Opinion ID: 2640195
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Failure to Conduct Discovery, Introduce Responses into Evidence

Text: Fleming acknowledged that he failed to make any discovery requests, relying instead on the prosecutor's open-file policy. The district court concluded this did not constitute deficient performance; the Court of Appeals disagreed. Specifically, Wilkins alleges that Fleming's reliance on the open-file policy was prejudicial to the extent that he did not seek copies of the prosecution's written grant of immunity for Gray; its plea agreement with Bittle, which Fleming knew existed; or the results of Gray's polygraph examinations, which, unbeknownst to Fleming, Gray had failed. Wilkins also points to Fleming's failure to conduct any independent investigation into the criminal histories of Bittle and Gray and his failure to introduce evidence of the benefits received by those two men through their deals with the State. The Court of Appeals panel stated that, had Fleming done any independent discovery, he could have done more to attempt to impugn Gray's credibility. Wilkins, slip op. at 8. Given the fact that this case involved an off-grid felony, we do not believe it was reasonable to merely rely on an open file policy in lieu of actively defending Wilkins. Consequently, we believe Fleming's performance in this area was deficient. Slip op. at 8. With regard to Fleming's failure to obtain and use written evidence of Gray's immunity, as the district court recognized, the fact that Gray had received immunity in exchange for his testimony was clearly established at trial. The jury would have well understood that Gray was receiving a substantial benefit from his testimony against Wilkins and that Gray had a substantial incentive to fabricate an engaging story in the service of the State's case. The agreement itself, other than its condition that Gray be truthful, would have added nothing to this understanding. Indeed, any emphasis on the existence of the condition that Gray's testimony be truthful would have tended to bolster rather than undercut his credibility before Wilkins' jury. Regarding Fleming's failure to obtain and use a copy of the State's plea agreement with Bittle, our analysis is basically identical to the above. Fleming knew of the Bittle plea agreement, and it was discussed at some length throughout the trial. The jury was thus capable of taking the benefits of the agreement into account in assessing Bittle's credibility. As to the written reports of Gray's polygraph examinations, they would not have been admissible in Wilkins' trial absent a stipulation. See State v. Shively, 268 Kan. 573, 579, 999 P.2d 952 (2000). Generally, neither would the fact that the examinations had been administered. See State v. Webber, 260 Kan. 263, 276, 918 P.2d 609 (1996), cert. denied 519 U.S. 1090, 117 S.Ct. 764, 136 L.Ed.2d 711 (1997). Although mere mention of a polygraph does not require a mistrial, State v. Green, 245 Kan. 398, 406, 781 P.2d 678 (1989), reference to such an examination, direct or indirect, is prohibited. In re Care & Treatment of Foster, 280 Kan. 845, 862, 127 P.3d 277 (2006). Even if we were to overlook the problem of inadmissibility, we note that Wilkins' principal argument regarding the polygraph reports is unpersuasive. At oral argument, counsel relied upon the interview results recited in the two reports, which included repeated mention of Gray's statement that Shipley might not have been dead when Gray sank Shipley in the pond. Gray's belief on this point already came in at Wilkins' trial. Also, as both a practical and legal matter, additional proof that Gray's behavior in sinking Shipley may have contributed to Shipley's death would not have absolved Wilkins of the culpability that attached when he shot Shipley beforehand. Wilkins also argues that Fleming's failure to investigate the criminal histories of Bittle and Gray was unreasonable and prejudicial. Wilkins relies on cases from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Michigan Court of Appeals to argue that a criminal defendant is denied effective assistance of counsel when his or her lawyer fails to discover and capitalize upon prior criminal records to impeach the credibility of the State's key witnesses. See Sanders v. Ratelle, 21 F.3d 1446, 1456-61 (9th Cir.1994); People v. Nickson, 120 Mich. App. 681, 684-87, 327 N.W.2d 333 (1982). Again, we do not dispute these basic principles of law. We agree that, in certain cases, a defense lawyer's failure to discover and use a witness' prior criminal record for impeachment may constitute ineffective assistance requiring a new trial. But neither this court nor our sister courts have adopted a bright-line rule necessitating reversal and retrial in such situations. We still analyze this alleged failure under the two steps governing analysis of an ineffective assistance claim. Here, Fleming's failure to investigate the criminal histories of Bittle and Gray may have been unreasonable. Nevertheless, he repeatedly established the criminal involvements and untrustworthy characters of both. Fleming proved that Bittle and Gray were involved in illegal drugs, prostitution, theft, and child pornography, while Wilkins was not. Fleming also elicited testimony that Bittle was the leader of the Klan group, that Bittle had threatened to kill other members of the group, and that Bittle had offered to kill one member's stepfather and then tried to blackmail her about it. Fleming consistently contrasted the wayward lifestyle of the Iowa-based group with that of the Kansas-based Wilkins, who was the only one among the group who held a steady job. The evidence also showed that Bittle had told several inconsistent stories about Shipley's disappearance: Shipley was killed in Iowa; Shipley's body was dumped from a jeep on a Kansas highway; Shipley had been hung in Kansas City; and Shipley was shot in Kansas and his body dumped in a pond. In short, any effort that Fleming may have engaged in to obtain information about Bittle's and Gray's formal criminal records could not have made Bittle and Gray look much more unsavory and less worthy of belief than the evidence already before Wilkins' jury. Although Fleming's performance in relation to this issue may have been unreasonable, it could not have changed the outcome of the Wilkins' trial. Wilkins also argues that Fleming failed to introduce evidence of the benefits Bittle and Gray received in exchange for their testimony against Wilkins. As discussed above in relation to Wilkins' criticism of the thoroughness of Fleming's discovery on Gray's immunity and Bittle's plea agreement and on both witnesses' criminal records, the record does not support the idea that Wilkins' jury was uninformed about any such benefits. In our view, there is no substantial competent evidence to support any conclusion that Fleming's performance was deficient in this respect. In holding against Wilkins on his ineffective assistance of counsel claim, we also note that the district court judge who presided over the K.S.A. 60-1507 proceeding was the same judge who presided over Wilkins' trial. We have previously observed that substantial questions of fact about the performance of trial counsel can best be evaluated by the judge who presided at trial. Bellamy v. State, 285 Kan. 346, 357, 172 P.3d 10 (2007). Here, under our standard of review we are comfortable that the district court arrived at the correct legal conclusions, supported by substantial competent evidence, on Wilkins' Sixth Amendment issue.