Opinion ID: 1383224
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: South side rapist materials

Text: Ferguson argues that the motion court clearly erred in denying his motion for disclosure of DNA materials from the south side rapist, an alleged serial rapist who was at large during the time of Hall's abduction. Ferguson failed to include this argument in his Point Relied On, and therefore, this Court's review is for plain error/manifest injustice under Rule 30.20. State v. Tooley, 875 S.W.2d 110, 115 (Mo. banc 1994). Given the wholly speculative nature of the underlying claim that the south side rapist might be the true perpetrator, and the overwhelming evidence of Ferguson's guilt, especially the fact that Ferguson's DNA matched the semen found on Hall's clothing, no manifest injustice occurred. This claim fails for the additional reason that it is a claim of newly discovered evidence, which is not cognizable in a Rule 29.15 motion, even where properly pleaded and preserved. State v. Stephan, 941 S.W.2d 669, 679 (Mo. App.1997); Wilson v. State, 813 S.W.2d 833, 835 (Mo. banc 1991) (regarding Rule 24.035 post-conviction claims).
Ferguson makes a number of claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in his amended Rule 29.15 motion. To establish that counsel was constitutionally ineffective, it must be shown that counsel failed to exercise the customary skill and diligence that a reasonably competent attorney would perform under similar circumstances, and that the deficient performance prejudiced the defendant. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). In order to obtain an evidentiary hearing, Ferguson must allege facts, not refuted by the record, showing that counsel's performance did not conform to the degree of skill, care, and diligence of a reasonably competent attorney and that he was thereby prejudiced. State v. Jones, 979 S.W.2d 171, 180 (Mo. banc 1998), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1112, 119 S.Ct. 886, 142 L.Ed.2d 785 (1999).
Ferguson claims that counsel was ineffective for failing to move for a change of judge based on the trial judge's alleged bias toward criminal defendants. The basis for this claim is that the trial judge received a below average rating on impartiality in a 1992 Missouri Bar Judiciary Evaluation survey and that trial counsel was aware that other public defenders were challenging the judge's impartiality in State v. Smulls, 935 S.W.2d 9 (Mo. banc 1996), cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1254, 117 S.Ct. 2415, 138 L.Ed.2d 180 (1997). This Court agrees with the motion court's finding that neither the 1992 survey nor the fact that the public defender's office had previously questioned and litigated the trial judge's impartiality on various grounds constitute facts that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the trial judge was biased against Ferguson. A general survey does not necessarily indicate that a judge has prejudged issues in a particular case. Furthermore, the public defenders in Smulls challenged the trial judge's impartiality by alleging that he was biased against women and African-Americans, not that he was biased against white males like Ferguson.
Ferguson presents two ineffective assistance of counsel claims regarding voir dire: 1) that counsel should have moved to strike prospective juror Schleper for cause; and 2) that counsel should have moved to strike the entire group of prospective jurors who heard juror Rohan's comment supporting the death penalty. The claim pertaining to Mr. Schleper is that he could not fully consider life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The motion court found that Ferguson's claim was refuted by the record. This Court agrees. Although Mr. Schleper first indicated that he kind of ... leaned toward the death penalty, he then stated unequivocally that he would consider mitigating circumstances, would consider both possible penalties, and would follow the judge's instructions. See State v. Ramsey, 864 S.W.2d 320, 336 (Mo. banc 1993) (holding that the trial court did not err in overruling a challenge for cause of a venireperson who stated that he leaned toward the death penalty), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1078, 114 S.Ct. 1664, 128 L.Ed.2d 380 (1994). The ruling was not clearly erroneous. The second complaint involves prospective juror Rohan's statement that I am strongly for the death sentence. I would have difficulty if I believed that someone murdered someone believing that the country should support them the rest of their life. To establish that the entire jury panel should have been quashed based on one venireperson's statement, Ferguson must show that the statement was `so inflammatory and prejudicial that it can be said a right to a fair trial has been infringed.' State v. Smulls, 935 S.W.2d at 19 (quoting State v. Evans, 802 S.W.2d 507, 514 (Mo. banc 1991)). Ferguson has not demonstrated that Ms. Rohan's statement was inflammatory and prejudicial because there was no suggestion that Ferguson, himself, deserved the death penalty, nor any attempt to encourage other venirepersons to impose the death penalty. The ruling was not clearly erroneous. On this same point, Ferguson also contends that after Ms. Rohan made the statement, counsel should have attempted to educate the panel about the relative costs of life imprisonment and the death penalty. However, this Court has held that such economic concerns may not be addressed during voir dire, or at any time during trial, because they are completely irrelevant to any issue before the jury. State v. Clay, 975 S.W.2d 121, 142 (Mo. banc 1998), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1085, 119 S.Ct. 834, 142 L.Ed.2d 690 (1999). Therefore, counsel was not ineffective for failing to inform the jury on this information.

