State v. Strickland
State v. Strickland
Opinion of the Court
¶1 Hawke M. Strickland appeals a judgment convicting him of first-degree reckless homicide with use of a dangerous weapon. He also appeals an order denying his postconviction motion without a hearing. Strickland argues that: (1) he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel because his lawyer failed to present expert witness testimony regarding the unreliability of eyewitness identification; and (2) Jamal Williams's testimony should have been excluded from trial because Williams was not sufficiently certain of his identification of Strickland. We resolve these issues against Strickland. Therefore, we affirm.
¶2 This case arises from a homicide that occurred on August 28, 2014. Two men encountered the victim on the street. They shot the victim and ran away. The central issue at trial was the identity of the two men. Strickland's defense was that he was not involved in the shooting and the witnesses who identified him were mistaken or lying. The jury convicted Strickland of first-degree reckless homicide with use of a dangerous weapon.
¶3 To prove a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must show that his or her lawyer performed deficiently and that this deficient performance was prejudicial. See Strickland v. Washington ,
¶4 Strickland contends that his trial counsel provided him with constitutionally ineffective assistance because he failed to call an expert witness to challenge the reliability of State witness Rosie Lopez's testimony identifying Strickland. To support his claim, Strickland submitted a report from Dr. Lawrence T. White, a professor from Beloit College, which addressed variables that, according to academic studies, are associated in a statistical sense with the reliability of eyewitness identification. Applying these variables to this case, White identified factors that may have made Lopez's testimony less reliable: the fact that Lopez was not the same race as Strickland; the fact that it was dusk when the identification occurred so the lighting was not optimal; the fact that Strickland was a stranger to Lopez; and the fact that Lopez identified Strickland several weeks after the shooting. White also listed factors pertaining to Lopez's testimony that are statistically associated with more reliable identifications: the fact that Lopez was in close proximity to Strickland when she saw him; the fact that she was not directly involved in the altercation and thus was not under stress; and the fact that Strickland was not wearing a disguise.
¶5 Even if an expert witness had explained to the jury the factors associated with the reliability of eyewitness testimony, and the jury had accorded Lopez's testimony less weight as a result, there is no reasonable probability that the jury would have reached a different verdict. The information in White's report both undermines and bolsters Lopez's testimony. Assuming that, on balance, the jury would have viewed Lopez's testimony more skeptically, there were multiple other witnesses who, to varying degrees of certainty, identified Strickland and testified about aspects of the crime that, considered together, paint a compelling picture of Strickland's guilt. In addition to Lopez, Strickland was identified by Jamal Williams, Aholibama Martinez, Eli Hernandez, Madai Hernandez, and David Colon. Therefore, we conclude that Strickland's claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel is unavailing because Strickland cannot show that he was prejudiced. See Strickland ,
¶6 Strickland next argues that the identification testimony of State witness Jamal Williams should have been excluded from trial because Williams told the police he was only seventy percent certain that Strickland was the person he saw running from the scene of the shooting. Strickland argued that the probative value of Williams's testimony was substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effect. See WIS. STAT. § 904.03 (2017-18).
¶7 Circuit courts have the authority and the responsibility to keep evidence from the jury in certain circumstances. State v. Hibl ,
¶8 The circuit court ruled that Williams's testimony was admissible because it was not unduly prejudicial-that is, not extremely unreliable-and thus Williams's lack of absolute certainty was a matter for the jury to weigh in assessing his testimony. Williams said that he was seventy percent certain that Strickland was the person he saw running away after the shooting. As a matter of common sense, an identification made with seventy percent certainty is not extremely unreliable. The circuit court reasonably concluded that the weight to be given to the witness's testimony was thus a matter for the jury to decide. The circuit court did not misuse its discretion in admitting the evidence.
By the Court. -Judgment and order affirmed.
This opinion will not be published. See WIS. STAT. RULE 809.23(1)(b)5.
All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2017-18 version unless otherwise noted.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.