Opinion ID: 1796115
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: A Coherent Defense.

Text: ¶ 40. Powers next argues that trial counsel failed to combine elements which would have given Powers a plausible, coherent defense and as such trial counsel was ineffective. Appellate counsel makes much of the fact that Powers testified during the motion hearing that he had lied when giving the confession because he was scared but did not testify at trial. Powers also contends that trial counsel was ineffective in offering the testimony of Dr. Michael West after the court refused to accept him as an expert in crime scene reconstruction. ¶ 41. Powers's trial counsel clearly wanted to prove that Powers did not commit the underlying crime of attempted rape. He emphasized the lack of physical evidence and the fact that earlier the day of the murder Lafferty supposedly indicated she had a sexually transmitted disease. Given this fact, trial counsel argued that Powers did not and would not have wanted to rape Lafferty. The record also makes clear that trial counsel contested the killing by developing the fact that Powers's gun and bullets were not conclusively linked to the killing by forensic testing. The State argues that this is an acceptable strategy regarding the charge of attempted rape, especially in light of Powers's confession that he killed Lafferty and actually led the police to the gun. We agree. ¶ 42. Powers's appellate counsel now argues, however, that trial counsel should have had Powers take the stand at trial to explain that he lied to the police about the facts of the killing. Appellate counsel faults trial counsel for not putting Powers on the stand to admit that he lied to the police. As the State explains: There is no case anywhere, and, of course Powers fails to cite any authority for the proposition that trial counsel commits error of constitutional proportions by declining to force the defendant to take the stand at trial. Further, the record reflects that Powers did not wish to testify and was satisfied with the actions of his attorney. ¶ 43. We find applicable a recent Fifth Circuit holding on a similar claim. Informed strategic decisions of counsel are given a heavy measure of deference and should not be second guessed. Lamb v. Johnson, 179 F.3d 352, 358 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1013, 120 S.Ct. 522, 145 L.Ed.2d 401 (1999). There is nothing in the record to suggest that ... counsel blundered through the trial, attempted to put on an unsupported defense, abandoned a trial tactic, failed to pursue a reasonable alternative course, or surrendered his client. A conscious and informed decision on trial tactics and strategy cannot be the basis for constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel unless it is so ill chosen that it permeates the entire trial with obvious unfairness. Garland v. Maggio, 717 F.2d 199, 206 (5th Cir.1983). There is no hint of unfairness; in this case, counsel's tactic may have been the best available and the record amply reflects that [the Defendant] consented to its use. United States v. Jones, 287 F.3d 325, 331 (5th Cir.2002). Given this authority and the record facts of trial counsel's performance in this case, we conclude that trial counsel pursued a coherent defense. ¶ 44. Powers additionally criticizes trial counsel for calling Dr. West, the county coroner, to the stand. The record reflects that trial counsel attempted to have Dr. West qualified as an expert, but the court declined to rule citing the fact that the testimony offered was not expert testimony. Ultimately Dr. West testified that no one could say exactly what happened to Lafferty based on the physical evidence. He indicated that he could not tell whether she was putting on or pulling of her shorts at the time of her death, or whether someone else had done so. Nor could he determine whether Lafferty may have been going to the restroom or bedroom from the hallway. Nor could he conclude how she came to be in the position in which she was found, nor did he see anything other than her position that indicated rape. ¶ 45. Powers claims, however, that trial counsel, through the testimony of Dr. West, sunk to the level of attempting to assassinate the victim's character with allegations that she suffered from herpes. But the record reflects that this information was placed before the jury, in part by the State, prior to Dr. West's testimony. Eddie Barnes testified that, on the day of the murder, Lafferty claimed she had herpes. The record reflects that the court was disturbed with trial counsel for asking Dr. West about the herpes, when in fact, Dr. West had been barred by the court from seeking Lafferty's medical records prior to trial. When the State objected to the question about herpes, as to its relevance and redundancy, the court excused the jury and then expressed surprise that trial counsel raised the question when he knew that Dr. West had not been permitted to review the medical records. ¶ 46. Powers's appellate counsel now argues that this activity created an aura of dishonesty that affected Powers's case. The issue about this interaction, however, was not as to the admission of Lafferty's condition, but as to whether Dr. West had subverted the court's order disallowing him access to Lafferty's medical records. We do not see how trial counsel's questioning of Dr. West as to his observations or as to whether he knew Lafferty had a venereal disease, rises to the level of ineffective and prejudicial assistance. Since the evidence of herpes was already before the jury, and since trial counsel was questioning the coroner who worked the case, the question was not per se inappropriate as to Lafferty's character. ¶ 47. Trial counsel pursued a clear defense strategy. Indeed, the record does not reflect that trial counsel was ineffective in putting on Powers's defense. To the contrary, trial counsel and Powers decided that it would not be in Powers's best interest to take the stand and be subject to cross-examination by the State. Trial counsel also extensively called into question the gun and the forensics regarding the bullet fragments. Dr. West testified that no one could really know what was happening between Lafferty and Powers immediately preceding her death. Nothing here demonstrates deficiency in counsel's performance or prejudice to Powers's case. This issue is without merit.