Opinion ID: 8487230
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Best’s Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Claim

Text: The trial court sentenced Best to life imprisonment without' release. During the pendency of his direct appeal, Best filed a D.C. Code § 23-110 (2012 Repl.) motion for a new .trial alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Specifically, Best alleged that his trial counsel, Michael O’Keefe, Esq., 35 provided constitutionally ineffective assistance by failing to file a motion to suppress Best’s videotaped interrogation by MPD detectives. The videotape included a conversation he had with his mother, Laverne Best, in which he may have communicated, non-verbally, that he was culpable. Best claimed that the lead detective, Detective Anthony Patterson, violated his Miranda rights by asking him questions about the shootings after he had invoked his right to counsel. He also claimed in his motion that Ms. Best’s subsequent conversation with him was the “functional equivalent” of police interrogation. Accordingly, Best’s motion argued that Mr. O’Keefe should have filed a motion to suppress the video and Ms. Best’s derivative grand jury testimony regarding her conversation with Best, and that his failure to do so was not harmless, because a motion to suppress would have been meritorious. The trial court convened a hearing on the ineffective assistance of counsel claim and, upon hearing the evidence, denied Best’s motion on the basis that (1) Mr. O’Keefe made a strategic decision not to file a motion to suppress, (2) in any event, Ms. Best’s conversation with Best was not the functional equivalent of interrogation and therefore not subject to the strictures of Miranda, and, (3) even if the challenged evidence should have been excluded, the additional evidence against Best was overwhelming and therefore he suffered no prejudice from its admission. Best filed a collateral appeal of the trial court’s denial of his motion, which we have consolidated with his direct appeal and the direct appeals of his co-defendants.
The footage of the police’s interrogation of Best is available to us on appeal. On April 26, 2010, the United States Marshals Service arrested Best and brought him before MPD Detectives Oliver Garvey and Anthony Patterson. The detectives read him his rights and presented him with a PD-47 card, whereupon Best invoked his right to silence and to an attorney. In response, Detective Garvey explained to Best that they could no longer speak to him about the case. Detective Patterson asked Best whether he knew what he was being charged with, and Best replied that, “The warrant said murder.” Detective Garvey told Best that he was charged with five counts of first-degree murder, to which Best asked, “How you get five counts of murder?” Because Best had already invoked his rights, however, the detectives told him that they could not discuss the case with him any further, but stated that, “In a few minutes if you feel comfortable enough, you can always ask if you want to talk to us. But right now, we can’t talk to you because you already said you don’t want to talk to us.” The detectives then left Best by himself in the interrogation room for about thirty minutes. Detective Patterson then returned to ask Best if he needed to use the restroom. Best said he did and the detective escorted him to the restroom. This fifteen-minute restroom break was not recorded on camera, and it was during this break that Best claimed in his § 23-110 motion that Detective Patterson sought to reinitiate a conversation with Best about the case, in violation of Miranda. Best alleged that, as he was washing his hands, Detective Patterson approached him and encouraged him to talk about the shootings, telling him something to the effect of, “Come on man, let’s talk. I’m the head detective on the Alabama Avenue shooting. I’ll tell you something, then you tell me something.” Best also claims that Detective Patterson told him that he knew Best fired the shotgun on Alabama Avenue, but that he did not intend to hurt anyone, and that Simms was in police custody and was already talking. The police recording captured Best and Detective Patterson as they re-entered the interrogation room. When Detective Patterson turned to leave, Best stopped him and told the detective that he was willing to talk to him, and that it could be recorded. Detective Patterson, assisted by Detective Susan Blue, then re-informed Best of his Miranda rights, and Best waived his rights on the record. The detectives interrogated Best for about three hours on his role in the shootings, but Best repeatedly denied the accusations and did not give any inculpating statements. The detectives then tried a different approach. After Best vocalized his concern that his family had “turned their back” on him, Detective Blue confronted Best regarding rumors that he was suicidal. Detective Blue asked, “Would