Full opinion text
MEMORANDUM JOHN E. JONES, III, District Judge. This matter is before the Court on the petition of Lorenzo Johnson for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Johnson seeks relief from the life sentence imposed by the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania for his convictions of first degree murder and criminal conspiracy. For the reasons set forth below, the Court will deny the petition. I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY Johnson filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to § 2254 on July 19, 2004. (Doc. 1.) Johnson filed a pro se memorandum of law in support of his petition on March 6, 2006. (Doc. 20.) On July 24, 2006, counsel was appointed to represent Johnson. (Doc. 25.) With the assistance of counsel, Johnson filed a supplemental memorandum in support of his petition on March 6, 2007. (Doc. 33.) Johnson also filed a motion for discovery (Doc. 34), which was granted, subject to in camera review (see Docs. 42, 45, 50, 53). The Respondents filed their response to Johnson’s petition on December 24, 2007. (Doc. 64.) Johnson filed a reply brief in support of his petition on January 23, 2008. (Doc. 70.) The petition is now ripe for the Court’s review. II. BACKGROUND On March 17, 1997, following a three-day jury trial in the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas, Lorenzo Johnson and co-defendant Corey Walker were found guilty of murder in the first degree and criminal conspiracy to commit murder. (Notes of Trial Testimony, Commonwealth v. Johnson, et al., Nos. 1544 CD 1996 and 2739 CD 1996, Docs. 66-11 to 66-24 [hereinafter N.T.] at 428-29.) Johnson and Walker were both sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment on the murder conviction and concurrent five to ten years of imprisonment on the conspiracy conviction. (N.T. 431-35.) On March 27, 1997, Johnson’s trial counsel filed a post-sentence motion with the trial court on the grounds that “the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to show that Lorenzo Johnson participated in the murder” and that “the verdict returned by the jury was against the weight of the evidence presented at trial, such that it tends to shock one’s sense of justice.” (Doc. 33-2 at 23, 24.) The motion did not cite to any caselaw. Relying only on Pennsylvania law, the Court of Common Pleas denied Johnson’s post-sentence motion by order of August 25, 1997. (Id. at 27.) On April 30, 1998, Johnson, still represented by trial counsel, filed a direct appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, again arguing that the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient as a matter of law to sustain a guilty verdict and that the verdict was against the weight of evidence. (Id. at 34, 41.) Johnson cited only to Pennsylvania law governing these issues. (Id. at 38-39, 47.) On September 28, 1998, the Superior Court affirmed Johnson’s and Walker’s conviction and sentence. (Doc. 64-6 at 1.) In doing so, the Superior Court applied only Pennsylvania law. (Id. at 5-8.) One judge of the court filed a separate opinion concurring with portion of the decision affirming Walker’s convictions, but dissenting from the portion affirming Johnson’s convictions. (Id. at 9-10.) This judge did not further elaborate on the reasons for his separate opinion. Johnson filed a petition for allowance of appeal with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, again arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions and that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. (Doc. 64-7.) The petition cited no supporting legal authority. On February 26, 1999, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied the petition. (Doc. 64-8.) On December 1, 1999, Johnson filed a pro se petition for relief under Pennsylvania’s Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”). (Docs. 66-2, 66-3.) After the appointment of counsel to represent Johnson, an amended PCRA petition was filed on March 21, 2000. (Doc. 64-9.) The amended petition raised several grounds for relief. Johnson argued that the failure of the Commonwealth to disclose the existence of a plea agreement with witness Victoria Doubs violated the due process guarantees of the Pennsylvania and United States Constitutions. (Id. at 15.) Johnson also argued that he was denied the right to counsel guaranteed by the Pennsylvania and United States Constitutions because his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by (i) failing to object to the trial court’s jury instructions and request a standard jury instructions on inconsistent statements and witness credibility; (ii) failing to object to the hearsay testimony; (iii) failing to call Adrian Fluellen to testify; (iv) failing to call Larry Pates to testify; (v) failing to object to a certain remark in the prosecutor’s closing argument; and (vi) improperly persuading Johnson not to testify. Following an evidentiary hearing, the Court of Common Pleas denied each of Johnson’s claims on the merits by order of April 29, 2002. (Doc. 33-2 at 74.) Johnson appealed to the Superior Court, reasserting the same grounds for relief. (Doc. 66-4, 66-5.) By order of July 17, 2003, the Superior Court affirmed the denial of Johnson’s PCRA petition. (Doc. 33-2 at 93.) The court first found that Johnson’s due process claim had not been raised on direct appeal, and therefore was not preserved for PCRA review and was waived. The Superior Court adopted the trial court’s merits analysis