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Materials - The Network of Trial Law Firms

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4. Appellate Counsel Was Ineffective For Failing To Argue On Direct Appeal That<strong>The</strong> <strong>Trial</strong> Court Erred By Excluding Testimony From Two Witnesses 8 Who WouldHave Testified That Dale Todd Was Pressured Into Testifying For <strong>The</strong> State.Todd told Politano that he and Olson were not involved in Hammill’s death. 9Todd toldPolitano that he did not want to testify. Todd told Politano that <strong>of</strong>ficers were pressuring him totestify against Olson. Politano was present when, after hours, Todd was called out for a visitfrom Haggerty and Todd’s parents. After that visit, Todd told Politano that he was scared that hewould lose his plea bargain, and face murder charges, if he did not testify against Olson. Toddalso told Politano that his parents would cut him <strong>of</strong>f, and he would not have a place to live, if hedid not testify against Olson. But the jury did not hear from Politano because, without anyexplanation whatsoever, the trial court excluded his testimony, along with the testimony <strong>of</strong> asecond witness who would have provided similar testimony (T 1208-1210). 10<strong>Trial</strong> counsel preserved this meritorious issue, but appellate counsel failed to raise theissue on direct appeal. Appellate counsel failed to raise this issue even though it would havebolstered the argument that the trial court abused its discretion by allowing Haggerty to sit atcounsel table during trial. That is, on appeal, counsel alleged that Haggerty’s presence at trialwas prejudicial. But, by not asserting that the trial court erred by excluding the bias testimony,counsel missed the opportunity to point out the most significant prejudice: Given that Haggertyhad strong-armed Todd into testifying against Olson, Todd was unlikely to testify truthfully withHaggerty in the courtroom.Had counsel raised this issue on appeal, there is a reasonable probability that the outcomewould have been different because it is well-settled that a criminal defendant has the right to8 <strong>The</strong> second witness was “unnamed,” but Olson would have subpoenaed the witness if the courthad allowed the testimony. At this time, Olson has an affidavit only from Politano.9 See Affidavit <strong>of</strong> Christopher Politano, attached.10 <strong>The</strong> transcript <strong>of</strong> Todd’s rebuttal testimony is attached.

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