Opinion ID: 408249
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Assistance Rendered

Text: 22 Pre-trial  'investigation and preparation are the keys to effective representation.'  Rummel v. Estelle, 590 F.2d 103, 104 (5th Cir. 1979) (quoting ABA Projects on Standards for Criminal Justice, Standards Relating to the Prosecution Function and the Defense Function, 224 (App. Draft 1971)). Specifically, (a)n attorney does not provide effective assistance if he fails to investigate sources of evidence which may be helpful to the defense. Davis v. Alabama, 596 F.2d 1214, 1217 (5th Cir. 1979), vacated as moot, 446 U.S. 903, 100 S.Ct. 1827, 64 L.Ed.2d 256 (1980). Thus, the failure to pursue scientific evidence in support of a defense claim may be tantamount to ineffective assistance. See Davis v. Alabama, 596 F.2d at 1217-18 (finding ineffective assistance where counsel failed to investigate evidence which might be helpful to insanity defense despite knowledge of accused's mental history and that insanity was the only possible defense); United States v. Fessel, 531 F.2d 1275, 1279 (5th Cir. 1976) (representation inadequate where failure to move for court-appointed psychiatrist deprived accused of services necessary to the preparation and presentation of an adequate defense). Similarly, the failure to impeach a key government witness may also constitute ineffective assistance. United States v. Auten, 632 F.2d 478, 482 (5th Cir. 1980); Voyles v. Watkins, 489 F.Supp. 901, 911 (N.D.Miss.1980). We have also held that where the inadequacy of counsel's preparation results in his failure to understand basic procedural requirements, counsel's services fall outside the range of competency expected of criminal defense attorneys. Young v. Zant, 677 F.2d at 798, see Kemp v. Leggett, 635 F.2d 453, 454 (5th Cir. 1981). 23 On the other hand, the duty to adequately investigate and prepare is not without limits. Each case must be judged on its specific facts, from the perspective of counsel, considering those circumstances known to him at the time in question. Rummel v. Estelle, 590 F.2d at 105. (C)ounsel for a criminal defendant is not required to pursue every path until it bears fruit or until all conceivable hope withers. Lovett v. Florida, 627 F.2d at 708.
24 The trial court found that although counsel neglected to obtain a chemical analysis of the blood found on the steps, the evidence as a whole established that the blood had come from Adams and not the victim. Thus, no issue was presented to the jury as to the source of the blood. 3 This finding is not clearly erroneous. Under all the circumstances, counsel's failure to test the blood was a reasoned tactical choice because no evidence pointed to the blood as being that of the victim. 25 With respect to the hammer, the Georgia State Crime Lab examined the hammer for blood and hair with negative results. Defense counsel testified at the federal habeas corpus hearing that he wanted independent lab tests conducted for fingerprints. Yet, he neglected to file a motion for an independent lab analysis and did not get the hammer from the state crime lab. 4 Defense counsel indicated that he abandoned that line of investigation upon learning of the state lab results. Defense counsel trusted their work. 5 The district court declined to fault defense counsel's failure to obtain an independent chemical analysis of the hammer and his reliance on the state lab results because no evidence warranted an inference that the results were unreliable. The court also found harmless defense counsel's failure to seek expert analysis for fingerprints because of the likelihood that the victim's fingerprints would appear on a hammer found in her home. 26 We agree with the district court's conclusion that expert testimony on this matter would have added little, if any, support to the defense's case. A police officer testified to having discovered the hammer lying astride the victim's body. The district court pointed out that no evidence existed to indicate that anyone had placed the hammer there after the shooting. Thus, evidence of an analysis of the hammer would have been, at best, cumulative, or perhaps, harmful to Adams. 27 The record indicates that trial counsel's efforts were also wanting with respect to his ability to establish that his client received treatment for a head wound. Defense counsel neither interviewed nor called as witnesses the medical personnel at the hospital or the officer who arrested Adams at the hospital. Additionally, counsel demonstrated his ignorance of evidentiary procedure in his attempts to introduce a copy of Adams's medical records and head x-rays through the testimony of a police officer. Counsel eventually succeeded in introducing the records, but only through the benevolence of the prosecutor who explained in closing argument to the jury the reasons for the inadmissibility of this evidence and the proper method for introducing such proof. Despite counsel's deficiencies, the testimony of Adams, the police officer, and the victim's neighbors adequately established that Adams suffered a blow to his head and received treatment for his wounds at the hospital. The medical records documenting his treatment were, in fact, eventually introduced. We therefore conclude that Adams suffered no prejudice from his counsel's failure to call the medical personnel who treated appellant since such evidence would have been cumulative.
