Opinion ID: 2395763
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The trial testimony of eyewitness Michael Easley

Text: The first set of Williams' substantive grounds for relief concerns the trial testimony of prosecution witness Michael Easley. While conceding that the Commonwealth preemptively elicited testimony from Easley concerning his prior robbery conviction and open drug charges against him, Williams asserts that the district attorney purposely withheld material details concerning Easley's criminal history and, indeed, permitted and encouraged Easley to make material misrepresentations to the jury concerning his record. Williams contends that the actual chronology of Easley's criminal background, combined with the fact that he did not implicate Williams until over one year after the crime, establishes persuasive evidence of bias. In particular, Williams focuses upon the fact that Easley had been charged with robbery and several other offenses on January 4, 1989, two months prior to giving his statement, and that those offenses were dismissed without prejudice within several months after he gave the statement. Moreover, Williams contends that the district attorney violated the dictates of Brady v. Maryland when he failed to turn over Easley's criminal history to trial counsel until immediately prior to Easley's testimony, and even then supplied trial counsel with only an incomplete extract. According to Williams, trial counsel facilitated these alleged improprieties and rendered ineffective assistance by failing to undertake an independent investigation of Easley's criminal background and by failing to adequately prepare for his cross-examination. Williams further asserts that the trial court erred when it refused to grant a request made by trial counsel for a continuance to prepare for his examination of Easley. According to Williams, his contentions in this regard are grounded in fundamental due process and the right of a criminal defendant to confront witnesses. The specific passage from Easley's testimony about which Williams complains proceeded as follows: Q. ... Do you have a record sir? A. Yes. Q. What have you been convicted of? A. Robbery. Q. Now, were you convicted of this robbery and charged with the robbery before you gave the police this statement? A. Yeah. Q. Did you tell the police the statement and then get charged with robbery, or what? A. No, I told the statement first. Q. Then later on you got charged with robbery? A. Yes. Q. Did you go to jail for that? A. Yes, I did.    Q. The last two or three weeks have you been charged with something else? A. Yes. Q. Is that a drug charge? A. Yes. Q. Is that pending now? A. Yes. Q. Has the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or any district attorney, including myself made any kind of deals with you to testify? A. No, they didn't. Q. Had you agreed to testify before you ever got arrested on those charges? A. Yes, I did. Williams argues that this exchange falsely suggested that Easley was not under the threat of any robbery charges at the time that he gave his initial statement implicating Williams, when charges had, in fact, been pending against Easley related to an earlier robbery. The Commonwealth vigorously argues, and the PCRA court found, that the examination was directed only to establishing that Williams was not subject to the robbery charges for which he was ultimately convicted at the time he gave his statement. While Easley's testimony is capable of both interpretations given by the parties, Williams' direct claims of trial error associated with this testimony are waived, as they were not raised on direct appeal. The same is true for his claim that Brady v. Maryland was violated in connection with the production of an excerpt from Easley's criminal record, his complaint regarding the timing of that disclosure, and his assertion that the trial court erred by failing to grant a continuance for his trial counsel to prepare to cross-examine Easley. We thus turn to examine Williams' collateral attack upon trial counsel's stewardship. On cross-examination, trial counsel made reference to the fact of Easley's criminal history, including his conviction for the crimen falsi offense of robbery and his exposure to open drug charges. In closing arguments, trial counsel suggested to the jurors that Easley's testimony may have been fabricated to obtain favorable treatment in his own criminal case or for other reasons. Trial counsel also emphasized the fact that Easley had not disclosed his knowledge concerning the murder of Mr. McDonnell to police until over one year after the killing. Trial counsel could (and probably should) have attempted further to impeach Easley's testimony by reference to the fact that criminal charges were pending against him at the time that he gave his initial statement to police implicating Williams, and the fact that such charges were later dismissed. [8] However, given the efforts that trial counsel did make in his attempt to impeach Easley's testimony, Easley's general denial of having entered into any agreement with the Commonwealth to obtain favorable treatment, and the inculpatory eyewitness testimony that is unchallenged in this post-conviction proceeding, Williams cannot establish that any failing on his counsel's part so undermined the truth-determining process that no reliable adjudication of guilt or innocence could have taken place. See Commonwealth v. Moore, 534 Pa. 527, 552-57, 633 A.2d 1119, 1131-34 (1993)(declining to find counsel ineffective for failing to obtain impeachment evidence which would not have altered the verdict), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1114, 115 S.Ct. 908, 130 L.Ed.2d 790 (1995). Where, as here, a petitioner fails to prove prejudice, a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel may be rejected upon that basis alone. See generally Commonwealth v. Paolello, 542 Pa. 47, 76, 665 A.2d 439, 454 (1995). Accordingly, the PCRA court properly dismissed this claim.