Post Conviction Petitioner Failed to Show That Either The Court Or The Prosecutor Intimidated Witnesses From Testifying

Caldwell v. State, Minn.S.Ct., 10/26/2016.  Mr. Caldwell is serving a life without release sentence so understandably he's spending a lot of energy trying to get out from under that sentence.  The court previously upheld his conviction on direct appeal.  He commenced this post conviction petition arguing that three state witnesses had presented false testimony at his trial.  That got him an evidentiary hearing, but, alas, things didn't go too terribly well.

First of the recanting witnesses was a Mr. Turnage.  Before Mr. Turnage could open his mouth the judge threatened him with perjury.  Mr. Turnage withstood that threat and on direct examination he recanted his previous trial testimony.  It was then the prosecutor's turn to hurl a few stronger threats at Mr. Turnage. Specifically, the prosecutor threatened to charge Mr. Turnage with aiding an offender after the fact, which, in case Mr. Turnage didn't know, could carry a sentence equal of half what Mr. Caldwell got. Now, regrettably, no one explored just what half of a life without release sentence looked like, but Mr. Turnage apparently had enough of an idea of it to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.  The final upshot was that the judge threw out all of Mr. Turnage's testimony. When Mr. Caldwell couldn't produce the other two recanting witnesses, the whole thing fell apart and the court denied the petition.

Mr. Caldwell said that both the judge and the prosecutor "substantially interfered with [Mr. Turnages's] decision to testify at the post conviction evidentiary hearing," which denied him the right to present a complete defense. Justice Hudson concludes that neither did that.  The Justice assumed without deciding that there was a Fourteenth Amendment right to present a complete defense during a post conviction hearing.  Applying the test that the Justice assumes applies, Mr. Caldwell had to prove that a government actor interfered with a witness's decision to testify, the interference was substantial, and the defendant was prejudiced by the conduct. Colbert v. State, 870 N.W.2d 616 (Minn. 2015).  Mr. Caldwell could not meet even the first requirement of the test.  The Justice said that not only did the judge not interfere, the judge was "to be commended" for it's warnings to Mr. Turnage.  And the prosecutor was doing nothing more than aggressive cross examination.

Finally, the court said that it was within the judge's discretion to strike Mr. Turnage's testimony after he clammed up.  The state's absence of an opportunity to cross examine him and what the court said was Mr. Turnage's invalid waiver of his Fifth Amendment rights - his direct testimony - authorized