Opinion ID: 6108254
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Proposed Witness Testimony about Events Prior to the Murder

Text: Collings's ninth point on appeal contends the motion court erred in denying his claim that trial counsel were ineffective in failing to investigate and call Joni Blake, another of Spears's neighbors, as a witness during the guilt phase. At the evidentiary hearing, Blake said Spears lived catty-corner directly behind her and she could see the front of his home from hers, although she admitted to not personally knowing him. On November 2, Blake and two co-workers were on their way to work between 10 and 11 p.m. and stopped at a convenience store. Blake testified she stayed in the car and saw Spears sitting in the back of a gray car, possibly a Mercury or Lincoln, with Arkansas license plates in the parking lot. She noted he was shirtless despite it being a cold November evening. Collings, whom Blake had never met, came out of the store and sat in the passenger seat. Blake testified Collings gave her and her co-workers a weird look that made them uncomfortable. When she returned home at 7:30 a.m. the next day, she saw the same gray car in Spears's driveway. Blake was later interviewed by the FBI, but she was never contacted by Collings's defense team. At the evidentiary hearing, Mahurin testified he was with Collings and Spears the evening of November 2 and was driving a 1996 green Eagle Vision. Further, when asked if the car had Arkansas license plates, Mahurin replied, Not that I'm aware of. Mahurin admitted to buying alcohol at the convenience store multiple times that evening. His testimony at the evidentiary hearing was substantially similar to his trial testimony, except he did not state the color of his car at trial. His trial counsel testified to having received the report of the FBI's interview with Blake. Both attorneys, however, stated there was no strategy for choosing not to interview Blake. Because Blake's testimony would have conflicted with Mahurin's, Collings argues his trial counsel was ineffective in not calling her as a witness. As explained above, a movant claiming ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to call a specific witness during trial requires the movant to prove the proposed witness's testimony would have provided a viable defense. Davis , 486 S.W.3d at 909 . Collings has not shown that Blake's proposed testimony would have provided a viable defense. At the evidentiary hearing, Blake did not recall the license plates but said she probably told the FBI at the time if that is what the report indicated. Mahurin, too, was equivocal at the hearing: when asked if the green Eagle Vision had Arkansas license plates, he replied, Not that I'm aware of. Additionally, Collings failed to prove the car color could have been perceived differently or that Blake could have mistaken Spears's mother's green vehicle that Ford's mother drove to work the morning of November 3 for the vehicle she saw the night before. Everyone agreed Collings, Spears, and Mahurin were out buying alcohol at that time of  night. As a result, there is not a reasonable probability that any potential discrepancies in the exact description of the vehicle would have undercut the otherwise corroborating testimony concerning the November 2 activities of the three men. The motion court did not clearly err in denying this claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.