Opinion ID: 853338
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Appellate Ineffectiveness for Raising Ineffective Assistance of Trial Counsel

Text: Timberlake first claims that appellate counsel was ineffective for raising trial counsel's ineffectiveness on direct appeal because one of the trial attorneys, Ellen O'Connor, was also appellate counsel. Timberlake claims that this created a conflict of interest that requires review of this contention under the standard set forth in Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 100 S.Ct. 1708, 64 L.Ed.2d 333 (1980), for claims of conflicted counsel. The postconviction court found, Trial counsel Ellen O'Connor was originally appointed as co-counsel because of her relationship with Petitioner, but Menadue asked O'Connor to withdraw her appearance, which O'Connor did, before the briefs were written. O'Connor did not participate in the writing or review of the appellate briefs. Although O'Connor's motion to withdraw was denied by this Court, the postconviction court's finding of no actual conflict of interest is supported by testimony from both Menadue and O'Connor that O'Connor did not write or review the appellate brief. That finding is not clearly erroneous and eliminates the factual predicate of this contention. Timberlake also argues that appellate counsel was ineffective for raising three grounds of trial counsel ineffective assistance of counsel in the direct appeal: (1) failure to confront McElroy with evidence challenging his credibility, (2) failure to present mitigation evidence at the penalty phase, and (3) failure to present and argue mitigation at the sentencing phase. He argues that these claims should have been preserved for postconviction because there was not an adequate record on direct appeal to establish prejudice. The postconviction court did not directly address this contention, but observed that Timberlake argued that these claims of ineffective trial assistance were raised on appeal without sufficient investigation. To prevail on this claim, Timberlake must show not only that appellate counsel performed deficiently by raising these claims on direct appeal, but also that evidence established in postconviction relief would have proved trial counsel's ineffectiveness. Because Timberlake has failed to establish deficient performance by his appellate counsel, he has not satisfied his burden. At the time of Timberlake's direct appeal, Woods v. State, 701 N.E.2d 1208 (Ind.1998), had not been decided. Appellate counsel Menadue testified that the case law in Indiana was not crystal clear as to when ineffective assistance of trial counsel should be raised. Indeed, in Woods we acknowledged this ambiguity: Despite the frequency with which challenges to the effectiveness of trial representation appear in postconviction petitions in this State, this Court has not conclusively resolved whether waiver of this claim (1) always arises from a failure to raise it on direct appeal, or (2) never does, or (3) turns on whether there was or might have been a need for extrinsic evidence to assess either attorney competence or prejudice. Id. at 1213. Menadue testified in postconviction relief that she concluded that she was required to raise the trial counsel ineffectiveness claims that appeared on the face of the record or risk waiver of these claims. Menadue raised the issue of trial counsel ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal after consultation with Timberlake's trial counsel and investigation staff and several other attorneys. She faced the choice of either raising the claims on direct appeal without the benefit of extensive extra-record research or risking waiver. Although in hindsight, her decision may not have been the best one, that is not the standard by which we evaluate her actions. As this Court has stated, Judicial scrutiny of counsel's performance is highly deferential and should not be exercised through the distortions of hindsight. Spranger v. State, 650 N.E.2d 1117, 1121 (Ind.1995). Judged by this standard, Menadue's decision did not fall below an objective standard of reasonableness.