Ferguson claims that the motion court should have granted a hearing on his claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in the investigation and presentation of guilt phase evidence. This claim is difficult to establish because neither the failure to call a witness nor the failure to impeach a witness will constitute ineffective assistance of counsel unless such action would have provided a viable defense or changed the outcome of the trial. State v. Hall, 982 S.W.2d 675, 687 (Mo. banc 1998), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1151, 119 S.Ct. 2034, 143 L.Ed.2d 1043 (1999). Ferguson is primarily critical of the failure to present witness testimony or other evidence to impeach state's witness Robert Stulce, who testified that he saw a brown and white Blazer that looked just like Ferguson's at the Mobil station and that he saw Kelli Hall get in the Blazer with a white male. Later, Stulce assisted police in making composite pictures of the man he had seen. He also viewed a police line-up that included Ferguson, and although he did not positively identify Ferguson, he indicated that Ferguson and one other man looked similar to the man he saw at the Mobil station. Ferguson contends that counsel should have: 1) introduced one of the composite pictures of the person Stulce saw because it supposedly resembled Mel Hedrick more than Ferguson; 2) introduced a picture of Hedrick taken close to the time to the offense; 3) presented testimony that Hedrick did not have a beard at that time, contrary to his testimony; 4) introduced Stulce's prior inconsistent statement that the man he saw was a head taller than Hall; and 5) introduced Stulce's prior statement that he was sure that a man he later saw on I-70 was the man he saw at the Mobil station. These actions, according to Ferguson, would not only have impeached Stulce's testimony, but also would have linked Hedrick to the crime. Impeaching Stulce's testimony either on cross-examination or by calling other witnesses would not have aided Ferguson. Stulce admitted that he could not identify the man he saw at the Mobil station, and he did not identify Ferguson at trial. He merely stated that the man looked similar to Ferguson. In addition, Hedrick testified at trial so that the members of the jury were able to see for themselves whether he had a resemblance to Ferguson and could have been the man at the Mobil station. But even assuming that counsel had done everything that Ferguson now suggests, and it had the desired effect of leading the jury to believe that Hedrick was at the Mobil station, it still would not have provided Ferguson with a viable defense. None of this evidence would have shown that Ferguson was not involved in the crimes. Ferguson also faults counsel for failing to investigate and present evidence that co-defendant Ousley, state's witnesses Hedrick and Thompson, and even Kelli Hall and her boyfriend, were involved in the area drug scene. The apparent purpose of the evidence was to show that persons other than Ferguson had the motive or opportunity to commit the crimes against Kelli. As the motion court found, however, this evidence would have been inadmissible because it constituted evidence of the witnesses' prior bad acts. State v. Clay, 975 S.W.2d at 141-43. It also would have been inadmissible because it would not directly connect any of those persons with the corpus delicti of the crime and point to someone other than Ferguson as the guilty party. See State v. Rousan, 961 S.W.2d 831, 848 (Mo. banc 1998), cert. denied, 524 U.S. 961, 118 S.Ct. 2387, 141 L.Ed.2d 753 (1998). Finally, this is also the kind of evidence that, even if it was admissible, is not inconsistent with Ferguson's commission of every element of the crimes, as principal or accomplice.
Ferguson contends in a cursory fashion that his counsel was ineffective for failing to make a record that one of the jurors was sleeping at trial and, thereafter, for failing to move to strike that juror for cause. He also claims that the jurors committed misconduct by disregarding the court's instructions to avoid news reports and discussions of the case. He subsequently filed a Motion for Leave to Contact and Interview Petit Jurors for discovery purposes that was denied after argument. The motion court did not clearly err in denying these claims. In his Rule 29.15 motion, Ferguson did not allege facts, not conclusions, that would entitle him to relief, and there is nothing in the post-conviction record to indicate that any juror was actually sleeping. In addition, Ferguson failed to plead any facts supporting his other claims of jury misconduct. The point is denied.
