Opinion ID: 1642921
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: and VII. INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL.

Text: ¶ 10. Knox argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial. He raises this claim under Issue II, in his Petition for Post-Conviction Relief, and under Issue VII, in the Supplement/Amendment to Petition. ¶ 11. This Court described review of a claim of on ineffective assistance of counsel and the standard provided in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984): The benchmark for judging any claim of ineffectiveness [of counsel] must be whether counsel's conduct so undermined the proper functioning of the adversarial process that the trial cannot be relied on as having produced a just result. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 686, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). A defendant must demonstrate that his counsel's performance was deficient and that the deficiency prejudiced the defense of the case. Id. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Unless a defendant makes both showings, it cannot be said that the conviction or death sentence resulted from a breakdown in the adversary process that renders the result unreliable. Stringer v. State, 454 So.2d 468, 477 (Miss.1984) (citing Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052). The focus of the inquiry must be whether counsel's assistance was reasonable considering all the circumstances. Id. Judicial scrutiny of counsel's performance must be highly deferential. (citation omitted) ... A fair assessment of attorney performance requires that every effort be made to eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight, to reconstruct the circumstances of counsel's challenged conduct, and to evaluate the conduct from counsel's perspective at the time. Because of the difficulties inherent in making the evaluation, a court must indulge a strong presumption that counsel's conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance; that is, the defendant must overcome the presumption that, under the circumstances, the challenged action `might be considered sound trial strategy.' Stringer, 454 So.2d at 477 (citing Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052). Defense counsel is presumed competent. Id. Then, to determine the second prong of prejudice to the defense, the standard is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Mohr v. State, 584 So.2d 426, 430 (Miss.1991). This means a probability sufficient to undermine the confidence in the outcome. Id. The question here is: whether there is a reasonable probability that, absent the errors, the sentencerincluding an appellate court, to the extent it independently reweighs the evidencewould have concluded that the balance of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances did not warrant death. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 695, 104 S.Ct. at 2068. There is no constitutional right then to errorless counsel. Cabello v. State, 524 So.2d 313, 315 (Miss.1988); Mohr v. State, 584 So.2d 426, 430 (Miss. 1991) (right to effective counsel does not entitle defendant to have an attorney who makes no mistakes at trial; defendant just has right to have competent counsel). If the post-conviction application fails on either of the Strickland prongs, the proceedings end. Neal v. State, 525 So.2d 1279, 1281 (Miss.1987); Mohr v. State, 584 So.2d 426 (Miss.1991). Davis v. State, 743 So.2d 326, 334 (Miss. 1999) (citing Foster v. State, 687 So.2d 1124, 1130 (Miss. 1996)). Brown v. State, 798 So.2d 481, 493-94 (Miss.2001).
¶ 12. Knox's jury was comprised of three African-Americans and nine Caucasians. The State used eleven peremptory challenges in all, eight against African-Americans on the venire. Knox's trial counsel objected based on Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). The circuit court required the State to provide race-neutral reasons for the peremptory strikes. The race-neutral reasons may be summarized as follows: (1) Schneider showed a drastic reaction when the death penalty status of case was announced, rolled her eyes, became pained in her appearance, and did not raise her hand on any question pertaining to the death penalty; (2) Higgonbottham also reacted to the death penalty status announcement and was related to a woman who recently had been charged with aggravated assault but the grand jury refused to indict; (3) Jenkins was related to an unpopular constable who had problems with law enforcement during his term in office; (4) Williams had strong feelings against imposition of the death penalty; (5) McCoy or someone in his family had been charged with a crime; (6) Richardson attempted to have herself excused because of previous jury service; (7) Jones was non-responsive and wore a ponytail; (8) Williams was young and non-responsive and appeared to be nodding off at times. Defense counsel responded: I cannot dispute any of the things that Ronnie [the District Attorney] has set forth. He was pretty weak on identifying with the defendant. Other than that, how the hair fixed up, a whole lot to do with anything. The circuit court found that some of the State's reasons were a close call but accepted them and allowed the challenges to stand. ¶ 13. Knox argues that the trial court clearly indicated that trial counsel could have challenged some of the prosecution's race-neutral reasons in light of Batson.  We disagree that the circuit court's comments amounted to such an indication. Knox does not cite any of this Court's decisions construing Batson. ¶ 14. The State cites Brown v. State, 749 So.2d 82 (Miss.1999), where Brown alleged that his trial counsel had been ineffective for failure to offer rebuttal argument to the State's allegedly race-neutral reasons for peremptory strikes. Brown did not say what information his trial counsel should have offered in rebuttal. Brown also argued that allegations against the jurors supplied by police was hearsay. This Court found that the State gave legitimate race-neutral reasons for the peremptory strikes and absent some showing of a different outcome had the Batson objections been sustained, trial counsel was not ineffective on this issue. Knox has failed to make a showing of ineffective assistance on this issue.
