Court Opinion

ID: 9760871
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 01:20:56.085803+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:18.171388
License: Public Domain

*57BECK, Judge,
concurring:
I join in the majority opinion of Judge McEwen and in the concurring opinion of Judge Brosky. However, I write separately to underscore the basis for our holding that appellant received ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial attorney did not attempt to identify and interview potential character witnesses.
As the majority has observed,
when confronted with a claim of ineffectiveness of counsel, this Court utilizes a two-step analysis. The Court .must first determine whether the issue underlying the charge of ineffectiveness is of arguable merit____ If the underlying issue is found to be of arguable merit, our inquiry shifts to a determination of whethér the course chosen by counsel had some reasonable basis aimed at promoting his client’s interests.
Commonwealth v. Jennings, 285 Pa.Super.Ct. 295, 298-99, 427 A.2d 231, 232 (1981).
The majority opinion clearly establishes that character evidence would have figured prominently in the trial of this case since “virtually the only issue [was] the credibility of the witness for the Commonwealth [i.e., the complainant] versus that of the [appellant].” (At 1080.) Consequently, there is arguable merit in appellant’s claim that his attorney should have interviewed possible witnesses as to appellant’s character.
We now consider whether appellant’s counsel had a reasonable basis for not interviewing any potential character witnesses. In Commonwealth v. Jones, 496 Pa. 448, 437 A.2d 958 (1981), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that defense counsel was ineffective for not interviewing or attempting to interview an eyewitness to the charged crime (1) where there was arguable merit in interviewing the eyewitness to ascertain if the witness’s testimony would prove useful to the defense at trial and (2) where, without first interviewing the witness, counsel could not have made an informed decision regarding the likely helpful or harmful *58effect of the witness’s testimony upon the defendant’s case. To support its conclusion that counsel lacked a reasonable basis for not interviewing the eyewitness before opting not to call the witness at trial, the Supreme Court quoted extensively from its reasoning in Commonwealth v. Mabie, 467 Pa. 464, 475, 359 A.2d 369, 374-75 (1976):
[T]he question here is the decision not to interview [the witnesses], not the decision to refrain from calling them at trial____ (Emphasis added.) [T]he value of the interview is to inform counsel of the facts of the case so that he may formulate strategy.... [NJo ... claim of strategy can be attached to a decision not to interview or attempt to interview [witnesses] prior to trial. (Emphasis in original.) Therefore, no reasonable basis designed to effectuate [the defendant’s] interest can be attributed to counsel’s failure to question ... witnesses or at least make a reasonable attempt to do so.
Jones, 496 Pa. at 451, 437 A.2d at 959-60.
Accordingly, in the present case appellant’s counsel likewise lacked a reasonable basis for not interviewing or trying to interview potential character witnesses in order to evaluate the possible utility of their testimony.