Opinion ID: 408249
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Scientific Evidence

Text: 24 The trial court found that although counsel neglected to obtain a chemical analysis of the blood found on the steps, the evidence as a whole established that the blood had come from Adams and not the victim. Thus, no issue was presented to the jury as to the source of the blood. 3 This finding is not clearly erroneous. Under all the circumstances, counsel's failure to test the blood was a reasoned tactical choice because no evidence pointed to the blood as being that of the victim. 25 With respect to the hammer, the Georgia State Crime Lab examined the hammer for blood and hair with negative results. Defense counsel testified at the federal habeas corpus hearing that he wanted independent lab tests conducted for fingerprints. Yet, he neglected to file a motion for an independent lab analysis and did not get the hammer from the state crime lab. 4 Defense counsel indicated that he abandoned that line of investigation upon learning of the state lab results. Defense counsel trusted their work. 5 The district court declined to fault defense counsel's failure to obtain an independent chemical analysis of the hammer and his reliance on the state lab results because no evidence warranted an inference that the results were unreliable. The court also found harmless defense counsel's failure to seek expert analysis for fingerprints because of the likelihood that the victim's fingerprints would appear on a hammer found in her home. 26 We agree with the district court's conclusion that expert testimony on this matter would have added little, if any, support to the defense's case. A police officer testified to having discovered the hammer lying astride the victim's body. The district court pointed out that no evidence existed to indicate that anyone had placed the hammer there after the shooting. Thus, evidence of an analysis of the hammer would have been, at best, cumulative, or perhaps, harmful to Adams. 27 The record indicates that trial counsel's efforts were also wanting with respect to his ability to establish that his client received treatment for a head wound. Defense counsel neither interviewed nor called as witnesses the medical personnel at the hospital or the officer who arrested Adams at the hospital. Additionally, counsel demonstrated his ignorance of evidentiary procedure in his attempts to introduce a copy of Adams's medical records and head x-rays through the testimony of a police officer. Counsel eventually succeeded in introducing the records, but only through the benevolence of the prosecutor who explained in closing argument to the jury the reasons for the inadmissibility of this evidence and the proper method for introducing such proof. Despite counsel's deficiencies, the testimony of Adams, the police officer, and the victim's neighbors adequately established that Adams suffered a blow to his head and received treatment for his wounds at the hospital. The medical records documenting his treatment were, in fact, eventually introduced. We therefore conclude that Adams suffered no prejudice from his counsel's failure to call the medical personnel who treated appellant since such evidence would have been cumulative.