Ferguson also argues that counsel was ineffective for failing to refute the state's DNA evidence. As noted, however, Ferguson's trial counsel engaged in extensive cross-examination of the state's DNA expert and called an expert witness for the defense, Dr. Libby, who challenged the state's findings and procedures. Counsel was not ineffective in this regard. Ferguson next claims that counsel should have insisted that blood samples be taken of Hall's boyfriend, Hedrick, and Thompson because those persons may have been type A secretors like Ferguson. This failure does not, however, show that counsel was ineffective. Even if these persons were type A secretors, blood evidence of that sort, which is found in a large percentage of the population, had little to do with establishing the identity of the perpetrator. Ferguson was convicted on the stronger evidence that his DNA matched the DNA extracted from the sample on Hall's coat. Ferguson further argues that counsel was ineffective for failing to show that Ousley could not have been excluded as the source of the semen on his own jeans. Again, Ferguson cannot show that he was prejudiced. The state never disputed Ousley's involvement, and, as previously discussed, implicating someone else, especially Ousley, would not exonerate Ferguson. Finally, Ferguson claims that counsel was ineffective for failing to present evidence that his judgment, cognition and impulse control were substantially impaired due to his mental condition and consumption of alcohol. However, this evidence, even if true, would have been inconsistent with his defense at trial. Ferguson testified that he could not have committed the crime because he passed out in the Blazer at the Shell station. Ineffective assistance of counsel cannot be established where counsel pursued one reasonable trial strategy to the exclusion of another. State v. Harris, 870 S.W.2d 798, 816 (Mo. banc 1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 953, 115 S.Ct. 371, 130 L.Ed.2d 323 (1994).
Ferguson also claims that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to preserve the challenge to the court forcing trial to proceed late at night and for failing to preserve his related motion for mistrial. The record shows, however, that counsel adequately preserved these matters for this appeal. In addition, Ferguson contends that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object and preserve a challenge to the trial court's alleged efforts to expedite the entire course of the trial. He alleges, in particular, that the trial judge hurried through the trial so that he could go on a planned vacation. In support of the allegation, he states: 1) that the trial judge commented to the jury during voir dire that he intended to keep the trial moving along and he intended to complete the trial within two weeks; 2) that the trial judge allegedly remarked off the record that the case was interfering with his vacation plans; and 3) that the judge's wife and friends were present in the courtroom one day, apparently waiting for the trial to end. This evidence, even if true, does not in and of itself demonstrate trial court error. See State v. Engleman, 634 S.W.2d 466, 479 (Mo. banc 1982) (the trial judge should act with the purpose of maintaining orderly procedure and expediting the trial without denying the defendant any right to which he is entitled under law.). Moreover, Ferguson has not shown how he was prejudiced. Assuming the trial court erred, Ferguson's challenge still fails. In his Rule 29.15 motion, he did not claim counsel was ineffective for failing to preserve this challenge, and instead, he challenged the trial court's actions and rulings as a matter of trial court error, which, as the motion court properly determined, is not cognizable in a Rule 29.15 proceeding. Nevertheless, Ferguson attempts to transform this claim of trial court error into a cognizable ineffective assistance of counsel claim by citing United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 659-62, 104 S.Ct. 2039, 80 L.Ed.2d 657 (1984), for the proposition that external forces can render counsel constitutionally ineffective even when counsel performed as well as a reasonably competent attorney could have performed under the circumstances. This is true, however, only when the likelihood that any lawyer, even a fully competent one, could provide effective assistance is so small that a presumption of prejudice is appropriate without inquiry into the actual conduct of the trial. Id. at 659-60, 104 S.Ct. 2039. Here, such a presumption is not appropriate. Even if Ferguson could overcome the initial hurdle of demonstrating that counsel failed to exercise the customary skill and diligence that a reasonably competent attorney would perform under similar circumstances, he does not show that he was prejudiced by the trial court's actions.

