Opinion ID: 1119911
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Further Action Competent Counsel Would Have Undertaken

Text: The referee found: Competent counsel would have taken further action by conducting interviews with members of petitioner's family who lived in El Pilon, such as Elena, Maria Elena, and Rigoberto Marquez.... Competent counsel would also have followed up additional investigation leads regarding potential witnesses outside the immediate family circle, such as Jesus Abarca, the keeper of the peace, and Jesus Serrano, petitioner's brother-in-law ..., and other townpeople.... In sum, the townspeople of El Pilon, including family friends, and neighbors, were obvious potential witnesses in support of an alibi defense, and competent counsel would have interviewed a sufficient number of them to determine if their testimony was helpful and whether it significantly strengthened the defense as a whole. The referee rejected counsel's excuse that Ana Maria Llamas had not provided him with street addresses of potential witnesses in El Pilon, noting that while the streets of El Pilon had no names or numbers, everyone in the village knew everyone else. The referee went on to find that competent counsel would have interviewed witnesses not only as to their general recollections, but whether they could relate their memories to specific datable events. In the present case, a church festival in February 1981 and the marriage of petitioner's brother Rigoberto in April 1981 bracket the date of the Hernandez murder (Mar. 15, 1981) and provide a basis for testimony concerning petitioner's presence in El Pilon.