Opinion ID: 2159693
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the motion based on the allegedly ineffective assistance of counsel

Text: In his motion seeking a new trial on the basis of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, Arrington asserted that his attorney had failed to interview and call potential defense witnesses who would have contradicted Ms. Moore's testimony that Arrington was essentially a stranger to her. Arrington's motion was accompanied, inter alia, by affidavits by Andre Dudley, Norman Hendrickson, and Arrington himself. The gravamen of the motion was that counsel's failure to interview and call Dudley and Hendrickson left unchallenged an essential part of the prosecution's case, namely, that Ms. Moore was an innocent individual who was assaulted by and robbed by a stranger. If the jury could be persuaded that Arrington and Ms. Moore were crack-smoking associates and that Ms. Moore lied about this association, then, in Arrington's view, her credibility would be shattered. According to his affidavit filed in support of Arrington's motion, Andre Dudley had been advised that Ms. Deon Moore had testified at Arrington's trial, and that she had claimed that she had no prior acquaintance or association with Mr. Jerome Arrington. Dudley asserted in his affidavit, inter alia, that if Ms. Deon Moore had indeed so testified, she had [c]ategorically lied under oath. Dudley stated that he, Ms. Deon Moore, and Mr. Jerome Arrington often associated, and during that association used [c]ocaine for our personal enjoyment or habit. In other words, according to Dudley, Arrington and Ms. Moore were his cocaine-smoking buddies and, contrary to Ms. Moore's testimony, were not strangers to one another at all. Norman Hendrickson essentially corroborated Dudley's account. Hendrickson stated in his affidavit that he had been acquainted with Ms. Deon Moore and Mr. Jerome Arrington over a period of [m]onths. Hendrickson continued as follows: During this association, the affiant observed Ms. Deon Moore, and Mr. Jerome Arrington together smoking [c]rack [c]ocaine. Further, [a]fter being an eye-witness to this association, the affiant indulged in the smoking of [c]rack cocaine with Ms. Deon Moore and Mr. Jerome Arrington, during the [m]onth of November 1993. Arrington swore in his affidavit that he had provided his trial counsel with the names and addresses of the following witnesses well in advance of trial: Jamel Norris (now deceased) Andre Dudley Norman Hendrickson Margie Parker. [7] The record thus contains an assertion, under oath, that the identities of both Dudley and Hendrickson were known to Arrington's attorney prior to the trial. The government responded to Arrington's motion with an affidavit and a supplemental affidavit by Arrington's trial attorney and an affidavit by counsel's investigator. The investigator related in his affidavit that he had interviewed Arrington at the outset of the investigation about potential witnesses, and that Arrington had never mentioned Andre Dudley or Norman Hendrickson to him. The investigator related, however, that he had located one person . . . named `Norman' who had no information about the case but who did take me to the location of the offense and assisted me in locating people who tried, to no avail, to help me find Mousey. [8] Arrington's trial attorney made no mention of Dudley or Hendrickson either in his affidavit or in his supplemental affidavit. The attorney ultimately produced his own notes of his discussions with Arrington; these notes did not mention Dudley or Hendrickson. On November 20, 1998, Judge Henry F. Greene conducted a hearing on Arrington's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. Judge Greene acknowledged that Arrington, who was serving his sentence at a penal institution in Ohio, had requested to be present at the hearing. The judge ruled, however, that Arrington's presence was not required in order to dispose of the motion. The only witness at the hearing was Arrington's trial counsel, who was examined by the prosecutor and by Arrington's present attorney. [9] At the hearing, trial counsel produced a memorandum from Arrington giving Arrington's version of the relevant events, but he made no mention of Dudley or Hendrickson. Arrington's present counsel protested that Arrington should have been permitted to be present in order to explain and counter the memorandum produced by his trial counsel, and he requested a continuance. At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Greene stated: I'm going to examine the exhibits and the notes in this case and I'm going to do one of two things. I'm going to either resolve this matter on the record that we have at this point or set a further date when we can have Mr. Arrington here. On February 28, 1999, the judge issued a written order in which he denied Arrington's § 23-110 motion. The judge explicitly found, inter alia, that Arrington never advised his attorney regarding Andre Dudley and Norman Hendrickson. The judge credit[ed] the testimony of defendant's trial counsel ... supported by notes written to him by the defendant prior to defendant's trial. The judge made this finding without hearing testimony from Arrington, who had provided an affidavit in which he had sworn to facts that were contrary to the judge's credibility finding. The judge thus rejected Arrington's statement, made under oath, without observing Arrington testify and without being able to assess Arrington's demeanor.
In order to establish that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective, Arrington must demonstrate both deficient performance and prejudice. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687-94, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Failure to call exculpatory witnesses may constitute deficient performance. Byrd v. United States, 614 A.2d 25, 30-31 (D.C.1992). In this case, if Dudley and Hendrickson had testified, and if the judge had credited their testimony, they could have significantly damaged the prosecution's case. [10] Ms. Moore's credibility might have been seriously undermined if the trier of fact had determined that Arrington was not a stranger, as Ms. Moore had testified, but rather a close associate with whom she abused crack cocaine. A great deal therefore turned on whether or not Arrington had, as he claimed, provided the names and addresses of Dudley and Hendrickson to his counsel in advance of trial. In deciding that, contrary to Arrington's affidavit, Arrington had not provided these names to his attorney, the motions judge was, as he himself recognized, making what was essentially a credibility determination. He did so without hearing testimony from anyone who had any direct knowledge regarding this disputed fact. The trial attorney never denied (or admitted) that Arrington had provided these names. The investigator did not testify. Arrington was not permitted to be present. It is true that neither Dudley nor Hendrickson was mentioned in trial counsel's notes or in Arrington's memorandum. But the notes were hardly conclusive; trial counsel acknowledged that other names were mentioned during the course of the investigation. Arrington's memorandum was primarily a narrative of what occurred; it did not touch on information about witnesses who knew of the alleged prior association between Arrington and Ms. Moore. Moreover, Arrington was never given an opportunity to explain his memorandum or the omission therefrom of any mention of the two potential witnesses. We conclude that it is impossible to determine from this record whether Arrington's allegations of ineffective assistance have merit without a more searching exploration, including live testimony, of the question whether Arrington provided information about Dudley or Hendrickson to his counsel in advance of trial. Arrington should have been permitted to testify as to this issue, and we conclude that it was error to make the dispositive credibility determination without his evidence. Accordingly, we vacate the order denying Arrington's § 23-110 motion and remand the matter for an evidentiary hearing. [11]