Opinion ID: 762565
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Effectiveness of Trial Counsel

Text: 146 Mapes identifies four errors allegedly committed by his trial counsel: (1) failing to conduct any investigation into mitigation factors; (2) failing to object to the trial judge's misleading jury instructions and the trial judge's erroneous response to the sentencing jury's questions; (3) having no trial strategy other than being rude and abusive; and (4) failing to request a lesser-included-offense instruction. 147 In order to establish a Sixth Amendment violation, it must be shown both that counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, and his deficiencies prejudiced the defendant. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 698, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). In considering the second, prejudice prong of its test, the Strickland Court noted that even professionally unreasonable errors do[ ] not warrant setting aside the judgment of a criminal proceeding if the error[s] had no effect on the judgment. Id. at 691, 104 S.Ct. 2052. But see United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 104 S.Ct. 2039, 80 L.Ed.2d 657 (1984). Except in certain limited circumstances, ineffectiveness claims alleging a deficiency in attorney performance are subject to a general requirement that the defendant affirmatively prove prejudice. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 693, 104 S.Ct. 2052. The Court explained, that to do so, 148 [i]t is not enough for the defendant to show that the errors had some conceivable effect on the outcome of the proceeding. Virtually every act or omission of counsel would meet that test, and not every error that conceivably could have influenced the outcome undermines the reliability of the result of the proceeding.... 149 On the other hand, we believe that a defendant need not show that counsel's deficient conduct more likely than not altered the outcome in the case.... 150 . . . . . 151 ... [T]he appropriate test for prejudice finds its roots in the test for materiality of exculpatory information not disclosed to the defense by the prosecution, and in the test for materiality of testimony made unavailable to the defense by Government deportation of a witness. The defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome. 152 Id. at 693-94, 104 S.Ct. 2052 (citations omitted). 153 The issues regarding counsel's performance during the guilt phase of Mapes's trial may be dismissed on the basis that the evidence of Mapes's guilt was overwhelming. That is, even assuming that trial counsel was not reasonably effective, Mapes can establish no prejudice. There is almost no chance that the verdict would have been different but for counsel's allegedly defective performance. Mapes admitted to taking part in the robbery, he was identified by eyewitnesses as the person who shot Allen, and corroborating evidence was admitted indicating he was the shooter. In light of this, there is no reasonable probability that different actions or a different strategy by counsel could have avoided a guilty verdict. 154 Mapes also fails to show any prejudice arising from counsel's alleged failure to obtain mitigation evidence besides that relating to the New Jersey killing. Mapes claims that counsel did no investigation in this regard, but the sworn statements he has produced as support for this contention merely show that certain persons were not contacted. Mapes does not indicate why these persons should have been contacted, or what mitigating evidence they would have supplied if they had been. He does not show that there was any mitigating evidence overlooked by trial counsel, let alone whether the discovery of such evidence would probably have inclined the jury to eschew a death-sentence recommendation. 155 On the other hand, the issue regarding the development of the New Jersey evidence is close. Under the Ohio statute, a capital defendant found guilty of a death specification has to present some mitigating evidence in order to avoid the death penalty. If a jury has nothing to weigh against the aggravating circumstance, it almost certainly must find that the aggravating circumstance outweighs the (nonexistent) mitigating circumstances, and recommend death. 156 The only evidence actually presented by trial counsel that could have saved Mapes from a death sentence was Mapes's unsworn statement that he was not the triggerman in New Jersey. However, it appears that other evidence was available to corroborate Mapes's unsworn contention. That is, the record suggests that a man named Elliott Hampton was the triggerman in New Jersey. For instance, Hampton himself states that he is serving a life sentence after being convicted as the triggerman in that crime. And, another New Jersey accomplice states that Hampton, not Mapes, shot the New Jersey victim. Mapes's Ohio accomplice, Rodney Newton, has recanted his trial testimony that Mapes admitted being the New Jersey triggerman. Finally, although it is not in the record, the New Jersey police report purportedly concludes that Hampton, not Mapes, was the shooter. In his habeas petition, Mapes has provided the affidavits of three Ohio Public Defender Commission investigators who have sworn that they reviewed the police report and that it indicates Hampton was the triggerman. 157 Certainly, trial counsel must commit a serious error to be judged unconstitutionally ineffective. However, when a client faces the prospect of being put to death unless counsel obtains and presents something in mitigation, minimal standards require some investigation. The record indicates no such efforts by Mapes's counsel. And, even the little mitigation presented--Mapes's unsworn statement--could have been significantly corroborated by the evidence later gathered by Mapes's present counsel. There is no reason to believe this evidence was not available to trial counsel. Admittedly, whether Mapes was or was not the triggerman in the New Jersey killing is slim evidence of mitigation, but it is something. And what is most important, it was Mapes's only shield from a death sentence. Moreover, the New Jersey murder conviction was what made Mapes eligible for the death penalty in the first place. Therefore, the evidence that he was not the shooter was certainly relevant as to his overall culpability. One is left with the strong impression that trial counsel, after hearing the guilty verdict with the death specifications, merely threw up his hands and conceded that his client would be put to death. 158 As we concluded above, the jury was wrongly precluded from even considering Mapes's unsworn statement concerning the New Jersey homicide as mitigating whether he deserved execution; it was erroneously required to reach unanimity on the death recommendation before considering a life sentence; and there is a good possibility that the sentencing jury was not, in fact, unanimous. Thus, when these errors are considered together with trial counsel's failure to investigate any mitigating factors, prejudice is almost self-evident. 159 To reiterate, however, this error too has been forfeited by Mapes's failure to raise it on appeal. It is relevant only insofar as it bears on the question whether appellate counsel was unconstitutionally ineffective in failing to raise it, an issue we turn to now.