Opinion ID: 2567623
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: Clay Jacke, Sr.

Text: The declaration of H. Clay Jacke, Sr., trial cocounsel for petitioner in the Black case, dated September 5, 2001, and a supplemental declaration dated June 11, 2004, were jointly submitted to the referee. Jacke also gave live testimony. If when Jacke was involved with petitioner's trial he had received the Montez letter or learned of the information contained in the Montez declaration, he would have interviewed Montez and then used the letter and any information obtained to rebut Saucedo's testimony in the penalty phase. Had Jacke possessed the Montez letter, the prosecution would not have been able to close its penalty phase presentation with the argument that the defense would have presented evidence that Saucedo committed the Hosey murder if it existed; as it actually occurred, however, the presentation of Saucedo's testimony at the penalty phase had been devastating to the defense. According to Jacke, if the defense team had had Montez's information at trial, their strategy would have been a full blown attack on Saucedo, contending that Saucedo was Hosey's killer. The defense would have cross-examined Saucedo and, if he denied killing Hosey, called Montez to the stand to show that Saucedo was lying. Moreover, if the defense had learned of the information contained in the declarations of Sanchez, Barnes, and McDonald, it would have interviewed those witnesses, cross-examined Saucedo based on those interviews, and called those witnesses to the stand to impeach Saucedo if he denied killing Hosey. Had Sanchez's, Barnes's, and Montez's credibility been attacked, the defense would have shown that the prosecution itself had made special arrangements with these persons in consequence of their having stated that Saucedo confessed to killing Hosey. In Jacke's view, these arrangements demonstrated that the prosecution believed these witnesses' statements and that they would have made good witnesses against Saucedo. With full information, Jacke thought, the defense would have been able to destroy Mr. Saucedo as a penalty phase witness in the Black trial.