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Bland v. State5/16/2000
rooper Fisher or Mike Simmons about the victim's wallet was not indicative of ineffective assistance of counsel. Contrary to Appellant's contention, his credibility as a witness was not tied to the missing brown wallet. Appellant's credibility was called into question by his own statements - both pre-trial and during trial. Further, the evidence showed that Appellant was seen in possession of a large amount of cash immediately after the murder (the day after he had spent all of the money previously in his possession) and that the victim's brown wallet was never found. Even if defense counsel had presented additional testimony concerning whether the brown wallet was actually in Appellant's possession, there is not a reasonable probability that had he done so the result of the proceeding would have been different.
Appellant also argues trial counsel should have more fully investigated the veracity of Connie Lord. He directs us to the affidavit of Rhonda Oneal, the custodian of records at the Oklahoma County Jail (Exhibit B), which states that Lord was incarcerated in the Oklahoma County Jail on November 19, 1996, and remained incarcerated for approximately seventy-five (75) days. Lord testified at trial that she had been incarcerated prior to trial and was still incarcerated at the time of trial. Further, two witnesses testified that Lord was not truthful. Any failure to further challenge Lord's veracity was not indicative of ineffectiveness as there no indication that such testimony would have impacted the outcome of the trial.
Next, Appellant contends counsel was ineffective for failing to fully present all available evidence of his drug induced intoxication. He directs us to the affidavits from Connie Lord (Exhibit C), Larry J. Mills (Exhibit F), J. Arden Blough, M.D. (Exhibit G), and Humberto Martinez (Exhibit D). In each of these affidavits the affiant refers to Appellant's drug use immediately prior to the murder and after the murder. Lord stated that Appellant had injected cocaine the day he confronted the victim. Martinez stated that when he picked Appellant up at the motel in Chandler on November 17, 1996, he thought Appellant "had done enough dope to kill a normal person." Mills, the paramedic who responded to the scene of Appellant's accident with the victim's pickup truck in Chandler, stated that Appellant said he had the accident because he was injecting speed and had been on a "couple day high." Blough, the attending physician who treated Appellant when he was taken to the Stroud Memorial Hospital, stated that in his opinion, Appellant's conduct and reactions were consistent with recent drug use. The failure to present this evidence did not impact the outcome of the trial.
Evidence was presented at trial that Appellant had ingested drugs the day of the murder. Lord testified that she and Appellant had injected cocaine the day of the murder. Martinez testified he and Appellant had purchased drugs on November 15, 1996. However, in light of Appellant's own detailed statements about the murder and the circumstances immediately preceding and following the murder, additional evidence of his drug use would not have warranted a jury instruction on voluntary intoxication or had any impact on the outcome of the first stage of trial.
Appellant further claims counsel was ineffective for failing to fully investigate and utilize available evidence in the second stage of trial to counter the State's evidence in aggravation. Specifically, he asserts counsel inadequately defended against the evidence of his prior conviction. He directs us to newspaper articles written at the time of the prior offense which state that Appellant may have fired his gun at pursuing officer
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