Opinion ID: 1561776
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Cross-examination of Witnesses With Regard to the Bloody Shirt

Text: Beasley attacked counsel's cross-examination of witnesses with regard to the bloody shirt on the basis that the tactic of making inferential arguments from the testimony failed to aggressively confront the evidence. In denying this claim, the postconviction court emphasized that the evidence demonstrated that the defense vigorously interrogated law enforcement witnesses with all necessary questions and that the cross-examination of one of the lead officers was effective in showing the ineptness of the investigation. A review of the transcript of the trial proceedings comports with the findings of the postconviction court. The cross-examination of the crime scene technicians raised issues concerning the crime scene procedures utilized and the discovery of the bloody shirt. Counsel attempted to demonstrate that the shirt was planted by emphasizing that the crime scene technicians conducted a thorough investigation. The cross-examination established that the primary crime scene technician had worked in the crime scene unit for twelve years and possessed extensive training and experience. Pursuant to vigorous questioning, the technician explained the importance of the policy that required a crime scene technician to precisely document each process undertaken at the scene, and admitted that the failure to locate the shirt during the initial investigation was embarrassing. The cross-examination fully presented the investigation of the guest bedroom, from the photographs taken by the technicians to the evidence that they collected. During this extensive and aggressive cross-examination, the State actually objected on the basis that the defense questioning implied that the bloody shirt was planted. Thus, the cross-examination was sufficiently effective to create a question of whether the shirt had been planted to the extent it sparked an objection by the State regarding that very implication. Beasley did not present additional areas that defense counsel should have covered during cross-examination. Without additional evidence to refute defense counsel's strategic explanations for the manner in which he attacked the bloody shirt, Beasley has not demonstrated either deficient performance in the cross-examination or that there is a reasonable probability that more aggressive cross-examination would have impacted this case in a manner which undermines our confidence in the outcome. Therefore, we affirm the postconviction court's denial of each of Beasley's subclaims pertaining to the bloody shirt.