in rejecting Johnson’s other claims. Johnson filed a petition for allowance of appeal with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (Doc. 66-9), which the Court denied on April 2, 2004 (Doc. 64-12). III. STANDARD OF REVIEW Title 28 U.S.C. § 2254, as amended by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996), provides the standards for federal courts reviewing state court judgments challenged by petitions for writ of habeas corpus. Before a federal court may review the merits of a § 2254 petition, the petitioner must demonstrate exhaustion of state court remedies and lack of procedural default. Section 2254(b) provides that “[a]n application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court shall not be granted unless it appears that the applicant has exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1)(A). “An applicant shall not be deemed to have exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State ... if he has the right under the law of the State to raise, by any available procedure, the question presented.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(c). To exhaust available state court remedies, a petitioner must “fairly present” his claim through one complete round of the state’s established appellate review process in order to give the state courts one full opportunity to resolve any constitutional issues. Nara v. Frank, 488 F.3d 187, 197 (3d Cir.2007). If a petitioner fails to fairly present a claim to the state courts, and state procedural rules bar him from now doing so, the exhaustion requirement is satisfied because there is literally “an absence of available State corrective process” under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b). Whitney v. Horn, 280 F.3d 240, 252-53 (3d Cir.2002). In such a case, however, the petitioner has procedurally defaulted his claim, and federal courts may not consider the merits of such a claim unless the petitioner establishes “cause and prejudice” or a “fundamental miscarriage of justice” to excuse the default. Id. Even when a petitioner properly exhausts a claim, a federal court may not review it on the merits if a state court’s decision rests on a violation of a state procedural rule that is independent of the federal question presented and adequate to support the judgment. Id.; Leyva v. Williams, 504 F.3d 357, 365-66 (3d Cir.2007). If the petitioner has exhausted available state remedies and the claims raised in the petition are not in procedural default, a federal court may reach the merits of the petition. The federal court’s review, however, is limited by the deference owed to the state courts’ decisions on the merits. Section 2254(d) provides: An application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court shall not be granted with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in State court proceedings unless the adjudication of the claim— (1) resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States; or (2) resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). The “contrary to” or “unreasonable application” of federal law standard of review mandated by § 2254(d)(1) requires a three-step process. See Outten v. Kear- ney, 464 F.3d 401, 413 (3d Cir.2006). First, the court must identify the “clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States” applicable to the petitioner’s claims. Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 389-91, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000); Outten, 464 F.3d at 414. “That statutory phrase refers to the holdings, as opposed to the dicta, of [the Supreme] Court’s decisions as of the time of the relevant state-court decision.” Id. at 412. Next, the court must determine whether the state-court decision was “contrary to” the identified federal law. Outten, 464 F.3d at 413. A state-court decision is contrary to federal law if the state court applies a rule that contradicts the governing law set forth in Supreme Court cases or if the state court confronts a set of facts that are materially indistinguishable from a Supreme Court decision and nevertheless arrives at a different result. Williams, 529 U.S. at 405-06, 120 S.Ct. 1495. A state-court decision is not “contrary to” federal law merely because the federal court considering the prisoner’s habeas application might reach a different result. Id. at 406, 120 S.Ct. 1495. To satisfy § 2254(d)(1), the state-court decision must have been “substantially different” from the relevant Supreme Court precedent. Id. at 405, 120 S.Ct. 1495. “It is not sufficient for [the petitioner] to show merely that his interpretation of Supreme Court precedent is more plausible than the state court’s; rather, [the petitioner] must demonstrate that Supreme Court precedent requires the contrary outcome.” Outten, 464 F.3d at 413 (citations omitted). If the state court decision is not “contrary to” Supreme Court precedent, the court must then determine if the decision was based on an “unreasonable application of’ such precedent. Id. at 413-14. A state-court decision involves an “unreasonable application” of federal law if the state court identifies the correct governing legal rule from Supreme Court cases but unreasonably applies it to the facts of the particular state prisoner’s case. Williams, 529 U.S. at 407-08, 120 S.Ct. 1495. A state-court decision also involves an “unreasonable application” of federal law if it either unreasonably extends a legal principle from Supreme Court precedent to a new context