Opinion ID: 1133749
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Adequately Prepare for State's Blood Spatter Expert

Text: Hannon asserts that his trial counsel acted deficiently in failing to investigate the credentials of the State's blood spatter expert, Judith Bunker, as well as failing to question her credentials and challenge her testimony at trial. To satisfy the deficiency prong of Strickland, Hannon must demonstrate that trial counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688, 104 S.Ct. 2052. At the evidentiary hearing, trial counsel testified that he was aware that Bunker had been hired as the State's expert but decided not to conduct an investigation into Bunker's credentials because her testimony regarding the blood spatter at the crime scene was totally irrelevant to Hannon's alibi defense that he was not at the crime scene on the night of the murders, a factor not considered by the dissent. Trial counsel stated that he did not obtain Bunker's personnel file, was not aware whether Bunker ever completed high school or attended college, and had not seen a group of letters indicating that Bunker had not worked at various places or lectured at certain places as represented on her resume. Trial counsel stated at the postconviction evidentiary hearing that he most likely would not have used this information regarding Bunker to impeach her at trial. Although confronting this witness with this type of information would have made him look sharp, it would not have advanced Hannon's defense in any way and would have only left the jury wondering why counsel was even taking the time to question Bunker if she truly had nothing to do with Hannon's defense. The dissent provides no explanation for this gap. Trial counsel further testified that he chose not to question Bunker's credentials at trial to avoid giving the jury the impression that he was attempting to present an inconsistent defense. Trial counsel testified that Bunker's testimony did not adversely impact Hannon's defense because Bunker was never able to confirm any of the victims' blood on Hannon. He did object to the introduction of crime scene photographs because he believed the photographs were being admitted simply to emphasize the goriness of the crime but decided not to cross-examine Bunker with regard to these photographs. The defense strategy was to continue with the theory that Hannon was not at the crime scene and, therefore, cross-examining this witness would only confuse the jury with regard to why he was attacking a witness that was not at all relevant to Hannon's case. Based on trial counsel's testimony at the postconviction evidentiary hearing, Hannon has failed to demonstrate that trial counsel acted deficiently when he made these strategic decisions with regard to witness Bunker. Trial counsel's performance did not fall below a standard of reasonableness in failing to challenge the credentials of a witness who was not at all relevant to any aspect of Hannon's defense that he did not commit the murders and was not present at the victims' apartment at the time of the murders. These reasonable strategic decisions were made in an attempt to avoid confusing the jury by attacking a witness that was not relevant to the defense case. Again, current counsel disagrees with the strategy and would have made the decision to challenge Bunker's credentials, but the evidence does not support the conclusion that trial counsel's performance was deficient. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Moreover, trial counsel's tactical decision not to challenge or impeach Bunker's blood spatter testimony was reasonable because Bunker's testimony did not implicate Hannon in the murders, nor was it even an element in the State's case against Hannon. Hannon has also failed to demonstrate prejudice with regard to these strategic decisions. This Court on direct appeal determined that Bunker's testimony relating to the blood spatter evidence was properly admitted at Hannon's trial only to assist the jury in understanding the facts. See Hannon, 638 So.2d at 43. Furthermore, this Court has previously determined in other cases that the presentation of Bunker's allegedly exaggerated credentials to a jury has little effect on the outcome, given that she has been recognized as a blood spatter expert in numerous other cases. See Correll v. State, 698 So.2d 522, 523-24 (Fla.1997); see also Gorby v. State, 819 So.2d 664, 677 (Fla.2002). In Correll, this Court stated: [T]he discrepancies between the level of education, training, and experience Bunker testified to at trial and the asserted level of education, training, and experience she actually had were not so great as to make any difference in the outcome of the case. Moreover, Bunker's vita, which among other things, falsely set forth that Bunker had a high school diploma, was never seen by the jury. Thus, any misrepresentations contained in the vita are irrelevant to Correll's claim. The only alleged misrepresentation of any import was Bunker's assertion that she had worked as an assistant and technical specialist for the medical examiner's office from 1970 through 1982, when in reality she was a secretary at the medical examiner's office from 1970 to 1974, an assistant to the medical examiner from 1974 to 1981, and a technical specialist for the last five months of her employment with the medical examiner's office. In view of the fact that it is undisputed that she worked on thousands of cases while in the employ of the medical examiner, even this discrepancy becomes less serious. However, assuming for the sake of argument that Bunker's testimony did contain serious discrepancies . . . we are convinced that these discrepancies did not have any impact on the outcome of the case in light of the overwhelming evidence presented at trial in support of Correll's guilt. 698 So.2d at 524. During Hannon's trial, Bunker made misrepresentations with regard to her credentials similar to those this Court addressed in Correll. Specifically, Bunker testified that from 1970 to 1982 she was employed by the Office of the District Nine Medical Examiner with jurisdiction in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties. She testified that as an assistant to the medical examiner one of her primary responsibilities was to assist the medical examiner in the medical/legal investigation of death. She also testified that she had presented courses on blood stain evidence and conducted workshops and lectured at various colleges and institutions. Similar to this Court's conclusion in Correll, any discrepancies in Bunker's testimony in the instant case did not so affect[ ] the proceeding that confidence in the outcome is undermined. Maxwell, 490 So.2d at 932. Additionally, Bunker's testimony with regard to the blood spatters did not link Hannon to the crime scene. The dissent fails to address this area of concern, but is critical without substantive support. Accordingly, this claim is also without merit. [7] Hannon further claims that the trial court erred in summarily denying the following claims with regard to Bunker: trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate Bunker's background, the State presented unreliable and nonscientific blood spatter testimony through Bunker, and the State's failure to disclose Bunker's qualifications and misrepresentations of Bunker's qualifications as an expert in the field of blood spatter constituted a Brady and Giglio violation. A criminal defendant alleging a Brady violation bears the burden to show prejudice, i.e., to show a reasonable probability that the undisclosed evidence would have produced a different verdict. See Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263, 281 n. 20, 119 S.Ct. 1936, 144 L.Ed.2d 286 (1999). To demonstrate prejudice under Giglio it must be established that there is any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the judgment of the jury. United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 103, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976). Hannon has failed to demonstrate prejudice relating to any aspect of Bunker's testimony sufficient to establish either a Brady or Giglio violation. Therefore, the trial court's rejection of these claims was not improper.