Opinion ID: 1891055
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure of Appellate Counsel to Challenge Testimony Regarding Weapon

Text: Archer next claims that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to argue on direct appeal that the trial court committed error when it allowed the State to present inappropriate testimony regarding Archer's possession of the murder weapon. In particular, Archer argues that testimony by Barth and Bonifay regarding Archer's possession of the gun was prejudicial and improperly required the jury to stack inference upon inference to conclude that Archer had in fact possessed the gun. We conclude that Archer has failed to demonstrate that such an argument would have prevailed on appeal. The prosecution presented direct eyewitness testimony to show that Archer possessed the gun and then later provided it to Bonifay. Bonifay testified that (1) he asked Kelly Bland to provide a gun for the crime; (2) Bland delivered the gun to Archer; and (3) on Friday night, Archer delivered the gun to Bonifay. Barth corroborated this testimony by testifying that (1) he and the other participants went to pick up the gun at Archer's place; (2) Bonifay got out of the car; (3) Bonifay went with Archer over to Archer's truck; and (4) when Bonifay returned to the car, Bonifay had the gun. When shown the murder weapon at trial, Barth testified that although he did not know for sure, the gun looked like the one he saw that night. This testimony constitutes competent evidence of Archer's possession of the gun. No impermissible stacking of inferences is necessary to conclude from this evidence that Archer was linked to the crime via the murder weapon. Archer thus fails to demonstrate that his claim would have had any merit on direct appeal. Therefore, Archer cannot demonstrate that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise this issue. We therefore deny habeas relief on this claim.