where it should not apply or unreasonably refuses to extend that principle to a new context where it should apply. See id. at 408-09, 120 S.Ct. 1495; see also Outten, 464 F.3d at 413. “[A] federal ha-beas court making the ‘unreasonable application’ inquiry should ask whether the state court’s application of clearly established federal law was objectively unreasonable.” Williams, 529 U.S. at 409, 120 S.Ct. 1495. Importantly, “an unreasonable application of federal law is different from an incorrect application of federal law.” Id. at 410, 120 S.Ct. 1495. The court is “not authorized to grant habeas corpus relief simply because we disagree with the state court’s decision or because we would have reached a different result if left to our own devices. Instead, the state court’s application of Supreme Court precedent must have been objectively unreasonable, that is, the federal habeas court should not grant the petition unless the state court decision, evaluated objectively and on the merits, resulted in an outcome that cannot reasonably be justified under existing Supreme Court precedent.” Id. at 414, 120 S.Ct. 1495. A federal court may also grant relief under § 2254(d)(2), where the state-court decision “was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding.” As under § 2254(d)(1), the test here is objective unreasonableness. Miler-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 340, 123 S.Ct. 1029, 154 L.Ed.2d 931 (2003) (citing Williams, 529 U.S. at 399, 120 S.Ct. 1495). The federal court, however, must also give deference to state court factual findings. Section 2254(e)(1) provides: In a proceeding instituted by an application for a writ of habeas corpus by a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court, a determination of a factual issue made by a State court shall be presumed to be correct. The applicant shall have the burden of rebutting the presumption of correctness by clear and convincing evidence. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1). The relationship between § 2254(d)(2) and § 2254(e)(1) is somewhat unclear. Lambert v. Blackwell, 387 F.3d 210, 235 (3d Cir.2004), cert. denied, 544 U.S. 1063, 125 S.Ct. 2516, 161 L.Ed.2d 1114 (2005). Both provisions are “generally indicative of the deference AEDPA requires of state court factual determinations,” but each addresses a slightly different inquiry. Id. Section 2254(d)(2) addresses challenges to a state court’s decision based on the evidence presented in the state proceedings. Miller-El, 537 U.S. at 340, 123 S.Ct. 1029; Lambert, 387 F.3d at 235. That section requires the federal habeas court to decide whether the state court’s determination was reasonable or unreasonable given the totality of the evidence presented. Miller-El, 537 U.S. at 340, 123 S.Ct. 1029; Lambert, 387 F.3d at 235. Section 2254(e)(1), on the other hand, addresses challenges to the state court’s individual factual determinations, rather than the decisions based on those determinations. Miller-El, 537 U.S. at 341, 123 S.Ct. 1029; Lambert, 387 F.3d at 235. Where a petitioner attacks specific factual determinations of the state court that are subsidiary to the ultimate decision, § 2254(e)(1) requires that the state court’s determinations be afforded a presumption of correctness that the petitioner can rebut only by clear and convincing evidence. Lambert, 387 F.3d at 235. In sum, a federal habeas court reviews the facts found by a state court under § 2254(e)(1), but the legal decision based on those facts under § 2254(d)(2). Miller-El, 537 U.S. at 341, 123 S.Ct. 1029; Lambert, 387 F.3d at 235-36. Finally, “by its own terms § 2254(d) applies only to claims already ‘adjudicated on the merits in State court proceedings.’ It follows that when, although properly preserved by the defendant, the state court has not reached the merits of a claim thereafter presented to a federal habeas court, the deferential standards provided by AEDPA ... do not apply.” Appel v. Horn, 250 F.3d 203, 210 (3d Cir.2001). Instead, “the federal habeas court must conduct a de novo review over pure legal questions and mixed questions of law and fact, as a court would have done prior to the enactment of AEDPA. However, the state court’s factual determinations are still presumed to be correct, rebuttable upon a showing of clear and convincing evidence.” Id. IV. DISCUSSION Johnson’s petition advances three grounds for relief: (1) the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his convictions in violation of due process, (2) the prosecutor committed a Brady violation by failing to reveal a plea agreement between the government and witness Victoria Doubs, and (3) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request appropriate jury instructions on witness credibility and inconsistent statements. Respondents argue that Johnson’s first and second claims are procedurally defaulted and, in the alternative, that all of his claims fail on the merits. The Court will address each of Johnson’s claims in turn. A. Sufficiency of the Evidence Claim Johnson first argues that his convictions violated due process because the Commonwealth did not present sufficient evidence to prove his guilt as to each element of the crimes charged beyond a reasonable doubt. The Respondents contend that Johnson’s sufficiency of the evidence claim is procedurally defaulted, and alternatively, that the claim fails on the merits. For the reasons that follow, the Court holds that Johnson has not procedurally defaulted this claim, but that the evidence presented at trial is sufficient to sustain his convictions. 