Opinion ID: 1465675
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Failure to Couch Proffer of Cordelia Ramsey Vinyard's Testimony in Constitutional Terms

Text: Mr. Johnson contends that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to couch the proffer of the testimony of Cordelia Ramsey Vinyard in federal and state constitutional terms of the right to present a defense under due process, fair trial, compulsory process and confrontation. The result of the testimony, argues Mr. Johnson, is that it would have helped show that someone else committed the murder, because Branson Ramsey, Ms. Vinyard's ex-husband, was a friend of Carol Heath. Ms. Vinyard's proffered evidence concerned alleged violence committed against Ms. Vinyard by Branson Ramsey when they were married. The circuit court ruled that counsel did proffer the testimony, and that no evidence was presented at the Rule 37 hearing to find that we did not settle the issue in Johnson II. See 342 Ark. 186, 201-02, 27 S.W.3d 405 (holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to admit Ms. Vinyard's testimony). Mr. Johnson's argument is conclusory in its assertion that the testimony would have been admitted had counsel couched the proffer in constitutional terms. Moreover, Mr. Johnson's Rule 37 claim on appeal is that the proffer should have been argued in constitutional terms, which would permit a federal habeas court to review it. Failure to preserve an issue for federal habeas review is not the prejudice contemplated by the Strickland test, which requires a reasonable probability that the outcome at trial or, in this case, on appeal, would have been different. No such prejudice is cited by Mr. Johnson in this appeal. Therefore, the circuit court's ruling is affirmed on this point.