Williams v. State

8 S.W.3d 217, 1999 Mo. App. LEXIS 2375, 1999 WL 1102613
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided December 7, 1999·No. ED 75379·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

CLIFFORD H. AHRENS, J.

A jury convicted the defendant, Cory Williams, of one count each of second degree murder, first degree robbery, first degree burglary, second degree burglary, stealing a motor vehicle, receiving stolen property, and two counts each of resisting arrest and armed criminal action. Following an unsuccessful appeal to this court, see State v. Williams, 948 S.W.2d 429 (Mo.App.1997), defendant filed a motion for post-conviction relief pursuant to Missouri Supreme Court Rule 29.15. In that motion, defendant claimed he was denied effective assistance of trial counsel as guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article 1, § 18(a) of the Missouri Constitution. The motion court denied relief; this appeal followed. We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

The underlying facts are set forth in the opinion denying defendant’s direct appeal. We reiterate the following facts which are relevant to this appeal. Sometime between midnight and 1:00 a.m. on November 16, 1994, a man approached a parked minivan in which the driver, Willie Mae Goosby, and her passenger, Lenora Byrd, were sitting. This man pointed a gun at the two, forced them from the van, then drove away in the van. Ms. Goosby identified defendant as the thief from a lineup. For this incident, defendant was charged with the crime of receiving stolen property, § 570.080 RSMo (1994). 1 At tri *219 al for this and several other offenses, Ms. Goosby again identified defendant as the man who stole her van. The State acknowledges this testimony was the principal evidence adduced to support this charge. 2

In his first point of error, defendant requests plain error review of a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel not made to the motion court. The law is very clear that “[t]here is no such thing as plain error in postconviction relief cases. Appellate review of the trial court’s action on a postconviction relief motion is ‘limited’ to a determination of whether the findings and conclusions of the motion court are clearly erroneous.” Clemmons v. State, 795 S.W.2d 414, 418 (Mo.App.1990), cent, denied, 500 U.S. 907, 111 S.Ct. 1689, 114 L.Ed.2d 83 (1991). See also State v. Clay, 975 S.W.2d 121, 141 (Mo. banc 1998), cert denied, — U.S. -, 119 S.Ct. 834, 142 L.Ed.2d 690 (1999) (“In actions under Rule 29.15, any allegations or issues that are not raised in the Rule 29.15 motion are waived on appeal.”). Accordingly, point one is denied.

In his second point, defendant argues the motion court erred in denying his Rule 29.15 motion without an evidentiary hearing because his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to call Lenora Byrd, Ms. Goosby’s passenger at the time of the theft, to testify at trial. Ms. Byrd purportedly would have testified defendant was not the man who stole Ms. Goosby’s van. Defendant claims such testimony would have rebutted an essential element of the crime of receiving stolen property, that is, knowledge the property is stolen. We will uphold the trial court’s ruling unless it was clearly erroneous. Rule 29.15(k) (1999).

A successful claim of ineffective assistance of counsel entails a two-part showing. First, the defendant must demonstrate counsel’s performance was deficient, that is, counsel was not functioning as the “counsel” guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). This requires a showing that counsel failed to exercise the customary skill and diligence that a reasonably competent attorney would exercise under similar circumstances. Seales v. State, 580 S.W.2d 733, 736 (Mo. banc 1979) (citation omitted). Second, the defendant must show counsel’s deficient performance prejudiced his or her defense. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052; Seales, 580 S.W.2d at 735-737. This requires the defendant to show there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. A reasonable probability is one sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome. Id. Counsel’s performance will not be deemed ineffective under the Sixth Amendment unless both prongs of the Stñckland test have been established. Id. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052.

Where the alleged ineffectiveness of counsel concerns the failure to present testimony of a witness, Missouri courts specifically require the defendant to show: (1) the witness could have been located through reasonable investigation; (2) the witness would have testified if called; and (3) the testimony would have provided a viable defense. State v. Vinson, 800 S.W.2d 444, 448-49 (Mo. banc 1990). The inability of a defendant to make even one of these showings reveals that an attempted examination of the witness would not have aided the defense. Where this is the case, counsel’s decision *220 not to call that witness is neither incompetent nor prejudicial.

The State concedes defendant is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his claim that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to present the testimony of Ms. Byrd. It is alleged that Ms. Byrd’s testimony as to the thief s identity would have contradicted Ms. Goosb/s account, which, as previously noted, was the primary evidence adduced by the State to establish defendant’s knowledge he possessed stolen property. See note 1, supra. If adduced as alleged and believed, Ms. Byrd’s testimony would have negated this element of the offense, thus providing defendant a viable defense. The motion court’s refusal to grant defendant an evidentiary hearing on this matter was therefore clearly erroneous. Accordingly, we remand this case to the trial court with instructions to conduct an evidentiary hearing to allow defendant an opportunity to prove his allegations under this point.

In his third and final point, defendant argues the motion court clearly erred in denying his claim for post-conviction relief because trial counsel was ineffective for failing to call Joyce Williams, defendant’s mother, to testify as an alibi witness. The motion court rejected this claim on the ground that the proffered testimony would not have provided defendant with a viable defense. Again, we will sustain this determination unless it was clearly erroneous. Rule 29.15(k).

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Williams v. State, 8 S.W.3d 217, 1999 Mo. App. LEXIS 2375, 1999 WL 1102613 (Mo. Ct. App. 1999).

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