it help you any if we got your mother down here so you could talk to her?” Best responded, “I do want to talk to my mom.” Detective Blue replied: Okay. Because I don’t want your mother to, you know, the last thing she pretty much remember her child saying is he want to kill himself and you know you go away, and God forbid, whatever because I’m telling you until your heart feel better, you ain’t going to be better. Until you put your heart in a better place you not going to be better. Until you clear your conscience, and you know what? It is what it is, God forgive me, whatever you got to say to make yourself get over that hurdle, until you do it, you’re not going to feel better. You can sit here and listen to us all day long. We can tell you the best advice we know, but until you do the right thing yourself, you’re not going to get no better, and I will go ahead and call your mother personally. Does she know you got locked up? You don’t even know. Okay. I’ll call her myself and tell her that you’re here and see what we can do to get her down here so you get a chance to see her, all right? But I want you to really consider doing the right thing. Best provided Detective Blue with his mother’s number and the Detective called Ms. Best and told Best that she was on her way. Prior to Ms. Best’s arrival, Best admitted that he had suicidal thoughts, and stated that his mother was the “one person I know will never leave my side.” Ms. Best arrived and had a brief one-on-one conversation with Best. She asked if he was there “when they did that,” to which Best whispered something to Ms. Best and directed his mother’s attention to the camera in the room. Detective Blue then re-entered the room and asked Best “to help your mother understand why you’re not doing the right thing.” Ms. Best told Detective Blue that she did not care “what you put out there about him,” but also told Best not to cover for his “so called” friends and to “clear” himself, stating, “If you didn’t do nothing, be a man about it.” Ms. Best also told Best that the poliee had been searching through her home. Detective Blue, likewise, told Best to cut his friends loose and to worry about the “people who worry about you.” Detective Blue then gave Ms. Best and Best another two minutes of one-on-one time. When Detective Blue left the room, Ms. Best told Best, “She’s right, Jeff, I— you didn’t — you didn’t.” She also asked, “You didn’t hurt no one, hmm, hmm, did you? Huh? So that’s true out there? Huh?” Best, in response to this question, gestured with his head. Ms. Best then- asked whether it was because of Orlando’s shooting, at which point Best cried and asked for a hug. They hugged and said they loved each other. Ms. Best then said, “[S]ee what Orlando, see what he got you into” and Best said, “Mom. Mom.” After Ms. Best left, the detectives continued to interview Best, but he continued to deny involvement in the shootings. Accordingly, the only' inculpating statement from the police video is the head movement by Best in response to Ms. Best’s question as to whether what the police were saying was “true out there.”
The trial court conducted a § 23-110 hearing on August 20, 24, and 25, 2015, and ruled on September 1, 2015. Best’s sole witness was himself — -he testified that Detective Patterson engaged him in conversation about the shootings during his bathroom break after he had already invoked his right to silence and counsel. According to Best, Detective Patterson told him that he would “tell me something, that he wanted me to tell him something in return and then he told me that I played a part [in] the Alabama Avenue shooting.” In response, Best told the detective that he was willing to speak to him. As for his conversation with his mother, Best admitted that he wanted to speak to his mother, but stated that he believed the reason Detective Blue brought his mother to the room was, “To get me to do the right thing. Basically [to] get me to confess or corroborate.” Best also testified that he felt “upset, confused, — a lot of things” after Ms. Best appeared to agree with Detective Blue’s assertion that. he was involved in the shooting, stating it felt, “Like my mother turned her back on me.” As for Mr. O’Keefe’s knowledge of Best’s alleged conversation with Detective Patterson during the bathroom break, Best explained that he did not speak to Mr. O’Keefe about the incident prior to trial, and that he only informed him that it had happened “after [he] got [his] mother[’s] grand jury statements.” He knew that he “had to come up ... with something to try to get this video out.” Specifically, Best admitted that, with the help of ■a “jailhouse lawyer,” Thomas Jones, they drafted a motion alleging that Detectivé Patterson had engaged in a conversation with Best after he.had already invoked his rights, and that this was a violation of Miranda. Best then provided the motion to Mr. O’Keefe, but Mr. O’Keefe did not present any arguments before the court regarding the motion. The government called Mr. O’Keefe to the stand.