28 The evidence at trial presented a question as to whether and to what extent Arie Mae Whitehead observed the murder of her mother. Adams testified that, as the couple argued in the victim's bedroom, Arie Mae looked on from the hallway immediately outside the bedroom. According to Adams, after the victim ordered him to get out, Arie Mae began gathering his clothes from her mother's closet. Adams further stated that at the time of the shooting Arie Mae was standing behind and off to the side of her mother. Arie Mae testified that she saw the shooting, but did not see her mother holding a hammer. In what seemed an effort to impeach the reliability of her observations, defense counsel attempted to emphasize her uncertainty through cross-examination. 6 29 Defense counsel also tried to impeach Arie Mae by utilizing her statements which appeared in a police report and in a copy of the preliminary hearing transcript. Counsel testified at the federal habeas corpus hearing that he wanted to underscore the alleged inconsistencies between these prior statements and her trial testimony to show that she was biased against Adams and, because of that prejudice, lied both at trial and earlier to the police. 7 Defense counsel's cross-examination of Arie Mae at trial and his testimony at the federal habeas corpus hearing indicate that in her statement to the police she may have said that she was in her bedroom when she heard the shot. 8 Contrary to Adams's assertions on appeal, at the preliminary hearing, Arie Mae testified that she was present at the scene and observed the shooting. 9 Arie Mae further testified at trial that she was standing between the kitchen and the front room at the time of the shooting and saw everything. 30 In what seemingly was an effort to lay a predicate for impeachment, defense counsel posed certain questions to Arie Mae at trial and marked her statement to police as a defense exhibit. He apparently forgot to offer the statement and failed to lay a proper foundation for its introduction into evidence. As part of his case, defense counsel also identified as an exhibit for the record a certified copy of the transcript of the preliminary hearing. The trial court ruled, however, that the transcript was inadmissible under all circumstances. 10 31 After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the district court refrained from predicating a finding of ineffective assistance on defense counsel's failure to impeach the credibility of Arie Mae Whitehead. The court implicitly concluded that Adams suffered no prejudice as a result of counsel's shortcomings. The court reasoned that Adams failed to carry his burden of proof by showing that the exhibit would in fact have impeached Arie Mae's trial testimony if admitted into evidence. 32 We agree for several reasons. First, the record remains uncertain as to the exact details of Arie Mae's statement to police. Adams failed to offer this document into evidence at trial and has made no effort to introduce the statement into the record on appeal. We thus are unable to determine whether this evidence would have effectively impeached the witness. 33 Second, an examination of the preliminary hearing transcript indicates that Arie Mae's testimony was consistent with her statements at trial. In fact, at one point during the federal habeas corpus hearing, defense counsel stated that the substance of Arie Mae's testimony at the preliminary hearing and at trial was the same. Counsel later mistakenly asserted that Arie Mae testified at the preliminary hearing that she was in the bedroom at the time of the killing, in contrast to her testimony at trial that she was an eyewitness. Because we find no inconsistencies between her assertions at trial and at the preliminary hearing, we believe the jury would not have viewed her testimony as inconsistent. 34 Finally, because Adams's testimony corroborated that of Arie Mae by stating that she was in a position to observe the facts which she related, any weight which the jury would have attributed to any prior inconsistent statement would have been negligible. Thus, we conclude that Adams has not demonstrated any prejudice resulting from defense counsel's impeachment efforts which would render his trial fundamentally unfair.
