Court Opinion

ID: 9475169
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:18:58.119737+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:44:32.806536
License: Public Domain

CUDAHY, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I agree with the majority’s thorough and well-reasoned discussion of the choice-of-counsel issue. Except as to one aspect, I also agree with the discussion of ineffective assistance of counsel. I do not believe, *959however, that summary judgment should have been granted on the claim that Kleba was denied effective assistance because his counsel failed to investigate the whereabouts of Candy. I would remand the case to the district court for further proceedings solely on that claim. The majority’s description of the facts is generally accurate,1 but some of the pertinent facts are omitted. These omitted facts are included in the discussion below.
I
It is uncontradicted that the attack on Doe began at 12:45 a.m. Thus, Candy’s statement that Kleba was with her until at least 1:00 a.m., if accurate, would provide a complete alibi to the crime. If she had testified before the jury and been believed,2 the jury would presumably have acquitted Kleba. A complete alibi should ordinarily meet the prejudice requirement of Strickland. But if the evidence against a defendant is “overwhelming,” a deficient performance of counsel that would otherwise be deemed prejudicial might fail to produce a reasonable probability of prejudice. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 700, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2071, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); Keys v. Duckworth, 761 F.2d 390, 394 (7th Cir.1985) (per curiam). Since Kleba’s story of a police frameup and beating is implausible, evidence against him that was overwhelming on other accounts would probably preclude a finding of a reasonable probability of prejudice. After considering all the circumstances of the case, I do not believe that the evidence against Kleba was overwhelming.
Neither Doe nor her neighbor could identify Kleba as the assailant. The police officers never saw the assailant’s face prior to capturing Kleba. It is difficult to take literally the officer’s testimony that he never lost sight of the man he was pursuing through the night. The gangways, alley and yards through which the officer ran were dark; he had to make at least two turns; and he was climbing fences. The chase, after all, took place in the dead of night. Further, the testimony and written reports of the three officers involved in the chase are inconsistent with respect to which officer or officers caught Kleba and how he was injured. Moreover, one officer testified that Doe’s face was bloody and that the assailant’s white shirt had blood on it when the police first arrived. At the police station, the police took custody of Kleba’s shirt, but no evidence was presented at trial indicating whether Doe’s blood was found on Kleba’s shirt, and the prosecution failed to produce the shirt at trial.3 In light of these facts, I do not regard the evidence against Kleba as overwhelming, even with the police testimony regarding Doe’s watch in Kleba’s pocket.4
As noted, if Kleba were with Candy until 1 a.m., he would have a complete alibi; it would not be relevant that she did not see what happened to him. Further, it is entirely conjectural that Candy is mistaken about the time Kleba left her. In addition, Kleba was the only defense witness (other than an adverse witness — Officer Streff). Kleba’s self-serving testimony would likely *960be viewed in a different light if corroborated by that of another witness, who appears to have no reason to be biased in favor of Kleba. For these reasons one’s confidence in the outcome of the trial is undermined by Candy’s nonappearance at trial. And the prejudice standard is thereby satisfied. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068.
II
I also believe that there is a genuine issue of material fact whether Brody’s performance was deficient. The summary judgment motion was decided on the basis of the state court record which included various motions of the parties, the trial transcript, the transcripts of pretrial hearings and the transcript of a hearing on defendant’s motion for a new trial. Neither party provided any new affidavits to support or oppose the summary judgment motion. Despite defendant’s request, neither Candy nor Kleba was permitted to testify at the post-trial hearing in the state court. Neither did the attorneys Brody or Wexler testify at that hearing. Kleba's counsel, however, was permitted to put an offer of proof into the record. Both Brody and Kleba made comments at the hearing, but the comments were not under oath, they were not developed by counsel for either side and they were not all made in a context pertinent to the present issue.
At the state post-trial hearing, there was a discussion about whether Brody was entitled to the proceeds of Kleba’s bond. Kleba said, that, after Wexler first introduced him to Brody (at a time when Wexler still intended to work on the case), “[t]he next time I ever talked to Mr. Brody anywhere outside or in the courtroom — I never talked to him in the courtroom or outside the courtroom — was December the 3rd before we started this trial up in his office. And there is the time when I told him about what was pending in this case. I asked him to enter the pictures. He didn’t want to do nothing. He didn’t want to find out anything about the witnesses.” (R. 59-60). Further, in Kleba’s offer of proof following the denial of permission to testify at the post-trial hearing, Kleba’s new counsel stated that the following could be proved: (1) that Wexler was fully advised about Candy and had promised to try to locate her, by hiring investigators if necessary; (2) that until at least October, the defendant thought that Brody would only participate by assisting Wexler; (3) that subsequent to that time Kleba never met with Brody until the day of the trial; and (4) that, when they met that day, Kleba told Brody about Candy, but it was too late to locate her. (R. 19-21).
Contrary to the implications of the majority opinion, defense counsel has a duty independent of the efforts of the defendant to reasonably investigate all defenses. Crisp v. Duckworth, 743 F.2d 580, 583 & n. 2 (7th Cir.1984), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 105 S.Ct. 1221, 84 L.Ed.2d 361 (1985); Arrowood v. Clusen, 732 F.2d 1364, 1370 (7th Cir.1984); Nealy v. Cabana, 764 F.2d 1173, 1177 (5th Cir.1985); Bell v. Watkins, 692 F.2d 999, 1009 (5th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 843, 104 S.Ct. 142, 78 L.Ed.2d 134 (1983). That investigation need not be unlimited in scope or unerring in execution, but it must be reasonable. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690-91, 104 S.Ct. at 2066-67; United States v. Zylstra, 713 F.2d 1332, 1338-39 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 965, 104 S.Ct. 403, 78 L.Ed.2d 344 (1983); Rogers v. Israel, 746 F.2d 1288, 1294 (7th Cir.1984). Further, the adequacy of information provided by the defendant often determines the reasonableness of defense counsel’s investigation. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 691, 104 S.Ct. at 2066; Matthews v. United States, 518 F.2d 1245, 1246 (7th Cir.1975); United States v. Decoster, 624 F.2d 196, 209 (D.C.Cir.1976) (en banc) (plurality opinion). A defendant’s failure to cooperate with his attorney, though not fully negating the duty to investigate, limits the scope of investigation that is necessary in order to meet the reasonableness standard. Thomas v. Wainwright, 767 F.2d 738, 743 (11th Cir.1985), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 106 S.Ct. 1241, 89 L.Ed.2d 349 (1986); Bell v. Watkins, 692 F.2d at 1009 & n. 11; Gray v. Lucas, 677 F.2d 1086, 1093-94 (5th Cir.1982), *961cert. denied, 461 U.S. 910, 103 S.Ct. 1886, 76 L.Ed.2d 815 (1983). But, “[t]hough there may be unusual cases when an attorney can make a rational decision that investigation is not necessary, as a general rule an attorney must investigate a case in order to provide minimally competent professional representation.” Crisp, 743 F.2d at 583.
Thus, in assessing an investigation, if certain evidence or witnesses could not reasonably have been discovered without the defendant’s cooperation and the defendant did not cooperate, defense counsel’s failure to find the evidence cannot be ineffective assistance. Thomas v. Wainwright, 767 F.2d at 744; United States v. Golub, 694 F.2d 207, 214 (10th Cir.1982). In particular, if defense counsel fails to search for and find potential witnesses when he has not been provided with their last names or addresses and the potential value of their testimony is questionable, he has not acted unreasonably. See Zylstra, 713 F.2d at 1338-39; Decoster, 624 F.2d at 211. But defense counsel cannot simply rely on the defendant or his family to conduct the entire investigation. Crisp, 743 F.2d at 583 n. 2.
The majority cites Zylstra to support its argument that Brody did not fall below standard by failing to search for Candy. But Zylstra involved a number of potential witnesses and evidence that would not have aided Zylstra’s defense. Further, Zylstra was an infinitely more complex case than the one before us and counsel there apparently adequately investigated other defenses that had a stronger chance of success than the one in controversy. Brody, however, had only one witness to investigate and that witness could testify to a complete alibi. Most importantly, the alibi defense is the only string to Kleba’s bow. See United States ex rel. Cosey v. Wolff, 727 F.2d 656, 658, n. 3 (7th Cir.1984) (failure to investigate defendant’s only defense is less likely to be reasonable than failure to investigate one of a number of defenses), overruled in part on other grounds, United States v. Payne, 741 F.2d 887, 891 n. 4 (7th Cir.1984); Keys v. Duckworth, 761 F.2d at 392 (same). Kleba’s testimony at trial shows that he could provide Brody with the location of a building to search and with an unusual first name. Nothing in the record indicates that Brody sought to investigate any defense nor that he bothered to question his client before the day of the trial. Nothing suggests that Kleba failed to cooperate. Moreover, Kleba offered to prove that he gave all the available information about Candy to Wexler and the majority presumes that Brody had access to Wexler’s file. Based on the record before us, there is certainly an issue of fact whether Brody conducted a reasonable investigation.5 Hence summary judgment should not have been granted.
Even if Brody’s statement at the post-trial hearing should constitute some evidence of Kleba’s noncooperation, we need not presume that the state court finding of noncooperation is correct. Brody did not make the statement under oath and was not cross-examined. Kleba was not permitted to testify and Wexler was not available to testify. Counsel made an offer to prove facts that would support Kleba’s argument that Brody or Wexler, not Kleba, was at fault. State findings resulting from such a hearing need not be adopted since Kleba did not receive a full and fair hearing at which to fully develop the facts. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2), (3), (6). Since the facts were not adequately developed in the state court, I would remand the case for an evidentiary hearing in the district court at which Kleba might have an opportunity to prove his allegations. See Rogers v. Israel, 746 F.2d at 1295.
III
The record is therefore inadequate to support the majority’s conclusion that *962counsel’s performance was not deficient. Whether the deficiency was sufficiently prejudicial is a closer question, but I believe there is enough to show prejudice. I would remand the case to the district court for an evidentiary hearing on the claim in question. I, therefore, respectfully dissent to the extent indicated.