1. Procedural Default Respondents first argue that Johnson’s sufficiency of the evidence claim was not fairly presented to the state courts because it was presented only as a claim based on state, not federal law. Respondents contend that a “rule of explicitness” derived from Supreme Court precedent requires a petitioner to explicitly communicate the federal nature of a claim to the state courts. Because Johnson would now be procedurally barred from explicitly raising a federal due process claim before Pennsylvania courts, the Respondents conclude that Johnson has procedurally defaulted his claim. Johnson counters that his sufficiency of the evidence claim was fairly presented because the standard for deciding such a claim under Pennsylvania and federal law is the same. While the law addressing the issue presented by the parties is less than clear, the Court finds that Johnson has the better argument. The principle of federal-state comity has long required a state prisoner to give the state courts an initial opportunity to pass upon and correct alleged violations of federal rights before a federal court will entertain his habeas petition. See Picard v. Connor, 404 U.S. 270, 275, 92 S.Ct. 509, 30 L.Ed.2d 438 (1971). The Supreme Court has emphasized that to exhaust available state remedies “the federal claim must be fairly presented to the state courts.... Accordingly, we have required a state prisoner to present the state courts with the same claim he urges upon the federal courts.” Id. at 275-76, 92 S.Ct. 509 (citations omitted). In Picard, before the state courts, the petitioner argued that his indictment was invalid under state law. On appeal of the denial of his habeas petition, the court of appeals held that the indictment violated equal protection. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the petitioner had not exhausted his state remedies because the state courts were not provided “with an opportunity to apply controlling legal principles to the facts bearing upon his constitutional claim.” Id. at 277, 92 S.Ct. 509. The Supreme Court stated: The [Massachusetts] Supreme Judicial Court dealt with the arguments respondent offered; we cannot fault that court for failing also to consider sua sponte whether the indictment procedure denied respondent equal protection of the laws. Obviously there are instances in which the ultimate question for disposition will be the same despite variations in the legal theory or factual allegations urged in its support. A ready example is a challenge to a confession predicated upon psychological as well as physical coercion. Hence, we do not imply that respondent could have raised the equal protection claim only by citing book and verse on the federal constitution. We simply hold that the substance of a federal habeas corpus claim must first be presented to the state courts. The claim that an indictment is invalid is not the substantial equivalent of a claim that it results in an unconstitutional discrimination. Id. at 277-78, 92 S.Ct. 509 (citations omitted) (emphasis added). The Supreme Court again addressed the fair presentation rule in per curiam opinion in Anderson v. Harless, 459 U.S. 4, 103 S.Ct. 276, 74 L.Ed.2d 3 (1982). In that case, the petitioner was convicted of two counts of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Before Michigan courts, the petitioner argued that the trial court’s jury instruction on malice was “erroneous” and in support of that argument relied on People v. Martin, 392 Mich. 553, 221 N.W.2d 336 (1974), “a decision predicated solely on state law in which no federal issues were decided, but in which the defendant had argued broadly that failure to properly instruct a jury violated the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments.” Id. at 6, 103 S.Ct. 276. Michigan courts affirmed the conviction, and “[n]ot surprisingly ... interpreted [the petitioner’s] claim as being predicated on the state-law rule of Martin, and analyzed it accordingly.” Id. at 7, 103 S.Ct. 276. On federal habeas review, the petitioner relied primarily on Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510, 99 S.Ct. 2450, 61 L.Ed.2d 39 (1979) in arguing that the malice instruction had unconstitutionally shifted the burden of proof to him at trial. The district court held that the petitioner had exhausted state remedies, and the court of appeals affirmed, holding that the “due process ramifications” of the petitioner’s argument to the Michigan courts were “self-evident” and the petitioner’s reliance on Martin sufficiently presented the substance of his federal claim. Id. The Supreme Court reversed. The Court held that in fairly presenting a claim to state courts, “[i]t is not enough that all the facts necessary to support the federal claim were before the state courts or that a somewhat similar state-law claim was made” but rather, “the habeas petitioner must have fairly presented to the state courts the substance of his federal habeas corpus claim.” Id. at 6, 103 S.Ct. 276 (emphasis added). The Court held that the Sandstrom rationale relied on by the federal courts in granting the habeas petition had not been presented to the state courts, and that reliance on Martin was not sufficient to do so because the broad federal due process claim asserted by the defendant in Martin was not the same as the particular claim based on Sandstrom asserted by the petitioner. Id. at 