Court Opinion

ID: 9796113
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:49:13.818453+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:49:03.141267
License: Public Domain

Malone, J.,
concurring: I concur with the result reached by the majority that this case should be remanded for an evidentiary hearing on Jack R. LaPointe’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. However, I disagree with much of the reasoning expressed in the majority opinion.
I agree with the majority that LaPointe is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on the claim that his trial counsel was ineffective in the handling of the alibi witness, Loretta LaPointe. The initial error of listing the wrong address on the alibi notice was probably not that serious and could have been easily explained to the jury as a clerical error by counsel’s staff. However, defense counsel compounded the problem by having his secretary testify there was a concern that Loretta was not going to appear at trial. In closing argument, defense counsel emphasized there was a problem with Loretta cooperating in the case. This must have undermined the credibility of Loretta’s alibi testimony, which was crucial to LaPointe’s defense.
*557As to trial counsel’s failure to object to Detective Scott Atwell’s testimony about the unreliability of Carrie Wellman’s photo lineup identification, this testimony was offered to explain why Atwell focused his investigation on LaPointe rather than on Joseph Seeber. At trial, Wellman acknowledged that she was unsure of her pick in the photo lineup. Atwell was not expressing an opinion on the credibility of another witness. Furthermore, he was not testifying at trial as an expert witness on eyewitness identification.
As to trial counsel’s failure to request DNA testing, the State had no physical evidence Unking LaPointe to the robbery and assault. The State’s testing of the hairs and clothing, as well as testing of the fingerprints recovered from the Payless store, did not implicate LaPointe as the robber. In fact, the hairs found on the bandana and clothing did not match the hairs collected from LaPointe and “the most likely outcome” was that they were not LaPointe’s hairs. With that evidence, defense counsel was free to argue LaPointe’s theory that someone else committed the robbery. In fact, defense counsel emphasized during closing argument that there was no fingerprint or hair match or DNA evidence placing LaPointe at the Payless store on the night of October 30, 2000.
If defense counsel had requested further testing and comparison of the hairs and clothing, it might have shown that the hairs and any other DNA evidence that could have been recovered did not belong to other possible suspects in the case such as Seeber or Michael Norton. Worse yet, further testing of the hairs and any DNA evidence recovered from the clothing could have implicated LaPointe. Both of these outcomes would have seriously weakened, if not destroyed, defense counsel’s argument that someone else committed the robbeiy. As a result, defense counsel’s decision not to have the hair and clothing evidence submitted for further testing can be characterized as a reasonable tactical decision and not a deficient one. Because defense counsel’s performance in not requesting DNA testing was not deficient, there is no need to address LaPointe’s claim that the district court erred in denying his motion for further DNA testing after the K.S.A. 60-1507 motion was filed.