¶ 15. Knox next argues that his trial counsel failed to present an adequate and sufficient defense and failed to provide any meaningful adversarial testing of the prosecution's case. Knox argues that the non-existence defense resulted in deficient performance. Knox cites United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 104 S.Ct. 2039, 80 L.Ed.2d 657 (1984), as authority. Knox points out that trial counsel failed to call any witnesses during the guilt phase of the trial, and presumably this sub-issue is confined only to counsel's performance in the guilt phase of the trial. ¶ 16. Knox told Deputy Sheriff Donald Butler that he woke up on the morning of the murder of Ella Mae Spears, went outside to a field, and the next thing he remembered was waking up in the field several hours later with blood on his clothes and no memory of how the blood got on his clothes. Knox now does not say how his trial counsel were supposed to fashion a defense out of this version of events. ¶ 17. The State cites Branch v. State, 882 So.2d 36 (Miss.2004), where this Court discussed the difference between an ineffective assistance of counsel claim under Strickland v. Washington and a claim under Cronic: The Supreme Court has recognized a limited exception to the prejudice requirement when (1) assistance of counsel has been denied completely, (2) counsel entirely fails to subject the prosecution's case to meaningful adversarial testing, or (3) counsel is denied during a critical stage of the proceedings. Cronic, 466 U.S. at 658-59, 104 S.Ct. 2039; see Mickens v. Taylor, 535 U.S. 162, 122 S.Ct. 1237, 1240-41, 152 L.Ed.2d 291 (2002). Freeman v. Graves, 317 F.3d at 900. In this case, because the errors were committed by his own counsel, Branch argues that there was no meaningful adversarial testing of prosecutor's case. Bell v. Cone, 535 U.S. 685, 122 S.Ct. 1843, 1851, 152 L.Ed.2d 914 (2002) (discussing egregious trial conduct necessary to remove a case from Strickland analysis and apply a Cronic analysis). When applying Strickland or Cronic, the distinction between counsel's failure to oppose the prosecution entirely and the failure of counsel to do so at specific points during the trial is a difference ... not of degree but of kind. [ Bell, 122 S.Ct. at 1851 (quoting Cronic, 466 U.S. at 659, 104 S.Ct. 2039)]. Under this rationale, when counsel fails to oppose the prosecution's case at specific points or concedes certain elements of a case to focus on others, he has made a tactical decision. Id. at 1851-52. By making such choices, defense counsel has not abandoned his or her client by entirely failing to challenge the prosecution's case. Such strategic decisions do not result in an abandonment of counsel, as when an attorney completely fails to challenge the prosecution's case. Under the Court's reasoning, then, Cronic is reserved only for those extreme cases in which counsel fails to present any defense. We presume prejudice in such cases because it is as if the defendant had no representation at all. In contrast, strategic or tactical decisions are evaluated under Strickland's traditional two-pronged test for deficiency and prejudice. Haynes v. Cain, 298 F.3d 375, 381 (5th Cir.2002). A defendant is not entitled to errorless counsel. Hansen v. State, 649 So.2d 1256, 1259 (Miss.1994), Johnson v. State, 511 So.2d 1333, 1339-40 (Miss.1987). This Court must look to the entire performance of counsel to determine whether he or she was competent and conscientiously fulfilled the role as advocate. Branch, 882 So.2d at 65-66. This Court found that a review of the record showed that Branch was represented by competent and zealous counsel who challenged the State's evidence at all stages of this case, and there was no merit to the issue. Branch, 882 So.2d at 66. ¶ 18. The State contends that Knox's trial counsel challenged the State's case and there was no violation under Cronic. The State points out that defense counsel filed numerous pre-trial motions; cross-examined nine out of eleven prosecution witnesses; points out a long colloquy between the circuit court and defense counsel on whether one defense witness might be located and called (the witness ultimately was not called because he would have corroborated the State's witnesses as to what happened when Knox was