Stevens v. State

• Decision Date: 28 September 1995
• Citation: 322 Or. 101,902 P.2d 1137
• Parties: Clifford Wayne STEVENS, Petitioner on Review, v. STATE of Oregon, Respondent on Review. CC 16-92-04672; CA A80158; SC S41633.
• Court: Oregon Supreme Court

Page 1137

902 P.2d 1137

322 Or. 101

Clifford Wayne STEVENS, Petitioner on Review, v. STATE of Oregon, Respondent on Review.

CC 16-92-04672; CA A80158; SC S41633.

Supreme Court of Oregon,

In Banc.

Argued and Submitted May 2, 1995.

Decided Sept. 28, 1995.

Gary D. Babcock, Salem, argued the cause and filed the petition on behalf of petitioner on review.

Ann Kelley, Assistant Attorney General, Salem, argued the cause on behalf of respondent on review. With her on the brief on the merits were Theodore R. Kulongoski, Attorney General, and Virginia L. Linder, Solicitor General, Salem.

UNIS, Justice.

The issue in this case is whether petitioner was denied adequate assistance of trial counsel in violation of Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution and is, therefore, entitled to post-conviction relief, on the ground that his trial counsel failed to interview certain potential witnesses and chose not to have petitioner examined medically to determine whether he was impotent at the time of the alleged rape. We answer that question in the affirmative.

On June 8, 1990, petitioner was indicted for rape in the first degree, ORS 163.375 (1989). ¹ The indictment alleged that petitioner raped the complaining witness, a 12-year-old girl with a learning disability, while driving her to school on March 5, 1990. Petitioner's trial to the court essentially was a credibility contest between the complaining witness and petitioner.

Petitioner was the landlord and a friend of the complaining witness's family, and he drove the complaining witness to and from school regularly. The complaining witness testified that, on the way to the school one day, petitioner stopped his van on the side of the road, got out, came around to her side of the van, and unfastened his pants. The complaining witness further testified that, while standing on the ground next to the vehicle, petitioner held the complaining witness's hands to his "privates" and put his "privates" inside her "privates" a few centimeters while she continued to sit on the seat of the van. She testified that the alleged incident lasted for about five minutes, with petitioner maintaining an erection. The complaining witness also testified that petitioner then dropped her off at school, where she attended three classes from 8:40 a.m. until 11:00 a.m., and that she reported the alleged incident that day to her physical therapist and to Pattison, one of her teachers. The complaining witness's parents testified that, when the complaining witness came home, she was agitated, said she had a headache, and rested for a few hours before dinner. A physician called by the state testified that, when he examined the complaining witness two days after the alleged incident, he found no physical evidence of rape or trauma.

Petitioner testified that he had no sexual contact with the complaining witness. A criminalist called by the defense testified that laboratory tests on the jeans and underpants worn by the complaining witness on the day of the alleged incident revealed nothing of significance. Trial counsel made a visual demonstration of petitioner's van to the trial court. Trial counsel asserted that, due to the height of the seat of the van, it was unlikely that the alleged incident could have occurred as described.

The trial court found petitioner guilty of the lesser included offense of sexual abuse in the second degree, ORS 163.415. ² On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed petitioner's conviction without opinion. State v. Stevens, 111 Or.App. 452, 826 P.2d 649 (1992).

Petitioner sought post-conviction relief pursuant to ORS 138.530, ³ asserting that his trial counsel was constitutionally inadequate due to his failure to investigate the case properly. Specifically, petitioner challenged his trial counsel's failure to pursue witnesses who might have impeached the complaining witness and his decision not to obtain a medical diagnosis that petitioner was impotent at the time of the alleged rape.

At the post-conviction hearing, petitioner's trial counsel testified that he had not interviewed any members of the complaining witness's school's staff or her classmates. The following testimony by members of the school's staff and by the complaining witness's classmates was presented at the post-conviction hearing, but not at the trial.

