Opinion ID: 1781175
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: buddy minster evidence

Text: Phillips argues that her counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and present evidence during guilt phase that her son, Buddy Minster, killed and dismembered Plaster. Part of this evidence includes opinions as to Buddy's bad temper; Buddy's employment both as a butcher and in the euthanasia room of the Humane Society; Buddy's possession of scissors that he claimed could be used to dismember a body and butcher tools; Buddy's passing of a bad check; his prior alcohol and drug abuse; and his prior criminal record. These matters are not relevant to any issue in the case, and they pertain, instead, to Buddy's character, or rather bad character. Other evidence, however, consists of statements made by Buddy implicating him in the crime. He allegedly said that his mother had been missing from their apartment for several days the week of the murder, that his mother was taking the fall, and that he passed a lie detector test even though he was lying. These statements, even taken at face value, do not exonerate Phillips, as they do not even suggest that she was not involved in the murder. The point is denied.