Opinion ID: 161004
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Pursue Fiber Expert Testimony

Text: 28 Gonzales next argues that Bahr erred in failing to pursue further direct examination of Larry Morris, a KBI trace examiner who conducted hair and fiber tests in an attempt to link Gonzales to the victim. During trial, Morris testified on behalf of the defense. Both the Kansas Court of Appeals and the federal district court concluded that the scope of Bahr's questioning of Morris was strategic and reasonable, and thus there was no error. We agree. 29 Morris specialized in hair and fiber examinations. After making comparisons between fibers found on Williamson and samples from Gonzales's car, Morris found no match. Morris's supervisor was dissatisfied with his collection methods from the victim's jeans, and had two additional sets of tests performed by other examiners. On the third test, matching fibers were found. Morris was later fired, in part due to his performance on Gonzales's case. See Gonzales, 76 F. Supp. 2d at 1228. Gonzales argues that counsel should have questioned Morris about the tests that failed to find a match and used this evidence to impeach the examiner who found a match. 30 The subject of Morris's testimony at trial was limited to his findings regarding the hair found on Williamson's neck, which did not match a sample from Gonzales. Morris did not testify at all about his failure to find matching fibers from Gonzales's car because Bahr and the State had agreed before trial that if Bahr did not examine Morris about the car fibers, the State would not try to impeach Morris on the basis of his failure to match fibers from the car to fibers found on the body. Bahr therefore defended his decision not to question Morris about the car fibers as a strategic choice intended to preserve Morris's credibility with respect to the non-matching hairs found on Williamson's neck. 31 We agree with the district court's conclusion that [s]uch decisions are reserved for the attorney, and there is a strong presumption that such decisions are reasonable. Gonzales, 76 F. Supp. 2d at 1228. By avoiding a line of questioning about the fiber analysis, counsel averted a potentially damaging cross-examination about Morris's questionable forensic procedures. Instead, Bahr was able to present Morris's positive testimony to the jury about the non-matching hair found on Williamson's neck. Thus, this was sound trial strategy, not deficient under Strickland. Accordingly, we cannot say the Kansas Court of Appeals' determination on this issue was an unreasonable application of clearly established Supreme Court precedent. 32 C. Failure to Question Other Witnesses and Elicit Testimony Regarding Other People Who May Have Been with the Victim on the Night of Her Murder 33 Gonzales also suggests that Bahr failed to provide effective assistance of counsel because he did not interview witnesses who placed Williamson with other individuals at the fair that evening, and who might have cast doubt on Flores' testimony that Williamson left the fair with Gonzales. Faced with more than 100 affidavits by witnesses and reports from investigators, Gonzales alleges Bahr should have culled at least five that accurately identified Williamson at the fair on the correct night, and who saw Williamson in the presence of at least two other men. Gonzales argues that, had Bahr interviewed these witnesses, they could potentially have decimated Flores's testimony. 34 Gonzales is correct that an attorney has a duty to conduct a reasonable investigation, and that failure to do so may fall outside of the range of reasonable professional assistance. See, e.g., Hale, 227 F.3d at 1315; Brecheen v. Reynolds, 41 F.3d 1343, 1366 (10th Cir. 1994). However, in this case we do not conclude that the failure to identify and interview these witnesses was deficient in light of the large number of statements taken by investigators and the fact that their relevance was not strongly evident on their face. None of the witnesses suggested that Williamson left the fair with anyone other than Gonzales. Furthermore, some of their statements were inconsistent with other evidence as to when Williamson was at the fair, what she was wearing, and with whom she was seen. 35 We presume that Bahr acted reasonably when he chose not to examine these witnesses, and we agree with the Kansas Court of Appeals that Gonzales failed to rebut that presumption. Therefore, Bahr's decision not to investigate potential witnesses further was not an error under Strickland.