Opinion ID: 1681779
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Present Robert Thompson as a Witness

Text: Rogers next contends that his attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel relating to the testimony of Thomas Ambrose by failing to call another witness, Robert Thompson. Ambrose was discovered during the penalty phase of the trial and testified that he saw Cribbs with another individual (not Rogers) on the evening of the murder. See Rogers, 783 So.2d at 1003. Rogers moved for a new trial based on this newly discovered evidence. The trial court denied the motion because the testimony would not have produced an acquittal on retrial. Id. On appeal, this Court affirmed, agreeing with the trial court that Ambrose's testimony was inconsistent, incredible, unbelievable, and [contradicted] the physical evidence in the case. Id. at 1004. In his amended rule 3.851 motion, Rogers argued that counsel was ineffective for failing to call Thompson because he would have testified that he saw Cribbs walking back toward the hotel with an older white male on the night of the murder. Rogers contended that if Thompson had been called to testify at trial, the similar account given by newly discovered witness Ambrose would have provided sufficient corroboration to create reasonable doubt and justify a new trial. First, this assertion is simply unsupported by the record. According to trial counsel, Thompson would have testified that he saw Cribbs with an older white male on the night of the murder, whereas Ambrose testified that he saw Cribbs with a Mexican or Hispanic male. Thompson would not have corroborated Ambrose's testimony; rather, he likely would have contradicted it. Second, defense counsel stated that Thompson would have provided extremely damaging testimony that Rogers was the last man he saw Cribbs with that night, that Rogers told Thompson to call him Kentucky, that Rogers was acting suspicious, that Rogers was fumbling with Cribbs' car, and that Thompson was scared of Rogers in general. Counsel made a reasonable strategic decision not to call Thompson because his testimony could have seriously damaged Rogers' defense and, in fact, could have further implicated Rogers in the crime. Thus, counsel was not deficient for failing to call Thompson. See Lamarca v. State, 931 So.2d 838, 849 (Fla.2006) (denying ineffective assistance claim for failing to call a witness when defense counsel believed that the testimony would have been incriminating to the defense); Marquard v. State, 850 So.2d 417, 428 (Fla.2002) (denying ineffective assistance claim for failing to call witnesses when defense counsel reasonably feared the witnesses would implicate the defendant in the crime). Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's denial of relief as to this sub-claim.