Opinion ID: 77172
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Neville Butler's Polygraph

Text: 51 The first Brady claim relates to a polygraph exam taken by the government's principle witness, Neville Butler. Maharaj contends that the State did not disclose the polygraph examiner's written report that details his conclusions regarding Butler's truthfulness. The record reveals that after Butler was initially deposed, the State asked him to sit for a polygraph examination. The polygrapher asked Butler questions about the events leading up to the murders, what actually happened in the hotel room, and what occurred after Butler and Maharaj left the hotel room. All told, Butler was asked eleven questions. 3 52 In his written report, the examiner concluded that Butler was truthful in answering eight of the eleven questions. As for questions four and six, concerning whether Butler knew Derrick Moo Young was going to be shot before the incident occurred and whether Butler told the complete truth about the shooting incident, the examiner opined that the results were ambiguous and inconclusive. Finally, as to question ten — whether Maharaj remained in a car for two and a half hours following the shooting — the examiner concluded that Butler's response was indicative of deception. In the opinion of the examiner, however, Butler truthfully answered each question that related to the actual events that occurred in the hotel room during the confrontation between Maharaj and the Moo Youngs and to the actual shootings. 53 The State did not produce the examiner's opinion to Maharaj. It did, however, send a letter to the defendant before trial that stated: 54 As you are aware, the State's eyewitness to this homicide, Neville Butler, has been polygraphed with reference to his knowledge of what transpired in the Dupont Plaza Hotel, room number 1215, on October 16, 1986. As I indicated to you previously, he passed with regard to the questions asked of him as to your client being the shooter in this matter as well as he not being armed or participating in the shootings of the Moo Youngs. However, questioning of Mr. Butler, prior to his polygraph examination and subsequent thereto, has resulted in my obligation under Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.220, to inform you that Mr. Butler had some material corrections and additions to make to the deposition testimony he has previously rendered to you. Therefore, please consider this letter as compliance with my obligation for continuing discovery and an invitation to you to redepose Mr. Butler at your convenience regarding events which occurred prior to the homicide as well as post-homicide. 55 Counsel for Maharaj did redepose Butler, at which time Butler admitted that he lied to police when he gave an initial statement and lied in his first deposition. Essentially, Butler conceded that he lied to police about his role in setting up the murders and about events that happened after the murders in an attempt to lessen his own involvement. Butler did not want to admit to police that he arranged for the meeting between Maharaj and the Moo Youngs at the Dupont Plaza Hotel, so he originally led the police to believe that Maharaj unexpectedly arrived at the hotel room. In fact, counsel for Maharaj cross-examined Butler extensively at trial on this point, and got him to admit on numerous occasions that he had repeatedly lied under oath in the course of this case. However, Butler's testimony describing the actual events that occurred in the hotel room — that portion of the story beginning when Maharaj walked into the room and ending when Maharaj and Butler exited to the elevator — remained consistent from his very first statement to the police through his testimony at trial. 56 Petitioner contends, nevertheless, that he should have been given the examiner's opinion. He asserted this claim on direct appeal and throughout the post-conviction proceedings. Maharaj does not argue that he was prevented at trial from introducing the examiner's opinion; indeed, Florida law prohibits the introduction of polygraph results absent the consent of both parties, see Walsh v. State, 418 So.2d 1000, 1002 (Fla.1982), and the trial judge in this case specifically prohibited the witness from making any mention of the polygraph in the course of his testimony. Instead, Maharaj suggests that if he had known about the results of the test, he could have impeached Butler concerning why he decided to come clean and testify truthfully. Butler says he did so because his conscience compelled him to tell the truth; Petitioner urges that it was because he was afraid of taking a polygraph test or because he knew he had failed the polygraph test. 57 On collateral review of the murder conviction, the Florida Supreme Court correctly recited the three components of a Brady violation as set forth by the Supreme Court in Strickler. Maharaj III, 778 So.2d at 953. It then found that there was no Brady violation because the defense had knowledge of the polygraph results and because Butler had not actually failed the test. 58 As for the finding that the defense had knowledge of the polygraph results, the district court noted that there was substantial evidence in the post-conviction record to indicate that the defense was not aware of the fact that Butler's answer to one of the questions was indicative of deception. But, the district court observed that even if it were to disagree with the Florida Supreme Court's conclusion, the state high court's finding was not an unreasonable one. 59 We agree. Initially, we note that the Florida Supreme Court did not apply a rule that contradicts governing Supreme Court case law. Moreover, we can find no Supreme Court case whose facts could be considered materially indistinguishable. Thus, the Florida Supreme Court's decision was not contrary to clearly established federal law. Furthermore, the Florida Supreme Court's decision was not an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law. Although there is no evidence to indicate that the State actually provided Petitioner with a copy of the examiner's opinion, it did inform Petitioner that the test occurred, that Butler truthfully answered the questions concerning the events in the hotel room, including the circumstances surrounding the shooting, that Butler had material corrections and additions to make to his previous deposition testimony, and that defense counsel might want to redepose Butler regarding events that occurred before and after the homicide. Defense counsel was free to ask Butler why he changed his story and to vigorously cross-examine him concerning the inconsistencies. The Florida Supreme Court's analysis under Brady was neither contrary to nor an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law. 60 Maharaj suggests, however, that he did not want the polygraph results so that he could publish the results to the jury. Rather, he claims the results support his theory that Butler changed his story when he was summoned to face a lie detector test, and that he only changed his story when caught lying by the polygrapher. When viewed in this light, Petitioner's claim must also be analyzed as a potential Giglio error, a type of Brady violation that occurs when the undisclosed evidence demonstrates that the prosecution's case includes perjured testimony and that the prosecution knew, or should have known, of the perjury. United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 103, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 2397, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976). 