Opinion ID: 1640733
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: whether howell was prejudiced by the pre-trial lineup procedures and whether howell's counsel rendered ineffective assistance at trial concerning evidence relating to the lineup.

Text: ¶ 82. On the day after the crime, Howell was placed in a police lineup in which Charles Rice identified him as the shooter. In a subsequent hearing on Howell's motion to suppress the lineup evidence, the New Albany Chief of Police testified that he believed that Howell had been represented at the lineup by attorney Regan Russell. It appears from the record that the trial judge found that Howell had been represented by Russell. In the direct appeal, this Court found that the lineup was not overly suggestive and that the trial judge did not err in allowing the lineup testimony. Howell now claims that the State misrepresented his representation by counsel at the lineup, and that, in fact, he had had no attorney at the lineup. In the petition, Howell presents the affidavit of Regan Russell, who states that he was not present at the lineup and did not represent Howell at that point in time. ¶ 83. In its response, the State claims that the police chief misstated who represented Howell. The Chief has now sworn by affidavit that public defender Tom McDonough actually was present and represented Howell at the lineup. The State argues that Howell's representation at the lineup stage was discoverable prior to trial and is barred in the post-conviction proceedings. The State also argues that Howell was represented at the hearing, and whether the attorney was Russell or McDonough is immaterial. ¶ 84. In his reply to the State's response, Howell submits an affidavit from Tom McDonough, who swears that he never represented Howell in this case and was not present at the lineup. Howell's trial attorney did file a motion to suppress the lineup in which he alleged that Howell was not represented at the lineup. Howell's attorney apparently made no effort to confirm whether Russell had been present at the lineup or not. He presented no evidence in support of his argument that Howell had not been not represented at that critical stage. Howell now claims that his previous attorney was ineffective in failing to investigate whether Howell had an attorney present at the lineup. ¶ 85. The State argues in part that whether Howell had an attorney at the lineup is not decisive. The State cites Lattimore v. State, 958 So.2d 192, 198 (Miss.2007), in which this Court found that procedural problems in the lineup were not sufficiently prejudicial in light of the witness's clear identification at trial. ¶ 86. In light of the affidavits from Russell and McDonough, we are unable to find that Howell's attorney was not ineffective in his representation through the suppression hearing. Rice's identification of Howell was obviously crucial to the State's case. Minimal efforts on the part of trial counsel could have confirmed Russell's presence or non-presence at the lineup. We thus find these issues to have merit, and an evidentiary hearing is required on these combined issues of whether Howell's attorney was ineffective at the lineup stage.