- He testified that, once the government was permitted to use Ms. Best’s grand jury testimony, which the government claimed showed that Best had confessed to Ms. Best, he thought the best course of action was to show the video to the jury himself, “so they could see that [Best was not confessing], and that her testimony is, in fact, misleading.” Further, he explained that he read Best’s proposed motion to. suppress, but was immediately suspicious of it because it was “written in the third person ... it talked about ‘your client.'”’ Mr. O’Keefe also found it “very strange” -that he “hadn’t. heard this fact before” after spending a lot of time with Best (“I went to the jail .many, many times.”) and talking about “every aspect” of his case. And that, “now for the first time, almost two years after first getting involved in the case ... there is this conversation with Detective Patterson out in the hallway that was different than what was represented originally when we went over the video,” Mr. O’Keefe explained that “sometimes people in trial start to change their stories when they get nervous” and “they- start to make things up.” Accordingly, Mr. O’Keefe did not credit the prepared motion and did not believe that he “could ethically advance this argument that, in fact, something happened out there that” he did not' believe actually happened. The government also called Detective Patterson, who denied initiating any substantive conversation with Best during the bathroom break; He did admit, however, that he was not “100 percent” sure that absolutely no conversation took place, but maintained that “whatever happened on the way back was initiated by [Best].” The trial court issued its oral findings on September 1 and denied Best’s ineffective assistance claim, stating, “it is clear to [the court] that Mr. O’Keefe’s decision not to file a motion to suppress based on Miranda, was not deficient under Strickland.” Accordingly, the trial court concluded' that it “need not resolve” the question of whether Detective Patterson attempted to re-initiate a conversation with Best after he had invoked his rights, thereby violating his 'Miranda rights. The court emphasized, however, that, “The fact that I have not resolved this issue does not indicate that I believe a Miranda violation occurred, I am just not deciding that issue.” The court credited Mr. O’Keefe’s testimony that Best had initially told him that he had waived his rights in the hopes of getting information from the police, and that Best only mentioned the bathroom encounter for the first time two years after Mr. O’Keefe started his representation. The court also credited Mr. O’Keefe’s testimony. that he found the .motion dubious because of the lateness of the representation and because the note was written in the third person. The court therefore found it “reasonable for Mr. O’Keefe to. decide against filing a motion to suppress based on a Miranda violation that he believed was fabricated and that someone reasonably could believe was fabricated.” The court further observed that “Mr. O’Keefe provided excellent representation to [Best] throughout this trial” and that “[t]his is not a situation where counsel did not know the law and as a consequence did not file a motion to suppress based on Miranda and Edwards.” 36 Alternatively, the trial court concluded that the “meeting between [Best] and his mother was not custodial interrogation for purposes of Miranda.” “Only state action implicates a defendant’s rights under the Fifth Améndment.” Lastly, even assuming deficient performance by Mr.-O’Keefe, the court found that “[t]he- case against Mr. Best was so compelling that he would have been convicted without his mother’s testimony about his statements and without the video tape of his meeting with her.” The court pointed to the testimony of Simms, whom the court described as “one of the best witnesses [the court] has observed' in over 20 years on the bench. His testimony in and of itself was powerful. He did not exaggerate. He did not minimize his own role.”, The court, further noted that Simms’s testimony was corroborated by other evidence, including, inter alia, a video of Best unsuccessfully attempting to rent a minivan on the night of the South Capitol Street murders, Best’s. DNA being found on the jacket tossed by one of the men who. escaped from the minivan after the shooting on South Capitol Street, Salazar’s testimony that Best had confessed to her of his involvement, and “very incriminating” telephone records establishing the relationships between the various appellants and suspicious calls made right .before and right .after the South Capitol Street shootings. The court also noted the weakness of Best’s misidentification argument, in light of the considerable incriminating evidence presented at trial. This collateral appeal followed.