7, 103 S.Ct. 276. The contours of the fair presentation rule were thoroughly explored by the Third Circuit in Evans v. Court of Common Pleas, 959 F.2d 1227 (3d Cir.1992) cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1089, 113 S.Ct. 1071, 122 L.Ed.2d 498 (1993), a case which involved facts similar to those presented here. In that case, the petitioner Evans was convicted of third-degree murder in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas. On appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, she challenged “the evidence as insufficient to refute [her] claim of self-defense or to prove malice.” Id. at 1230 n. 4. The Superior Court found the evidence sufficient' to support the conviction. In her petition for allocatur to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Evans challenged “the evidence as insufficient to prove Third Degree Murder and to refute self defense, in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Due Process Clause.” Id. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied the petition. Evans then filed a habeas petition, arguing that the insufficiency of the evidence violated her due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court held that Evans had failed to exhaust her state court remedies as to this claim because she did not claim constitutional error until her petition for allocatur to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. On appeal, the Third Circuit found that Evans had fairly presented her claim to the Pennsylvania courts. The court stated that fairly presenting a federal claim to the state courts “requires that the claim brought in federal court be the substantial equivalent of that presented to the state courts. Both the legal theory and the facts underpinning the federal claim must have been presented to the state courts, and the same method of legal analysis must be available to the state court as will be employed in the federal court.” Id. at 1231 (citations omitted). The court acknowledged that Pennsylvania courts had addressed Evans’ claim only under state law. Id. Nonetheless, the court cited its own cases and those of other courts of appeals which “look to the substance of the claim presented to the state courts, rather than its technical designation” in determining whether a federal claim has been fairly presented Id. The Third Circuit first relied on Bisaccia v. Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, 623 F.2d 307 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1042, 101 S.Ct. 622, 66 L.Ed.2d 504 (1980), in which the court held that a petitioner’s state appeal and habeas petition “were similar enough to satisfy the requirements for exhaustion” of his due process claim because “[t]he petitioner’s state claim ... had led the New Jersey Supreme Court into a method of analysis consistent with Fourteenth Amendment due process determinations.” Id. The court “concluded that because the substance of the appellant’s state claim is virtually indistinguishable from the due process allegation now before the federal court, and because the method of analysis is indistinct, exhaustion of state remedies has been met.” Id. (emphasis added). The Third Circuit also cited with approval the analysis of Daye v. Attorney General of New York, 696 F.2d 186 (2d Cir.1982) (en banc), where the court “noted that the ways in which a state defendant may fairly present to the state courts the constitutional nature of his claim, even without citing chapter and verse of the Constitution”, including: (a) reliance on pertinent federal cases employing constitutional analysis, (b) reliance on state cases employing constitutional analysis in like fact situations, (c) assertion of the claim in terms so particular as to call to mind a specific right protected by the Constitution, and (d) allegation of a pattern of facts that is well within the mainstream of constitutional litigation. Id. at 1231-32 (quoting Daye, 696 F.2d at 194.) Next, the Evans court relied on Nadworny v. Fair, 872 F.2d 1093 (1st Cir.1989), where the court held that a state prisoner had fairly presented his federal insufficiency of the evidence claim, despite his failure to state explicitly the federal nature of his claim or cite federal precedent in his state court papers. Id. at 1232. The Nadwomy court held that although “substantive deviations between superficially similar federal and state claims often exist, if an individual’s claim, arising under and asserted in terms of state law, is functionally identical — a point of more than trifling concern — to the federal claim, we must regard the federal claim as fairly presented.” Id. (quoting Nadworny, 872 F.2d at 1099-1100) (emphasis added). The Third Circuit noted that in Nadworny, it was relevant that the test for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence is essentially identical under Massachusetts law as under the federal Constitution. Id. Finally, the Evans court relied on Tamapua v. Shimoda, 796 F.2d 261 (9th Cir.1986), where the Ninth Circuit concluded that the petitioner had exhausted his federal due process claim based on because “[sjufficieney of evidence to convict is a fundamental concern of the due process clause. Therefore, petitioner’s failure to invoke the talismanic phrase ‘due process of law1 in the state proceedings was not fatal to his claim for habeas relief.” Id. (quoting Tamapua, 796 F.2d at 263.) Based on its analysis of these cases, the Third Circuit held that Evans had fairly