Opinion ID: 613237
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Terry Hopkins

Text: Terry Hopkins was staying in an apartment with Danny Smith at the time of the Lally murder. He was out drinking with Danny Smith and others in the early morning hours on the day of the murder, January 19, 1994. He gave inconsistent recorded statements to officers on January 4 and 6, 1995, concerning conversations he had with Danny Smith, Raymond Smith and Jalowiec in the hours after the murder. Although Hopkins first stated that Jalowiec admitted shooting Lally, he later stated that Jalowiec identified Raymond Smith as the shooter. The district court concluded that these statements should have been provided to Jalowiec, but that they were not material because Hopkins also made various inconsistent statements at trial and was subject to effective cross-examination. Jalowiec, 2008 WL 312655, at . We find no error in the district court's assessment. On cross-examination, Hopkins readily admitted that he gave multiple statements to the police. He acknowledged that he was not very cooperative on one occasion because he didn't want to get involved. He did not deny that he subsequently gave a revised statement. Hopkins seemed unable to remember when he gave specific statements to the police. He admitted he had drunk heavily the night Lally was killed and was pretty drunk when he heard the conversations he reported on. Thus, it is apparent that even without the benefit of specific inconsistent statements from undisclosed police interviews, Jalowiec's counsel managed to effectively cross-examine Hopkins, highlighting weaknesses in his testimony. Although we agree with the district court's determination that Hopkins' prior inconsistent statements should have been disclosed, Jalowiec has not demonstrated that his efforts to impeach Hopkins would have been so significantly aided by the statements as to create a reasonable probability that the outcome of the trial would have been different. The nondisclosure of these statements was therefore not material under Brady.