Opinion ID: 1969802
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: 3-9, b.37-38, b.47-52, b.139, b.152-156, b.219, h.10)

Text: The claims in this subcategory include alleged discovery violations based on the State's failure to provide in discovery the substance of all expert opinions it would elicit at trial, the qualifications of its experts, the laboratory notes of its experts, and photographs and literature on which its experts relied. This subcategory also includes claims of ineffective assistance of counsel arising from trial counsel's failure to demand that the State produce adequate expert reports, and his failure to demand production of laboratory notes, qualifications of the experts, or photographs and literature on which they relied. Defendant argues that trial counsel failed to challenge the experts' qualifications, and failed to challenge the admissibility of their testimony on the ground that the experts' reports were inadequate. Moreover, defendant also challenges trial counsel's delay in engaging a tire expert, and failure to arrange to have the car and the remaining tires examined to ascertain the source of the mechanical problems that allegedly prompted defendant to stop the car at the Oyster Creek Picnic Area. Defendant also relies on counsel's failure to attempt to bar any evidence concerning the right rear tire based on the State expert's excision of a portion of the tire, an argument that defendant asserts had been proffered in defendant's rejected direct appeal brief. On direct appeal we discussed at length and rejected defendant's contention that the State's excision of part of the right rear tire in order to photograph the slit from the inside surface of the tire had violated defendant's constitutional right of access to evidence. Marshall I, supra, 123 N.J. at 105-10, 586 A. 2d 85. Except to the extent that that specific contention is reasserted here, we consider the discovery and ineffectiveness claims in this subcategory as not having been adjudicated on direct appeal and as claims that could not reasonably have been asserted on direct appeal. See R. 3:22-4 and -5. We conclude that all claims in this subcategory should be dismissed on the merits, without an evidentiary hearing. We regard as meritless the suggestion that the State's experts were inadequately qualified or that their expert testimony lacked an adequate foundation. To the extent that the State was deficient in providing the experts' qualifications, laboratory notes, and source material in discovery, that deficiency could easily have been overcome by trial counsel insisting on their production prior to trial or in advance of the experts' testimony. Accordingly, we conclude that the State's discovery violations, if any, were harmless. Counsel's failure to demand the discovery, to retain an expert in advance of trial, and to arrange for an examination of the car and all four tires appears on its face to reflect inadequate preparation on his part. On the other hand, as we noted in our direct appeal opinion, [t]he fact that defendant made no effort to have an expert inspect the tire until well into the trial suggests that defense counsel attached little significance to the possibility that the tire had damage other than the slit. Marshall I, supra, 123 N.J. at 110, 586 A. 2d 85. Although hindsight might suggest the wisdom of a trial strategy designed to prove that the car had other defects in order to counter the State's proof that the slit administered at the picnic area was the only cause of the car's immobility, hindsight cannot substitute for the strategic decisions of counsel informed of both the strengths and weaknesses of his client's case. Counsel may have been insufficiently prepared on this issue, or may have consciously decided that his efforts and defendant's resources could more effectively be expended in other areas. No proffer is made by defendant to suggest that there was or is now available proof, other than defendant's testimony, that defendant drove into the picnic area because of car trouble. On this record, we are satisfied that any deficiencies in counsel's performance were not so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial.... Strickland, supra, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. at 2064, 80 L.Ed. 2d at 693. 3. Counsel's Failure to Elicit on Cross-Examination the Consistent Statements Made by Defendant to Various Police Officers About the Problems He Experienced with His Car