Ferguson claims that counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and present certain penalty phase evidence. More specifically, he states that counsel should have presented three expert witnesses, either in addition to or instead of the two expert witnesses that were called. These three witnesses, according to Ferguson, would have testified regarding the effect of his past and present alcohol and drug addiction, his intelligence, his genetic predisposition to a major depressive disorder, and his family history of mental illness and alcoholism. Ferguson also contends that counsel should have called twenty-six lay witnesses, in addition to the eight lay witnesses that were actually called, to testify about his good character and other mitigating circumstances in his background. This additional evidence would have been cumulative. The two experts who were called did testify, at length, about Ferguson's intelligence, depression and substance abuse. Further, the eight lay witnesses testified about his devotion to his family, his good character, his problems with seizures, his problems with drugs and alcohol, and other details about his background. This was ample evidence in support of mitigation, and counsel's failure to present additional evidence that would have been cumulative does not amount to ineffective assistance of counsel. See State v. Johnston, 957 S.W.2d 734, 755 (Mo. banc 1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 1150, 118 S.Ct. 1171, 140 L.Ed.2d 181 (1998). The point is denied.
Ferguson contends that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the trial court's derogatory remarks at sentencing. These remarks included, You deserve the death penalty more than any case I've ever had in my life. And when I see those pictures of that young woman, it even makes my blood boil a little bit. Ferguson maintains that these remarks demonstrated a bias and hostility toward him, although he does not state exactly what relief trial counsel should have sought. Regardless, the motion court did not clearly err in finding that the record did not support the claim, and that Ferguson had not overcome the presumption that judges do not consider improper evidence in sentencing. The judge's remarks were made during, not before, pronouncement of the sentence and were made to explain the sentence, and therefore, they do not establish disqualifying bias. See State v. Whitfield, 939 S.W.2d 361, 368 (Mo. banc), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 831, 118 S.Ct. 97, 139 L.Ed.2d 52 (1997). Furthermore, the trial court's comments in this case are not unlike allegedly derogatory comments in other cases that this Court held were not improper. See, e.g., Haynes v. State, 937 S.W.2d 199, 201-02 (Mo. banc 1996).
Ferguson's remaining allegations of ineffective assistance counsel are based on claims discussed and denied in the sections of this opinion dealing with trial court error. They include that counsel was ineffective for failing to: 1) object and preserve claims regarding the trial court's limitations on voir dire; 2) challenge the admissibility of the DNA evidence; 3) object to the hearsay statements admitted through the testimony of Alicia Medlock and Mike Thompson; 4) object to nine comments made in the closing arguments of the guilt phase; 5) object on proper grounds to the verdict director for first-degree murder; 6) adequately examine Ferguson's two penalty phase experts, Dr. O'Connor and Dr. Smith; 7) object to the admission of unadjudicated bad acts in the penalty phase; 8) object to seven comments made by the prosecutor during the penalty phase closing argument; and 9) object on proper grounds to the penalty phase instructions on the statutory and non-statutory aggravating circumstances. As noted, none of these claims resulted in manifest injustice entitling Ferguson to plain error relief, and indeed, most claims did not constitute error in the first place. As to those few claims that did constitute error, none were prejudicial; none resulted in a reasonable probability that the outcome of the trial would have been different, as required to show ineffective assistance of counsel under Strickland .
Ferguson contends that the motion court erred in adopting the state's proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law verbatim, which shows that the court did not exercise independent judgment in denying relief without a hearing, and thus constituted a denial of due process. For support, Ferguson points to the fact that the motion court filed its findings, conclusions, and order the same day the state submitted its proposal. In the absence of independent evidence that the court failed to thoughtfully and carefully consider the claims, there is no constitutional problem with the court adopting in whole or in part the findings of fact and conclusions of law drafted by one of the parties. State v. Kenley, 952 S.W.2d 250, 261 (Mo. banc 1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 1095, 118 S.Ct. 892, 139 L.Ed.2d 878 (1998). See also State v. Basile, 942 S.W.2d 342, 362 (Mo. banc 1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 883, 118 S.Ct. 213, 139 L.Ed.2d 148 (1997); State v. Phillips, 940 S.W.2d 512, 521 (Mo. banc 1997). In this case, the record reflects that the motion court exercised independent judgment. The court held a lengthy hearing to determine whether any of Ferguson's claims warranted an evidentiary hearing, and then having been advised by the parties, ruled from the bench that the claims were denied. He invited both parties to submit proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, but Ferguson declined to do so. The motion court's entry of its findings, conclusions and order on the same day that the state filed its proposals proves nothing more than that the court was able to give the matter immediate attention. The point is denied.