Opinion ID: 6321839
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Willie Carter

Text: At trial, Carter testified that he witnessed Sheppard and Evans steal James’s car. He identified Sheppard as the person who entered the driver’s side of James’s car. Carter was incarcerated during his testimony, but he testified that he did not have charges pending at the time of his testimony. On redirect, he clarified that he was serving a twelve-year sentence on a cocaine charge that was unrelated to his testimony. Sheppard argues that the State had a deal with Carter to recommend a sentence reduction in exchange for favorable testimony in Sheppard’s case. To support this argument, Sheppard notes that the State filed a substantial assistance motion for Carter after he testified in Sheppard’s trial and Carter received a reduced sentence. During the hearing on the - 49 - motion for reduction of sentence, the State mentioned that Carter had recently testified in Sheppard’s case. At Sheppard’s postconviction hearing, Caliel testified that Carter was convicted and sentenced for his charges before his testimony in Sheppard’s case and the motion for sentence reduction was for a separate matter. Caliel further explained that he became aware of the sentence reduction after the motion was filed and he did not provide testimony or attend the hearing. Moreover, Carter’s trial testimony was consistent with his deposition testimony, which he gave before he was arrested on the charges that resulted in the twelve-year sentence. Carter could not have been offered a deal for his testimony because he was not facing criminal charges when, during his deposition, he identified Sheppard as one of the people who stole James’s car. Moreover, Caliel testified that he was unaware of any sentence reduction motion until after it had been filed by another state attorney. Therefore, we agree with the circuit court’s legal conclusion that the facts are insufficient to show that the State violated Brady or Giglio. - 50 -