. A minor inaccuracy is that Doe did not testify that her assailant picked up the watch and placed it in his pocket. On questioning by the trial judge, she testified that she saw him pick it up, but did not see what he did with it. (R. 182).

. At this stage of the litigation, there is no particular reason to question Candy’s credibility. She apparently had a one night affair with the defendant, but there is no indication that they maintained any relationship thereafter. Further, she has never been cross-examined.

. At trial Kleba testified that he had not owned a white shirt.

. The watch could have been left at the site of the attack. Also a police report indicated the assailant threw down a calculator as he was chased; he could also have thrown down the watch. I certainly do not conclude that there was police misconduct. But there are inconsistencies in the evidence that prevent it from being overwhelming. I also note that considering the weight of the evidence to determine the prejudicial effect of Candy’s nonappearance is not inconsistent with 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 695-96, 698, 104 S.Ct. at 2068-69, 2070.

. Nothing suggests that Kleba gave information to Brody or Wexler from which they could conclude that the alibi defense was inadequate and that therefore further investigation was unnecessary. See Matthews, 518 F.2d at 1246. Neither is there anything to suggest a strategic or tactical choice to which we should defer on review. See Cosey v. Wolff, 727 F.2d at 658 n. 3; Rogers v. Israel, 746 F.2d at 1294.