Opinion ID: 65379
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Failure to Interview Important Witnesses in Advance of Trial

Text: Finally, the district court concluded that Davis's failure to interview Oakley, Qualls, Brown before trial, as well as her failure to interview Thomas and Fornier before the day of the trial, was constitutionally deficient performance. [9] Davis stated in her affidavit that because the prosecution's witnesses were not made available to the defense it was nearly impossible to interview them before trial, but that she did speak to them in the courthouse before their testimony. However, questions by Davis at trial clearly establish that she had never spoken with Oakley, Brown, or Qualls before they took the witness stand. Moreover, although Davis suggested at the evidentiary hearing that her investigator had contacted the prosecution's witnesses, this is not mentioned in her affidavit. Nor does Davis's trial notebook contain any notes or other evidence that these interviews took place, and Davis's testimony as to the existence and fate of any such notes or other evidence is confused and difficult to credit. In addition, although Davis testified at the evidentiary hearing that her statement in her affidavit that it was nearly impossible to interview the prosecution's witnesses before trial referred to the fact that she could not force those witnesses to cooperate with her, she also stated that he could not recall any witness not cooperating with her investigator. Although the State argues that these inconsistencies are the result of Davis's nervousness and lack of recall, based on the sizeable contradictions between Davis's testimony in her affidavit and at the evidentiary hearing, the lack of any sort of evidence of pre-trial interviews in Davis's trial materials, as well as Davis's often aimless questioning of witnesses at trial, we agree with the district court that Davis's pretrial investigation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and was constitutionally inadequate. See Anderson v. Johnson, 338 F.3d 382, 391 (5th Cir.2003) (Guided by Strickland, we have held that counsel's failure to interview eyewitnesses to a charged crime constitutes constitutionally deficient representation. (quotation omitted)); see also ABA Criminal Justice Standard 4-4.1(a) (Defense counsel should conduct a prompt investigation of the circumstances of the case and explore all avenues leading to facts relevant to the merits of the case and the penalty in the event of conviction. The investigation should include efforts to secure information in the possession of the prosecution and law enforcement authorities. The duty to investigate exists regardless of the accused's admissions or statements to defense counsel of facts constituting guilt or the accused's stated desire to plead guilty.). Moreover, given the fundamental importance of adequate pre-trial investigation, we again agree that the state court's decision was an unreasonable application of Strickland, and further that the state court's contrary factual findings have been rebutted by clear and convincing evidence. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d), (e)(1).