35 The next allegation causes us great concern. Adams claims that his trial counsel's ineffectiveness is underscored by his elicitation of damaging testimony from Arie Mae. In an effort to impeach her on recross-examination, counsel asked Arie Mae if she remembered testifying at the preliminary hearing that Adams had yelled just prior to shooting her mother,  'Yes hell, I will, I will kill her, I will blow your brains out,' and he shot her in the head and she fell. 11 At the habeas corpus hearing in district court, defense counsel explained his reasons for asking the question as an attempt to show an inconsistency in Arie Mae's testimony on direct examination at trial. Arie Mae testified at the preliminary hearing that Adams had made statements before the shooting, but at trial, Arie Mae testified that Adams said nothing at the time of the shooting. 36 The record indicates, however, that Arie Mae did not in fact testify on direct-examination that Adams said nothing at the time of the shooting. She stated only that she did not recall anything specific that either Adams or the victim had said except that the couple had been cussing. Similarly, on cross-examination, she did not state that Adams said nothing but only that they was cussing and all. Nevertheless, Arie Mae did not deny having made the alleged inconsistent statement. Instead, she told defense counsel that she refrained from making the damaging statement at trial because she does not swear. 37 Adams argues that the benefit, if any, of showing this purported slight inconsistency in Arie Mae's testimony was far outweighed by the damaging impact of her statement. Indeed, even the defense counsel characterized this testimony as the most damaging evidence against Adams. Nevertheless, he believed that impeachment on this point was important to show that Arie Mae recognized the discrepancy in her testimony and that she was making excuses to cover up her motives for so doing. 12 Thus, the district court found that defense counsel made a reasoned, tactical choice to bring out the statement. 38 The state argues on appeal that tactical decisions do not constitute ineffective assistance merely because in hindsight it is apparent that counsel chose the wrong course. Baldwin v. Blackburn, 653 F.2d at 946; Beckham v. Wainwright, 639 F.2d at 265. This court has held that counsel's decision whether to question witnesses is a defense strategy and does not reach constitutional proportions. United States v. Hughes, 635 F.2d 449, 452 (5th Cir. 1981); United States v. Johnson, 615 F.2d 1125, 1127 (5th Cir. 1980); Easter v. Estelle, 609 F.2d 756, 759 (5th Cir. 1980). 39 We believe that counsel's trial strategy in eliciting the damaging statement was utterly devoid of common sense, especially in view of the fact that the prosecutor neglected to bring this inflammatory statement on direct-examination. Since counsel's question was totally inconsistent with his defense theory that the shooting was an accident or self-defense, this strategy undermined the merits of Adams's defense. Moreover, as noted above, an examination of the record indicates that counsel's assumption that Arie Mae's testimony concerning whether Adams said anything immediately prior to shooting her mother was probably erroneous. Cf. Cooks v. United States, 461 F.2d 530, 532 (5th Cir. 1972) (although counsel's good faith errors are usually insufficient to justify vacating sentence, counsel's significant misleading statements can rise to due process denial commensurate with ineffective assistance). 40 Sometimes a single error is so substantial that it alone caused the attorney's assistance to fall below the Sixth Amendment standard. Nero v. Blackburn, 597 F.2d 991, 994 (5th Cir. 1979). Nevertheless, this court has held counsel to be ineffective on the basis of a single error where the error in and of itself reached constitutional proportions and could have served as an alternative ground for the court's holding. Nelson v. Estelle, 642 F.2d at 906-07; see, e.g. Nero v. Blackburn, 597 F.2d 991 (5th Cir. 1979) (admission of three extraneous offenses by prosecution in closing would have been prejudicial enough to violate fundamental fairness); Herring v. Estelle, 491 F.2d 125 (5th Cir. 1974) (counsel allowed client knowingly and involuntarily to plead guilty to armed robbery charge where requisite element of intent permanently to deprive would have been impossible to prove by the state); Cooks v. United States, 461 F.2d 530 (5th Cir. 1972) (counsel's misinforming his client concerning maximum possible sentence was ineffective assistance as well as violation of due process right to enter a plea knowingly and voluntarily). This appeal does not present such a case. 41 Even assuming that counsel's decision to elicit the damaging statement was a tactical choice, the circumstances of this case cause us to conclude that such strategy was not so ill chosen as to render