Opinion ID: 885231
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Ineffective Assistance Due to Prejudicial Errors

Text: ¶ 39 Petitioner contends that John S. Forsythe, his attorney for purposes of his trial and direct appeal, committed two prejudicial errors which denied him the right to effective assistance of counsel. Petitioner maintains that he was prejudiced by Forsythe's failure to use available impeachment evidence from Lester Kills On Top's trial which would have demonstrated that Bull Coming controlled the other participants in the crimes. Petitioner also insists that he was prejudiced by Forsythe's failure to fully challenge Bull Coming's testimony. In order to succeed, Petitioner must establish that Forsythe made errors so serious that he was not functioning as the `counsel' guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment, and he must establish that he was prejudiced by Forsythe's allegedly deficient performance. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. at 2064. 1. Impeachment Evidence ¶ 40 Petitioner claims that Forsythe failed to use the trial transcript from Lester Kills On Top's trial to challenge witnesses in his trial. Petitioner refers us to the following impeachment evidence which he claims Forsythe erroneously failed to introduce and which caused him prejudice: (1) Bull Coming's testimony in Lester Kills On Top's trial that Lester beat her up at the Golden West Bar was impeached by the testimony of Steve Hathaway who testified that he saw Bull Coming hitting Lester Kills On Top; (2) Bull Coming testified in Lester Kills On Top's trial that Lester shoved her out of the door at the Golden West Bar while Jenelle Eads testified that she saw blood on Lester's face; (3) at Petitioner's trial Bull Coming denied speaking to Etchemendy before he got into the vehicle driven by Petitioner, while Bull Coming told the FBI she had talked to Etchemendy in the Golden West Bar parking lot; and (4) Lavonne Quiroz testified at Lester Kills On Top's trial that Bull Coming was mad at Doretta Four Bear for running away while in Ashland, Montana. Petitioner insists that this impeachment evidence demonstrates that Bull Coming controlled the other defendants including [himself]. ¶ 41 We agree with the District Court that Petitioner has failed to establish that, by reason of these alleged omissions, Forsythe's performance was so deficient as to fall outside the wide range of reasonable professional assistance. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. at 2065. As the State observes, the testimony to which Petitioner has directed our attention has no evidentiary significance with regard to his guilt or innocence. Whether Bull Coming hit Lester Kills On Top in the Golden West Bar; whether she shoved Lester Kills On Top out the door of the Golden West Bar; whether she first talked to Etchemendy in the parking lot or in the vehicle; or whether she was angry at Doretta Four Bear for running away does not tend to disprove that Petitioner participated in or was accountable for the aggravated kidnaping and robbery of Etchemendy which resulted in his death. Moreover, this evidence does not tend to establish that Bull Coming controlled the other defendants, including [him]. Petitioner has not proven that by failing to introduce this evidence, Forsythe's performance was so deficient that he was not functioning as the `counsel' guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. at 2064. 2. Failure to Challenge Bull Coming's Testimony ¶ 42 Petitioner contends that Forsythe committed prejudicial error by failing to fully challenge Bull Coming's testimony. Petitioner insists that Forsythe failed to investigate Bull Coming's background, the circumstances of her plea bargain, her prior acts of violence, her criminal background, her history of manipulation, and her history of prostitution. The District Court concluded that Forsythe's investigation into Bull Coming's background was of reasonable breadth and was adequate to allow Forsythe to pursue his strategy of minimizing Petitioner's involvement in this criminal episode. The court also noted that Petitioner did not establish prejudice in this regard because, at most, such information would have merely tended to portray Bull Coming as a greater actor in the criminal episode than she testified to at Petitioner's trial-a fact that would have made no difference in view of Petitioner's liability for Etchemendy's kidnaping, robbery, and death regardless of the precise nature of each accomplice's contribution to the criminal episode. We agree. ¶ 43 This ineffective assistance claim is essentially the same as Petitioner's Brady claims. The test for prejudice under Strickland is the sames the test for materiality under Brady. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068. As we stated above in our discussion of Petitioner's Brady claims, had Bull Coming's testimony been completely discredited or excluded entirely, an overwhelming abundance of accomplice testimony and corroborative evidence established that Petitioner participated in the series of events which led to Etchemendy's kidnaping, robbery, and death. Petitioner was not prejudiced by any alleged error Forsythe may have committed in his investigation of Bull Coming's background.