Opinion ID: 2581123
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: case's testimony

Text: {28} Case testified at the habeas hearing that he too had perjured himself at trial based on what he heard at trial. He said that he met with his attorney three days before his trial, and that his attorney told Case that he was unable to find any alibi witnesses for him. Case claimed that he had been to Six Mile Dam with these people in the past, but he had not been there on New Year's Day. During the trial, and not during the meeting three days before trial, Case told his attorney that he was in fact there on New Year's Day. It was not originally part of the trial strategy for him to testify during his trial. Case's attorney testified during the habeas hearing that a few days before trial, he met with his client and advised him that he did not have the witnesses to support his alibi defense. It was during this meeting that Case told his attorney to what he would ultimately testify at trial, and when they agreed that Case would in fact testify during trial. {29} Turning next to the trial, immediately after the prosecution made their opening statement, Case's attorney told the jury that Case would indeed testify, describing in detail what information Case's testimony would include. Early in his testimony, Case testified about an event at the Sound Castle, a local teenage hangout, when Worley tried to pull Mitchell from Case's car. He said that as a result he had to slap Worley around. Worley left and then returned with a shotgun, threatening to kill Case. {30} Regarding the events on New Year's Day, he testified that Brown and Worley picked him up at about 10:00 to 10:30. They drove to the Sound Castle, where they picked up Dunlap, and then drove to the Carlsbad Inn, where they picked up Tweedy and Mitchell. They drove for a while and then went to Six Mile Dam. Throughout this time, Worley was constantly pinching Mitchell on the breasts or butt, and she would slap him, but she was pretty much just laughing about it. {31} When they arrived at Six Mile Dam, everyone except Mitchell got out of the car and went to a platform on the dam. Worley went back to the car, and he and Mitchell were joking when he back-handed Mitchell. Case testified that Mitchell told Worley that she needed to go to the bathroom, but Worley would not let her go. He kept wrestling with her on the hood of the car, trying to pull off her shirt. Worley and Mitchell ended up back in the car, so Case went back to the dam because he didn't want any part of this. While this was happening, he saw headlights approaching, so he walked back up toward the car from the dam and told Worley to straighten up, it might be the law. Worley had taken Mitchell's top off. Case walked up to see who had arrived. He recognized Knight, and he told her, Look, stay in your truck and go on back to town. He did not want Knight to see what Worley and Mitchell were doing. Mitchell and Worley stayed in the car for another five to ten minutes. Mitchell was drunk when she got out of the car, and said she still had to go to the bathroom. Halfway down the embankment, she tumbled and rolled the rest of the way to the bottom. Case did not think that the fall was enough to injure anybody. Worley called for her but she did not answer. The boys got back in the car and left her there because Worley did not want to give her a ride back to town. Case testified that he did not see anyone have sexual intercourse with Mitchell that night. Although he verified the presence of Dunlap and Knight, Case testified that Autry was not there. He also admitted during direct examination that he had lied to the police about the last time he had seen Mitchell and his claim that he hadn't been hanging around Worley and the other boys. {32} During cross-examination, he acknowledged telling the police that both Worley and Brown were capable of rape and murder. When the police were investigating Mitchell's death, Case told them to look specifically to Worley, but he did not tell the police what he told the jury about her accidental fall, because he did not want to get involved or have his reputation ruined. Case also admitted that when he saw Worley strike Mitchell, he believed Worley intended to have sexual intercourse with her.