Opinion ID: 1664073
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Failure to Present Alibi Witness

Text: Spann contends that counsel was ineffective for failing to present the testimony of Spann's brother, Leo Spann. Spann asserts that Leo would have corroborated Spann's statement to the police that Spann was at the house of his aunt, Mrs. Willie Alma Brown, in West Palm Beach at the time of Kazue Perron's abduction and murder in Indiantown. Spann further argues that he was prejudiced by this failure because the testimony of his codefendant, Leonard Philmore, was the only evidence to show that Spann was involved in the abduction and murder of Perron. The trial court denied relief and concluded that Leo's statements concerning Spann's alibi were contradicted by evidence presented at trial and also in conflict with Spann's own statement. As a result, Spann failed to show prejudice under Strickland. We agree. At trial, the State introduced into evidence a tape of Spann's statement to the police. In his statement, Spann claimed that on the day of the crime, after he, Philmore, Stevenson, and Cooper left the motel where they spent the night, he and Philmore dropped Stevenson and Cooper at their respective homes, and then went to see Sophia Hutchins. Spann said he left Hutchins' house alone and drove to his aunt's house in his blue Subaru. He indicated that no one saw him while he was at his aunt's house. He was there for about an hour before Philmore came by in a white Lexus between 12 and 1 p.m. to pick him up. Leo Spann testified concerning Spann's whereabouts on the day of the crime at his deposition and at the evidentiary hearing. In his deposition, Leo stated that he saw Spann come home around 2 to 3 p.m. and never saw Spann leave. However, on cross-examination he said Spann could have come home an hour earlier or an hour later. He also said he did not see Philmore at his aunt's house that day. At the evidentiary hearing, Leo testified that he knew Spann was in the small house in the back of the aunt's house sometime between 9 and 10 a.m. because the lights were on in the house. The next time he was aware that Spann was on the property was between 1 and 2 p.m. [4] Leo said that he heard the gate in front of the house squeak open about ten to fifteen minutes later. Around 2 p.m., he looked outside and noticed that there was a car parked close to the house and it looked like either a gold Lexus or Acura. Leo further testified that he did not see Philmore at the house that day. A comparison of Spann's statement and Leo's testimony demonstrates that the two statements were not consistent with regards to Spann's whereabouts on the day of the crime. Spann admitted he was at a hotel with Philmore and two females on the morning in question, but Leo said Spann was in the house behind the aunt's house during the same time period. While Spann stated that he was home for about an hour before Philmore came to pick him up and that Philmore picked him up sometime between 12 and 1 p.m., Leo said several times at his deposition that he saw Spann come home between 2 and 3 p.m. Moreover, Leo testified that he never saw Spann leave and never saw Philmore at the house. The presentation of this type of contradictory evidence would have weakened Spann's alibi defense. Counsel cannot be deemed ineffective for not calling an alibi witness who would not have been helpful. See Happ v. State, 922 So.2d 182 (Fla.2005) (finding that counsel was not ineffective for failing to call an alibi witness because the witness's deposition revealed that it was in direct conflict with another witness's alibi testimony). Spann further contends that Leo's alibi testimony was critical because there were no eyewitnesses to the shooting of Perron other than Philmore, who was a self-interested codefendant, and no one identified Spann as participating in the bank robbery. However, a review of the record demonstrates that Leo's testimony is contradicted by other evidence presented at trial that cumulatively demonstrates that Spann was involved in the abduction and murder of Perron as well as the bank robbery in Indiantown. In addition to Philmore's testimony, which included Spann in both the planning and execution of the criminal activities, there were several witnesses who placed Spann in the area where the victim was kidnapped and placed Spann with Philmore during the time of the robbery and the murder. Spann himself, Philmore, Cooper, and Stevenson said they spent the night of November 13 at a motel together. Around noon, Spann and Philmore took Cooper and Stevenson home. There was testimony from persons in the victim's neighborhood who placed an old blue car [Spann had a blue Subaru] [5] in the vicinity around 1 p.m. The car was also seen leaving the scene of the bank robbery just before 2 p.m. At or near 2:30 p.m., Spann and Philmore picked up Stevenson at her home, and they picked up Cooper shortly thereafter. They were driving the stolen Lexus. Around 3:30 p.m., the four attempted to flee the police, a tire on the Lexus blew out, and the four were eventually arrested after several hours of a police search. Because all of Leo's statements are either inconsistent with Spann's alibi, in contradiction with other evidence presented at trial, or simply do not support Spann's alibi that Spann was home during the time period of the crimes, there is not a reasonable probability that the outcome would have been different had counsel presented Leo's alibi testimony. Accordingly, Spann fails to demonstrate that counsel was ineffective under Strickland.