Opinion ID: 1670792
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: recanted testimony of larry underhill

Text: The Appellant next argues that he is entitled to a new trial on the basis of the recanted testimony of Larry Underhill, a prosecution witness. We find no merit in this argument. The prosecutor called Underhill for the narrow purpose of eliciting testimony that Housler, while the two were incarcerated in Montgomery County Jail in December 1995, asked about redemption for sin after mentioning that he had done a terrible thing by committing the Taco Bell robbery and the murders himself. The prosecutor admitted to the trial judge that he was not comfortable with most of what Underhill told him outside of court, but that since other witnesses could corroborate Housler's asking about redemption, he believed that he could present this specific portion of Underhill's testimony to the jury in good faith. After the Appellant's convictions, Underhill recanted his testimony, saying that a chance encounter he claimed to have had later at the Turney Center Prison with Courtney Mathews, who told him that Housler had nothing to do with the crimes, led him to realize that his recollection of the conversation with Housler was a hallucination. He further claimed that he wrote a letter to the prosecutor explaining his recantation; however, the prosecutor said he never received any such letter. Underhill had a history of drug and alcohol abuse, mental health problems, and a lengthy criminal record all of which were revealed to the jury on cross-examination at Housler's trial. A new trial may be granted because of recanted testimony when (1) the trial judge is reasonably well-satisfied that the testimony given by a material witness was false and that the new testimony is true; (2) the defendant was reasonably diligent in discovering the new evidence, was surprised by false testimony, or was unable to know of the falsity until after the trial; and (3) the jury might have reached a different conclusion had the truth been told. State v. Mixon, 983 S.W.2d 661, 666 (Tenn.1999). We hold that the first and third prongs of the Mixon test are not satisfied here. First, although the trial judge made no formal findings about the first prong, he presumably found Underhill's recantation not credible, since a new trial was not ordered. We see no reason to disagree with this conclusion, which was also shared by the appeals court. The Appellant presents no evidence to support Underhill's claim that he talked with Mathews after the Housler trial. Moreover, the letter Underhill claimed to have sent to the prosecutor was not received. Concerning Mixon's third prong, even were we to conclude that Underhill's recantation is credible, we think it highly doubtful that the trial court would have acquitted Housler on this basis because Underhill's testimony had only minor significance and was also corroborated and cumulative. Housler is not entitled to a new trial on the basis of Underhill's recantation.