taken into custody); notes that Knox was thoroughly examined on whether or not he wanted to take the stand; and that the physical evidence in the case was overwhelming in favor of the State. The State attaches to its Response an affidavit from Gus Sermos, one of Knox's trial attorneys, wherein Sermos states that he met with Knox on numerous occasions and even discussed a plea offer from the State with Knox, which Knox ultimately rejected. The terms of the plea offer are not supplied. ¶ 19. As Knox has not suggested any new evidence or testimony which should have been offered by his trial counsel, we find that there was no violation of Knox's right to counsel under Cronic or Strickland.
¶ 20. This issue was raised in both Knox's original Petition for Post-Conviction Relief, as his sole claim for ineffective assistance, and his Supplement/Amendment to Petition for Post-Conviction Relief, under Issue C. ¶ 21. Knox argues that trial counsel failed to adequately investigate mitigation factors and interview potential mitigation witnesses. Knox notes that trial counsel called no witnesses during the guilt phase of his trial and only two witnesses during the sentencing phase, Knox's mother and aunt. Trial counsel also introduced copies of Knox's Social Security records during the sentencing. Knox suffered a head injury while doing construction work in 1998. Knox claimed that he suffered from headaches because of this injury. In October 1998 he applied for SSI disability due to his head injury. His application was denied. ¶ 22. Knox also attaches two affidavits from Deidre Jackson, a paralegal, and Tomika Harris, an investigator, both with the Mississippi Office of Capital Post Conviction Counsel. Each affidavit states that Jackson and Harris conducted a phone interview with Mildred Knox, mother of Steve Knox, on January 30, 2003. The affidavit states that Steve Knox was a slow child who didn't talk much until the age of seven and that she believed he had learning disabilities, but she couldn't afford to take him to a doctor; that he wet his pants until his was ten, but medication helped that problem; that Steve would wake up on some days and complain that he could not see, and would stay in bed until his vision returned; that Steve's favorite hobby growing up was boxing; that Steve couldn't hold a job for a long period of time; and that he seemed to have mental problems but the problems worsened when Steve was struck in the head with a backhoe bucket at a construction job in North Carolina. Knox states that this information could have been presented at trial or should have led to further investigation as to mitigating evidence or even as to possible mental retardation. ¶ 23. Knox also states that he had a prior history of substance abuse beginning at the age of fourteen, that he was a heavy user of crack and occasionally marijuana, and as a result of his drug use, he was often homeless. Knox cites no authority for these assertions. ¶ 24. Knox cites Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000), where the United States Supreme Court found that counsel had been ineffective at the sentencing phase of trial because of counsel's failure to investigate and uncover proof of Williams's tragic childhood because counsel thought that state law barred access to certain relevant records. The Court said counsel could have discovered that Williams's parents had been imprisoned for criminal neglect of their children, that Williams had been beaten by his father, that Williams had spent time in an abusive foster home, that Williams was borderline mentally retarded and did not advance past the sixth grade in school, and that Williams had helped authorities during his stay in prison. ¶ 25. Knox also cites Jackson v. Calderon, 211 F.3d 1148 (9th Cir.2000), where Jackson's attorney was found to be ineffective in the sentencing phase for spending about two hours investigating in preparation for sentencing and calling only Jackson's estranged wife and mother as witnesses. In invalidating the death sentence, the Ninth Circuit stated that Jackson's attorney never investigated beyond the mother and wife because he never expected the case to reach the sentencing phase, and he never investigated or presented evidence concerning Jackson's addiction to PCP or his PCP