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BUSH v. STATE12/1/1995
tain "a clear and specific statement of the grounds upon which relief is sought, including full disclosure of the facts relied upon (as opposed to a general statement concerning the nature and effect of those facts)." Moore v. State, 502 So.2d 819, 820 (Ala. 1986). Moreover, the Alabama Supreme Court has made clear that claims of ineffective assistance of counsel may not be considered for the first time on appeal. See Ex parte Jackson, 598 So.2d 895, 897 (Ala. 1992) ("we will not make exception to the rule that a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel may not be considered on appeal if it was not first presented to the trial court"). Thus, these specific contentions made by the appellant, not having been presented to the trial court, must be reviewed under the plain error standard.
As we have previously stated, as a result of a habeas corpus proceeding in federal court, the parties entered into a stipulation pursuant to which the appellant was granted a new trial after his first conviction. This came about as a result of a dispute as to whether the prosecution had failed to turn over certain exculpatory information to the appellant before the first trial, or whether the information was turned over and defense counsel failed to use it. The question of who was at fault was not determined. Contrary to the appellant's assertion in his brief, the court did not find that defense counsel was ineffective nor did it find that the prosecutor had concealed evidence.
We have reviewed the testimony of Mrs. Pringle and particularly her testimony on cross-examination, and applying the plain error analysis, we do not agree with the appellant's contention that trial counsel was ineffective in his cross-examination. His questions substantially comported with the principal purpose behind the confrontation requirement by challenging the witness's veracity. More specifically, contrary to the assertions of the appellant, the cross-examination did address the possible bias of the witness against the appellant because of a possible desire to protect her husband, and also the possibility that her testimony was motivated by the hope of a reward. We note that Lieutenant Ward testified on cross-examination in this case that, on the day after the crimes, a $30,000 reward was offered for information about the crimes, and that this offer was given wide publicity throughout Montgomery. He also testified that Mrs. Pringle received a portion of the reward money. Thus, the jury had this information in the present trial to evaluate in deciding the weight and credibility to give the witness's testimony. Moreover, the appellant's counsel vigorously argued the particular issue of bias created by the receipt of reward money in his closing summation to the jury. The appellant's contention that trial counsel in the first trial could not have
used the information of Edward Pringle's involvement in the crimes and his vulnerability to prosecution in cross-examining Mrs. Pringle is not supported by the record. The cross-examination elicited the information from the witness that her husband, Edward Pringle, had been charged with the same crimes as the appellant. There was certainly evidence before the jury of the involvement of Edward Pringle in the commission of the crimes so that it could judge the possible bias of the witness in placing the blame for the killings on the appellant instead of on her husband. Of course, the appellant could have argued the possibility of such bias to the jury. In reference to the contention that the appellant was denied effective assistance of counsel because counsel did not have or did not use the information that Holmes had identified Cornelius Pringle as the gunman at a pretrial lineup to use in h
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