been detrimental. Appellant's aunt testified on cross-examination that appellant worked as a tailor during the years in which appellant had indicated on a questionnaire that he was unemployed, casting doubt on appellant's credibility. [18] N.T. 2/2/93 at 92. During appellant's wife's testimony, she revealed that on the night of the murder they had had an argument and that appellant had left the house upset. N.T. 2/2/93 at 95-96. Therefore, there was a reasonable basis for counsel's decision not to call any of these witnesses in the guilt phase and appellant is not entitled to relief on this claim. Appellant next claims that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to statements contained in a witness's statement to police pertaining to what the murder victim had related to him about appellant some time before the victim's death. The statements in question were read as part of Ronald Williams's prior statement to the police, which was introduced both as substantive evidence and to impeach Williams. [19] In Williams's written statement, in response to the detective's question concerning the motive for the shooting, Williams replied, Dope. [The victim] told me that he had f___ed up a package of dope that belonged to [appellant]. He smoke [sic] up all the crack in the package and [appellant] never said anything. [Appellant] just walked up on [the victim] and shot [the victim]. N.T. 1/20/93 at 44. The victim's statement to Williams was relevant in establishing the victim's state of mind regarding his relationship with appellant and was therefore admissible under the state-of-mind hearsay exception to establish the presence of ill will, malice or motive for the killing. Commonwealth v. Chandler, 554 Pa. 401, 411, 721 A.2d 1040, 1045 (1998)(murder victim's statement to her mother regarding breakdown in relationship admissible under state-of-mind hearsay exception). See also, Commonwealth v. Puksar, 559 Pa. 358, 368, n. 6, 740 A.2d 219, 225 n. 6 (1999)(witness's testimony that victim had said he did not trust appellant and that the victim and appellant were involved in a dispute over the purchase of model trains admissible under state-of-mind exception to hearsay); Commonwealth v. Collins, 550 Pa. 46, 58-60, 703 A.2d 418, 424-25, cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1015, 119 S.Ct. 538, 142 L.Ed.2d 447 (1998)(victim's statement that appellant had shot her in the past and would shoot her in the head if she messed up a drug package in her possession admissible under state-of-mind exception to prove motive). Because the statement was admissible, this claim lacks merit and counsel was not ineffective for failing to object. Furthermore, even if the statement arguably was not admissible, the statement was merely corroborative of the testimony of Grant and Kirkman that appellant sold drugs and that the victim had received drugs from appellant and had spent the money. Because the evidence merely corroborated other evidence and the evidence of appellant's guiltincluding the testimony of three eyewitnessesis overwhelming, appellant has failed to establish that the evidence so prejudiced him that the outcome of the trial would have been different had counsel objected. Therefore, even had the statements been improperly admitted, no relief is warranted and this claim is meritless. Travaglia, supra . [20] Appellant further asserts that trial counsel was ineffective for calling a detective as a defense witness and eliciting testimony from him regarding the Commonwealth's witness, Natalie Grant. Defense counsel called Detective William Schol, who had previously testified for the prosecution, as a defense witness in an attempt to establish that Natalie Grant's testimony was biased and, therefore, unreliable because the homicide investigators had performed personal favors for her. Specifically, trial counsel elicited from the detective, inter alia, that he had driven Grant from the courtroom to the hospital on one occasion to visit her sick infant, which allegedly created sympathy for the prosecution witness, thereby bolstering her credibility and prejudicing appellant. [21] In his closing argument in the guilt phase, defense counsel argued that Grant's testimony could not be trusted because she owed a debt to investigators for driving her to the hospital and that her testimony was therefore the product of bias. Trial counsel further suggested that Grant had abused cocaine while pregnant, suggesting that the child was ill as a result. N.T. 1/27/93, at 28. Because counsel used this information in an attempt to discredit Grant in front of the jury, he had a reasonable basis for questioning the detective as he did. Therefore, this claim is meritless.