intoxication at the time of the murder, never investigated a separate aggravating factor, and never investigated beatings Jackson had endured as a child or signs that Jackson was mentally ill. See also Smith v. Stewart, 140 F.3d 1263 (9th Cir.1998) (death sentence vacated where counsel presented no mitigating evidence when evidence concerning mental problems, drug abuse and family ties was available). ¶ 26. The State answers by first stating that the affidavits of the Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel staff contain hearsay, and when Mildred Knox purports to convey what other people have stated, they contain double hearsay. The State cites Bishop v. State, 882 So.2d 135, 156 nn. 11 & 12 (Miss.2004), where this Court found that similar affidavits would not be considered in post-conviction proceedings. ¶ 27. The State then discusses the Social Security documents attached by Knox to his Petition, noting that the same documents were admitted as an exhibit during the sentencing phase of Knox's trial. Defense counsel was allowed to give a short explanation to the jury concerning Knox's injury and his attempt to be declared disabled by the Social Security Administration. ¶ 28. The State also cites the affidavit from trial counsel Gus Sermos, which states that Sermos and co-counsel Rosenthal met with Knox on numerous occasions, and trial counsel concluded that neither Knox's sanity nor his competency to assist counsel and go forward with the case were issues in question. Sermos further states in the affidavit that he spoke to or attempted to speak to numerous members of the Knox family and the way in which he evaluated the information they gave him. ¶ 29. The State points out that Knox managed to hold certain menial jobs and was never declared disabled by the Social Security Administration. The State points out that Knox has supplied little or nothing as to what an effective attorney performing a proper investigation would or should have found in the way of mitigating testimony. The State argues that the accusation that trial counsel failed to properly investigate is merely an unfounded allegation. We agree with the State. This issue is without merit.
¶ 30. Knox next argues that, considering his head injury and his attempt to obtain Social Security disability benefits, trial counsel should have asked that the circuit court make a determination as to Knox's competency before trial. Knox states that failure to ask for such a determination despite the warning signs available to counsel amounts to ineffective assistance. Knox cites Agan v. Singletary, 12 F.3d 1012 (11th Cir.1994); Bouchillon v. Collins, 907 F.2d 589 (5th Cir.1990); Jackson v. State, 857 S.W.2d 678 (Tex.Ct. App.1993); and State v. Green, 632 So.2d 1187 (La.Ct.App.1994). In all of these cases counsel was found to ineffective for failure to investigate competency or some other aspect of the client's mental state or failure to object when the statutory means for determining competency was not followed. There was also medical evidence of mental illness, insanity, retardation and substance abuse presented in each of these cases. Knox has presented no such evidence in this case. He has not supplied an affidavit from any doctor or mental health professional which states that he is incompetent now or that he was incompetent at the time of his trial. Absent some evidence of this type, the case law cited by Knox is irrelevant. ¶ 31. Knox next argues that appellate counsel was ineffective for failure to raise as error on appeal the circuit court's failure to order a competency examination even where none requested. Neither Knox nor the State cite authority from this Court stating that the failure to ask for a competency hearing, by itself, amounts to ineffective assistance of counsel. Absent some substantial evidence, in addition to the medical and Social Security records already produced, which raises a legitimate question concerning Knox's competence, we find that trial counsel was not ineffective here.
¶ 32. This is a restatement of subsection C of this issue. Nothing presented here changes this Court's earlier finding, that Knox has failed to show ineffective assistance of counsel on the failure to investigate and find mitigating evidence, mostly in the area of mental health.