Two teachers and a teacher's assistant, who conducted the complaining witness's classes on the day of the alleged incident, testified as to the complaining witness's behavior after the alleged rape. Pattison testified that, contrary to the complaining witness's trial testimony, the complaining witness had not reported the incident to him on the day of the alleged rape. He explained that the complaining witness was in his class with about ten other learning disabled students and that the class was supervised by him, another teacher, and a teacher's assistant who facilitated intensive guidance and study. Pattison stressed that the teachers took great care in trying to identify any signs of abuse or mental trauma in the students, and he stated that the complaining witness behaved normally on the day of the alleged rape.

Bauder, another teacher who supervised the complaining witness on the day of the alleged incident, testified that the complaining witness generally confided in her about the complaining witness's home life and problems with her mother, but that she did not report the alleged rape to her on that day. Bauder also testified that there was a stringent school policy in place that required the teachers to report immediately any suspected mistreatment or abuse of a student to the school counselor or administrator and that she noticed nothing out of the ordinary on that day.

Taylor, a teacher's assistant who supervised the complaining witness on the day of the alleged rape, testified that the complaining witness did not report the incident to her and that the complaining witness behaved normally on that day.

Four of the complaining witness's classmates testified at the post-conviction hearing. Each classmate related a different account of the alleged incident given by the complaining witness. S testified that the complaining witness told him that petitioner "hurt" her at petitioner's home and that her mother was going to sue petitioner for "a lot of money." S testified that he did not know when that conversation took place. M testified that the complaining witness told him that petitioner had raped her and scraped her with a "tool" and that she was going to sue petitioner for money. M also testified that he could not specify a time when that conversation took place. E testified that, on the day after the alleged rape, the complaining witness told her that petitioner had hurt her at his house. H testified that the complaining witness had told her at least two years before the alleged incident that a masked man, possibly petitioner, had grabbed her, taken her into his house, and raped her.

Petitioner also offered evidence at the post-conviction hearing about his claim of impotence. Petitioner testified that he told his trial counsel before trial that he was incapable of committing the rape because he had been impotent for several years. As previously stated, the complaining witness testified at trial that petitioner maintained an erection during the alleged rape. At the post-conviction hearing, petitioner offered an affidavit from a urologist regarding the urologist's medical examination of petitioner. The urologist opined that petitioner had been impotent for many years and was unable to attain an erection at the time of the alleged rape.

Petitioner's trial counsel testified at the post-conviction hearing that petitioner's conviction of a lesser included offense was proof that his legal assistance was adequate. He explained that, after he had read the police reports, he interviewed a number of witnesses and twice went to the scene of the alleged incident. However, trial counsel did not identify those witnesses, and he conceded that he did not interview any of the complaining witness's teachers or classmates. Trial counsel also testified that, because he believed that petitioner's trial would be a credibility contest between petitioner and the complaining witness, his theory of defense was simply that petitioner's word would have to prevail over the word of the complaining witness. Trial counsel then testified that, in following his defense theory, his failure to obtain a medical diagnosis to determine whether petitioner was impotent at the time of the alleged rape, as petitioner had advised him, was a tactical decision, because he believed that presenting such evidence to the trial court would risk petitioner's credibility.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the post-conviction court entered a judgment denying relief. The court found that petitioner had been provided with adequate assistance of counsel, because trial counsel did not lack reasonable skill and judgment in defending petitioner. Petitioner appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Stevens v. State, 129 Or.App. 533, 879 P.2d 893 (1994). That court held that, although petitioner's trial counsel had failed to exercise reasonable professional skill and judgment by not interviewing the complaining witness's teachers and classmates, petitioner had failed to demonstrate that he had been "substantially prejudiced" by trial counsel's inadequacy. Id. at 537, 879 P.2d 893. The court further held that petitioner's trial counsel was not constitutionally inadequate for failing to present medical evidence that petitioner was impotent at the time of the alleged rape, because the court could not say as a matter of law that trial counsel "did not make a tenable tactical choice." Id. at 538, 879 P.2d 893.

We allowed petitioner's petition for review. Petitioner asserts that trial counsel's failure to interview potential witnesses and his decision not to arrange for a medical...