Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Shaun Lee Thomas v. United States, 11th Cir. (2015)
Shaun Lee Thomas v. United States, 11th Cir. (2015)
Page: 1 of 7
Case: 13-14680
Page: 2 of 7
Id. at 688.
Case: 13-14680
Page: 3 of 7
counsels performance was reasonable and that all significant decisions were made
in the exercise of reasonable professional judgment. Chandler v. United States,
218 F.3d 1305, 1314 (11th Cir. 2000) (en banc). We conduct an objective inquiry
into the reasonableness of counsels performance, such that a petitioner must
establish that no competent counsel would have taken the action that his counsel
did take. Id. at 1315. [S]trategic choices made after thorough investigation of
law and facts relevant to plausible options are virtually unchallengeable.
Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690.
A movant may satisfy the prejudice prong of the Strickland test by showing
a reasonable probability that, but for counsels unprofessional errors, the result of
the proceeding would have been different.
A reasonable probability is a
Case: 13-14680
Page: 4 of 7
Id. at 737.
Case: 13-14680
Page: 5 of 7
witness Karen Delano, when she observed on redirect examination that the victim
appeared to be credible. To begin with, Thomas has not overcome the strong
presumption that counsels performance was reasonable. As the record shows,
trial counsel previously had successively objected to another witnesss credibilitybolstering testimony on the basis that it was improper, and obtained a jury
instruction that only the jury could determine the credibility of witnesses. Further,
trial counsel used Delanos observation that she found the victim credible to elicit
testimony from Delano that the victims prior viewing of pornographic film covers
at her grandfathers house could explain some things. Trial counsel then argued,
in closing, that the victim was not credible, relying in part on that testimony. As a
result, counsels decision not to object to Delanos testimony appears to be a
reasonable, strategic choice made in the exercise of their professional judgment.
As for Thomass claim that we must conclude that trial counsels reason for
failing to object was not reasonable or strategic, since the district court did not hold
an evidentiary hearing, we disagree. The test is whether counsels representation
fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, not whether counsel could
provide some explanation for their actions. Cf. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687-88;
Chandler, 218 F.3d at 1315. Because the record establishes that counsels decision
not to object was objectively reasonable, an evidentiary hearing was unnecessary.
Winthrop-Redin, 767 F.3d at 1216. And, in any event, even if counsel performed
5
Case: 13-14680
Page: 6 of 7
Case: 13-14680
Page: 7 of 7
Specifically, he says that Baker and Ellis would have said that Cheeks told them
that she knowingly provided investigators from the Federal Bureau of
Investigations (FBI) with underwear that she knew was unrelated to the
allegations against him because the government threatened to take away her
children if she did not do so. However, as the record reveals, Cheeks herself
testified that she was not sure whether the underwear that she gave the FBI was the
same underwear that she found in Thomass luggage. Moreover, an FBI agent
testified that investigators did not find Thomass or the victims DNA on the
underwear.
underwear Cheeks gave the FBI were not exculpatory or relevant because they
would have had no impeaching effect on the testimonies of Cheeks or her daughter
that they found the underwear in Thomass luggage, and that Thomas admitted that
the underwear belonged to the victim. Thus, Thomas did not demonstrate that trial
counsel was ineffective for failing to present non-exculpatory testimony by Baker
and Ellis.
AFFIRMED.