61 In order to prevail on a Giglio claim, a petitioner must establish that the prosecutor knowingly used perjured testimony, or failed to correct what he subsequently learned was false testimony, and that the falsehood was material. Tompkins v. Moore, 193 F.3d 1327, 1339 (11th Cir.1999) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted) (emphasis added). The Florida Supreme Court correctly noted this standard, Maharaj III, 778 So.2d at 956, and went on to reject Petitioner's claim because the defendant has failed to demonstrate that the statement was false or that the statement was material. Id. at 957. 62 In explaining why Butler's testimony was not false, the Florida Supreme Court said: 63 While the statement concerning an act of conscience may not be entirely true, there has been no showing that it was entirely false. The prosecutors testified at the evidentiary hearing that Butler voluntarily appeared at their office after being told that the State wanted to question him about some of his testimony. He was not given immunity and changes were made to the testimony prior to the polygraph. Neither prosecutor indicated that Butler changed any testimony as a result of the polygraph examination. The State opined Butler may have considered his change of testimony voluntary because he voluntarily appeared for further questioning. Based on this record, the State did not suborn perjury. 64 Id. 65 Again, we can find no Supreme Court case with materially indistinguishable facts. See Ventura v. Attorney Gen., 419 F.3d 1269, 1281 (11th Cir.2005) (noting that a Giglio analysis is a highly fact-dependent inquiry). Moreover, the Florida Supreme Court did not apply a rule that contradicts Supreme Court case law. The state court decision was not contrary to clearly established federal law on this point either. As for the application of that correctly-stated law, we have little difficulty concluding that it was reasonable for the Florida Supreme Court to find that Maharaj failed to establish that Butler's trial testimony was false. At trial, Butler testified in these terms: 66 Q: How is it that you decided to tell the truth about your own involvement in early March of 1987? 67 A: My consideration was the main factor is that I felt I was holding back when I shouldn't be and I remember that I called to come down to speak with your office and before I was able to start telling you, you started telling me that I had to ask for an appointment and then I came to tell you and as it happened, you started to question me and tell me that I had lied and I just told you the whole story, it was my consideration and you all persisted with your inquiry. 68 . . . 69 Q (On Cross-Examination): But it doesn't bother you to lie after having been sworn under oath to tell the truth, that's correct, right? 70 A: I explained earlier last week the circumstances under which I felt I was protecting myself and the reasons for the things I said and I voluntarily agreed to correct the wrongs I had — statements I had made when I approached the District Attorney, State Attorney and told him about it. 71 There is nothing to indicate the reasons offered for Butler's decision to come clean were other than what he said at trial. Petitioner's belief that the decision to tell the truth was based on a fear of the lie detector test or perhaps fear of the results of that test is speculative. In the Giglio context, the suggestion that a statement may have been false is simply insufficient; the defendant must conclusively show that the statement was actually false. See Moon v. Head, 285 F.3d 1301, 1315 (11th Cir.2002); Brown v. Head, 272 F.3d 1308, 1317-18 (11th Cir.2001). The Florida Supreme Court's determination that Butler's stated reason for changing his testimony was not false was neither contrary to nor an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law. 72 Moreover, the Florida Supreme Court determined that the statement was not material, finding that the failure to clarify Butler's reason for the change of testimony would not have affected the jury's verdict. See Maharaj III, 778 So.2d at 957. The district court agreed, finding that 73 [i]n this instance, there is no reasonable likelihood that the revelation that Butler's change in testimony may not have been based entirely on his own initiative would have affected the judgment of the jury. The important aspect of the change in story was that Butler had shown that he was willing to lie under oath, that he had lied because of concern regarding how his involvement would be regarded by the prosecutors, and that he had told inconsistent stories at various times. That is, it was primarily Butler's change in testimony, rather than the impetus for the change, that would have been important to the jury, and this was all effectively brought out in cross-examination and closing arguments. Moreover, if he did in fact change his story only because of the polygraph examination, that jury never would have learned this, since the judge had specifically warned Butler against mentioning the polygraph exam during his testimony. 74 We agree with the Florida Supreme Court and the district court that, even if Maharaj had established that Butler's testimony was false (which he did not), the falsehood was not material. Butler was thoroughly and vigorously cross-examined about the inconsistencies in his accounts, and Maharaj's counsel elicited testimony from Butler that he had lied under oath. Moreover, Maharaj's trial counsel was not prevented from asking Butler why he changed his story; indeed, he asked him that very question in the second deposition. There is no reasonable likelihood that the revelation that Butler's change in testimony may not have been based entirely on his own initiative could have affected the judgment of the jury. See Ventura, 419 F.3d at 1277-78 (noting that a statement is material under Giglio if there is any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the judgment of the jury). The Florida Supreme Court's resolution of Maharaj's claims concerning the polygraph report, under both Brady and Giglio, was neither contrary to nor an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law.