appellant's trial as a whole fundamentally unfair. Nelson v. Estelle, 642 F.2d at 942. As an example of the magnitude of prejudice required to establish fundamental unfairness, the former Fifth Circuit has held that the erroneous admission of prejudicial evidence can justify habeas corpus relief only if the error was material in the sense of a crucial, critical, highly significant factor. Nelson v. Estelle, 642 F.2d at 907-08 (quoting Hills v. Henderson, 529 F.2d at 401), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 850, 97 S.Ct. 139, 50 L.Ed.2d 124 (1976); accord Mendiola v. Estelle, 635 F.2d 487, 491 (5th Cir. 1981). The elicitation of the statement was prejudicial only in the sense that it did not help Adams's case. 42 Significantly, Adams failed to show that the damaging statement was inadmissible, inaccurate, or otherwise unreliable. Apart from this inflammatory testimony, Arie Mae testified that Adams put the pistol to her mother's head and fired. Adams himself corroborated her testimony that she was in fact an eyewitness. Even assuming that this evidence was inadmissible and regardless of whether the jurors were in fact influenced by the damaging statement, the record reflects that the state's case was so strong that we cannot conclude that counsel's conduct was so deficient as to render the trial fundamentally unfair. See Nelson v. Estelle, 642 F.2d at 908 (counsel's failure to preserve reversible error by objecting to hearsay nature of lab reports admitted into evidence not prejudicial enough to render trial fundamentally unfair in view of overwhelming evidence of guilt); Hills v. Henderson, 529 F.2d at 401 (improper admission of prior act evidence did not deny due process in view of strength of state's case). We therefore conclude that Adams failed to sustain his burden of proving prejudice.
43 Finally, Adams contends that defense counsel prejudiced his case in closing argument by strengthening the credibility of the state's strongest witness. In arguing Arie Mae's testimony to the jury, defense counsel made the following comments: 44 The district attorney would have us believe that she was an idiot, or at least retarded, and that is his own witness. He would have us to believe that she could not perceive on that night what actually happened. 45 .... 46 Now, do you recall the testimony of Mrs. Mylessia Black. Mrs. Black was a lady who lived across the hall. The district attorney asked her if she thought that Mrs. Whitehead was retarded or mentally ill. Her response was no, I don't think so. Her response was no. As a matter of fact, she was my companion. There has been no testimony by any experts or anyone in my judgment that would indicate that this girl was retarded or mentally ill. She was strange, I can see that. Her actions on the witness stand were weird. But there are a lot of us who act weird. Doesn't necessarily mean that we are retarded. 47 It was no evidence that she could not observe, recall and narrate. There was no evidence of that. There was no evidence whatsoever that she could not observe, did not observe what took place that night and could not narrate that. Hostile. I think she was hostile. I would be. You would be. I think any average man, any reasonable person would be. If someone killed my mother, shot my mother, I would be hostile. I would feel like that person needed to be punished, whether he was right or wrong. I think this is the way she felt. 48 Throughout the trial, the prosecutor attempted to provide an excuse for Arie Mae's unfavorable demeanor on the witness stand by eliciting testimony attacking her mental capacity. 13 Thus, the district court found defense counsel's closing argument a reasonable tactical approach to combat the prosecutor's efforts. We agree. The record indicates that defense counsel's closing argument attempted to convey his belief that Arie Mae's demeanor was not justifiable because of any mental or perceptive handicap but was due to her hostility towards the accused. We are mindful of the fact that Arie Mae was the key witness in this case. We thus conclude that counsel's closing argument did not comprise ineffective assistance. 49 Apart from the errors complained of, the district court found that defense counsel's representation and preparation for trial was not otherwise deficient. He obtained a pre-trial release on bond for Adams. At least six conferences with Adams were held during which they discussed potential defenses. Counsel plea bargained with the prosecutor and obtained an offer of eight years for a lesser included offense. Adams adamantly refused to plead to the offense or a lesser included offense and requested a trial on the merits of the murder charge. Counsel or his investigator went to the scene of the crime, interviewed neighbors and police, and attempted to locate character witnesses. Finally, Adams's counsel spoke with the district attorney and reviewed the state's file.