Opinion ID: 1426947
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: Asking a witness if he was carrying a weapon in court.

Text: Inmate Theodore Burkett testified for Leonard at the penalty phase that inmates possessed shanks for protection. Defense counsel Wessel asked Burkett if he had been strip searched before being brought to court to ensure that he had no weapons. Burkett said yes. Wessel then asked if he was carrying a weapon, and Burkett said, A razor. Leonard concedes that he wanted Burkett to testify and that Wessel asked this question pursuant to a written note which Leonard handed to Wessel during the examination of Burkett. Nevertheless, he blames his counsel for asking the question and prejudicing his defense. At the post-conviction hearing, Wessel testified that he was asking Burkett a series of questions, and then Mr. Leonard would supplement my questions with questions he wanted asked and answered. This was a procedure which he and Leonard had followed during the penalty phase questioning of inmates. Wessel stated, Things were happening very quickly, and my recollection is that when he asked me to ask that question, the answer would obviously be negative. It is clear now that Wessel should not have asked the question, but we conclude that Wessel was not acting unreasonably at the time. He was simply relying on Leonard to give him appropriate questions. Up to that point, such reliance was not unreasonable. It appears that Leonard had Burkett smuggle the razor into court to prove some kind of point, apparently the laxness of prison security and the inmates' need to protect themselves. When questioned by the district court outside the presence of the jury, Leonard indicated that he wanted the jury to see the razor. We conclude that Leonard will not now be heard to accuse his counsel of ineffectiveness when it is clear that Leonard himself was responsible for any prejudice which resulted.