Our standard of review of a trial court’s denial of an appellant’s ineffective assistance of trial counsel claim is well established. “We accept the judge’s factual findings unless they lack evidentiary support, but we review his or her legal conclusions de novo.” Derrington v. United States, 681 A.2d 1125, 1132 (D.C. 1996) (citation, internal quotation marks, brackets, and italics omitted). Under the two-part Strickland analysis, “[t]o prevail on his ineffective assistance of counsel claim ..., appellant must demonstrate [both] that his counsel’s performance was constitutionally deficient, and that the deficient performance prejudiced his defense.” Otts v. United States, 952 A.2d 156, 164 (D.C. 2008) (citing Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984)). First, [t]o establish constitutionally deficient performance, appellant must show that counsel’s “representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness.” Id. (quoting Strickland, supra, 466 U.S. at 688, 104 S.Ct. 2052) (internal quotation marks omitted). The proper measure of an attorney’s performance is “reasonableness under prevailing professional norms.” Cosío v. United States, 927 A.2d 1106, 1123 (D.C. 2007) (en banc) (quoting Strickland,, supra, 466 U.S. at 688, 104 S.Ct. 2052). Trial counsel is “strongly presumed to have rendered adequate assistance and made all significant decisions in the exercise of reasonable professional judgment.” Id. (quoting Strickland, supra, 466 U.S. at 690, 104 S.Ct. 2052). There are “countless ways to provide effective assistance in any given case,” so “judicial scrutiny of counsel’s performance must be highly deferential.” Id. (emphasis added) (quoting Strickland, supra, 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052). Further, “we must judge the reasonableness of counsel’s challenged conduct on the facts of the particular case, viewed as of the time of counsel’s conduct.” Otts, supra, 952 A.2d at 164 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Of course, reasonable performance “demands appropriate investigation and preparation by counsel.” Cosio, supra, 927 A.2d at 1123 (citation omitted). Accordingly, it would be “objectively unreasonable for defense counsel to make an uninformed decision about an important matter without justification for doing so.” Id. Second, even if appellant establishes that trial counsel’s performance was deficient, he must also prove that his case was prejudiced by the deficient performance. Otts, supra, 952 A.2d at 164. “To establish prejudice, appellant must show that ‘there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different.’ ” Id. (quoting Strickland, supra, 466 U.S. at 694,104 S.Ct. 2052).
Here, Best claims that counsel, Mr. O’Keefe, rendered ineffective assistance when he failed to file a motion to suppress during the middle of trial in response to Best’s new revelation that he was approached by Detective Patterson during the bathroom break. “To succeed on an ineffectiveness claim grounded • on counsel’s failure to file a suppression motion, it is the movant’s burden to show that a [Fifth] Amendment claim would have been successful.” (Ronald) Young v. United, States, 56 A.3d 1184, 1193 (D.C. 2012) (citations omitted). “[W]e must give deference to the trial court’s findings of fact as to the circumstances surrounding the appellant’s encounter with the police and uphold them unless they are clearly erroneous.” Id. at 1194 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). The trial court in this case did not make a factual finding on whether Detective Patterson actually initiated a conversation with Best off-camera during the bathroom break after Best had invoked his right to silence and counsel, in violation of Miranda. Best argues, however, that this court has the authority, for the first time on appeal, to make that factual finding because the only evidence presented points to the existence of such a conversation. However, “it is not our function to decide issues of fact.” Evans v. United States, 122 A.3d 876, 884 (D.C. 2015). Further, contrary to Best’s' claim, there was competing evidence on whether the Detective initiated a conversation with Best; Best claimed it happened, but Detective Patterson claimed that, at most, Best would have initiated the conversation. Regardless, although the trial court declined to make this factual finding, the court at the very least agreed that it was reasonable for Mr. O’Keefe not to have believed Best’s claim during the middle of trial that Detective Patterson sought to reinitiate a conversation after Best had invoked his Miranda rights. We conclude that the trial court did not err in concluding that Mr. O’Keefe’s decision not to file a motion to suppress during the middle of trial did not fall “below an objective standard of reasonableness.” Otts, supra, 952 A.2d at 164 (quoting Strickland, supra, 466 U.S. at 688, 104 S.Ct. 2052). Preliminarily, we conclude jdiat a motion to suppress the video and Ms. Best’s grand jury testimony during the middle of trial would have been considered waived by the trial court. “Objections to the admission of evidence are waived when they are not raised in a pretrial motion to suppress the evidence, ‘unless opportunity therefor did not exist or the defendant was not aware of the grounds for the motion.’ ” Simmons v. United States, 999 A.2d 898, 902 (D.C. 2010) (emphasis added) (citation omitted). Here, by Best’s own admission during the § 23-110 hearing, he did not inform Mr. O’Keefe of the bathroom conversation until after trial had commenced, even though he obviously was “aware, of the grounds for the motion.” Id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Accordingly, a motion to suppress during the middle of the trial based on Best’s new claim would have been considered waived and unsuccessful. Again, “it is the movant’s burden to show that a [Fifth] Amendment claim would have been successful.” (Ronald ) Young, supra, 56 A.3d at 1193. Even setting aside the procedural bar, however, Best cannot demonstrate that Mr. O’Keefe’s refusal to file a motion to suppress was unreasonable. This was not a case where counsel made “an uninformed decision about an important matter without justification for doing so.” Cosio, supra, 927 A.2d at 1123. On the contrary, Mr. O’Keefe explained in great detail why he declined to go forward with Best’s new Miranda claim. He explained that he had worked with Best for about two years up to that point, and that Best had never once mentioned a bathroom conversation with Detective Patterson. Further, the “motion” that Best presented to Mr. O’Keefe was written in the third person and was of dubious nature. Mr. O’Keefe also explained that it was common for defendants to become nervous as the trial grows closer and to make up new allegations. In addition, no police recording shows the existence of this off-camera conversation. Taken together, it was reasonable for Mr. O’Keefe, a seasoned attorney who had worked with Best for two years up to that point, to have believed that the allegations within Best’s pro se motion were not true. See Tibbs v. United States, 628 A.2d 638, 641 (D.C. 1993) (“We hold ... that as a matter of law an attorney is not ineffective for refusing to present testimony which the attorney knows to be false.”). We also agree with the trial court that a motion to- suppress the video and Ms. Best’s grand jury testimony would have been futile. The only potentially inculpating gesture by Best (the head nod after being questioned by his mother) was not the product of custodial interrogation, and therefore not subject to the strictures of Miranda. “Only ‘state action’ implicates a defendant’s rights under the Fifth Amendment.” Graham v. United States, 950 A.2d 717, 732 (D.C. 2008). Accordingly, “the Fifth Amendment privilege is not concerned with moral and psychological pressures to confess emanating from sources other than official concern.” Id. (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Further,' it does not matter that the police knew there was a “possibility” that an outside source, such as a parent or spouse, may lead a suspect to incriminate oneself. Id. at 733. “Officers do not interrogate a suspect simply by hoping that he will incriminate himself.” Id. (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Here, the only potentially incriminating gesture by Best emanated from his two-minute one-on-one conversation, with his mother, whom he wanted to come see him at the police station. He also knew that the conversation with his mother was not private and was being recorded, as evidenced by his gestures to his mother earlier in the video. Accordingly, any inculpating gestures he made in response to his mother’s questioning about whether he was involved came from “moral and psychological pressures” outside of police action, and thus not subject to Fifth Amendment protections. Id. at 732. Whether Detective Blue may have hoped or even wished that speaking with his mother would make Best confess is irrelevant. 37 Further, contrary to Best’s claim, Ms. Best cannot be considered a state actor at the time she spoke with Best. “This court has held that, in determiningwhether the conduct of third parties is attributable' to the- police for purposes of Miranda, we must focus on how a reasonable person in the suspect’s position would’ perceive the situation;” Broom v. United States, 118 A.3d 207, 215 (D.C. 2015) (citation omitted). Here, a reasonable person could not have believed that Ms. Best was working for the police. First, Best stated “I do want to talk to my mom” and gave the police Ms. Best’s number, so that she could come down to the police station. Second, Ms. Best was acting “on her’own initiative” in her questioning of Best. Id. Third, Best only made the arguably inculpating gestures when he was alone with his mother, away from the police or any alleged state pressure. Best then cried and hugged his mother, and they said they loved each other. Taken- together, none of these circumstances. can lead us to conclude that his mother can be considered a state actor intentionally placed in the interrogation room to coerce a confession. 38