presented her insufficiency of the evidence claim to the Pennsylvania courts. First, the court concluded that “the test for insufficiency of the evidence is the same under both Pennsylvania and federal law” and “[a]s such, the method of analysis asserted in the federal courts was readily available- to the state courts.” Id. at 1232-33. The court also concluded that Evans’ insufficiency of the evidence claim qualified as an “assertion of the claim in terms so particular as to call to mind a specific right protected by the Constitution” because “the Supreme Court’s holding in Jackson v. Virginia that a challenge to a state conviction brought on the ground that the evidence cannot fairly be deemed sufficient to have established guilty beyond a reasonable doubt states a constitutional claim, established that an insufficiency of the evidence claim necessarily implicates federal due process rights. ” Id. at 1233 (citation omitted) (emphasis added). The Supreme Court again addressed the fair presentation rule in its per curiam opinion in Duncan v. Henry, 513 U.S. 364, 115 S.Ct. 887, 130 L.Ed.2d 865 (1995). In that case, the petitioner was convicted of sexual molestation. At trial, the petitioner objected, under the California evidence code, to testimony by the parent of another child who claimed to have been molested 20 years previously. On direct appeal, he argued that the evidentiary error was a “miscarriage of justice” under the California Constitution. The California Court of Appeal found the error harmless and affirmed the conviction. Petitioner’s habeas petition argued that the evidentiary error amounted to a denial of due process under the United States Constitution. The district court granted the petition and the Ninth Circuit affirmed, holding that the petitioner had exhausted his federal due process claim because “it is not necessary to invoke ‘the talismanic phrase “due process of law” ’ or cite ‘book and verse on the federal constitution.’ ” Id. at 365, 115 S.Ct. 887 (quoting Henry v. Estelle, 33 F.3d 1037, 1040 (9th Cir.1994)). The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the petitioner had not fairly presented his federal claim. The Court stated: If state courts are to be given the opportunity to correct alleged violations of prisoners’ federal rights, they must surely be alerted to the fact that the prisoners are asserting claims under the United States Constitution. If a habeas petitioner wishes to claim that an evi-dentiary ruling at a state court trial denied him the due process of law guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, he must say so, not only in federal court, but in state court. Id. at 365-66, 115 S.Ct. 887. The Court noted that the state court, when presented with a claim of error under the California evidence code, understandably confined its analysis to the application of state law by asking whether the prejudicial effect of the testimony outweighed its probative value, not whether it was so inflammatory as to prevent the fair trial guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Id. at 366, 115 S.Ct. 887. The Court noted that “those standards are no more than ‘somewhat similar,’ not ‘virtually identical’ ”, and “[bjoth Picard and Harless emphasized that mere similarity of claims is insufficient to exhaust.” Id. (citations omitted). The Third Circuit addressed the impact of Duncan in McCandless v. Vaughn, 172 F.3d 255 (3d Cir.1999). There, the court stated: We read Duncan as reaffirming the teaching of Harless and Picard that the absence of explicit reference to federal law does not resolve the issue of whether a federal claim was fairly presented. It also reaffirms, however, that petitioners must have communicated to the state courts in some way that they were asserting a claim predicated on federal law. Id. at 261. The court also restated the four examples identified in the Daye decision of ways in which a petitioner may communicate the assertion of a federal claim without explicitly referencing the federal constitution or statutes. Id. at 261-62 (citing Evans, 959 F.2d at 1232 (quoting Daye, 696 F.2d at 194)). In McCandless, the court found that petitioner had not exhausted two of his federal due process claims because, like the petitioner in Duncan, he had presented these claims to the state courts only as eviden-tiary errors which required a different analysis than due process claims. Id. at 262. The Supreme Court most recently addressed the fair presentation rule in Baldwin v. Reese, 541 U.S. 27, 124 S.Ct. 1347, 158 L.Ed.2d 64 (2004). In that case, the petitioner appealed his kidnaping and attempted sodomy convictions through the Oregon courts and then sought collateral review in the state courts. After being denied relief, the petitioner sought review by the Oregon Supreme Court. In his petition to that court, the petitioner argued that both his trial and appellate counsel had provided ineffective assistance. He specified that trial counsel’s conduct violated the federal constitution, but did not state that his appellate counsel violated federal law. After the Oregon Supreme Court denied review, the petitioner asserted in his habeas petition that both trial and appellate counsel’s ineffective assistance violated the federal constitution. The district court found that petitioner had not fairly presented his claim as to appellate counsel because his submissions to the state courts had not indicated that he was complaining about a violation of federal law as to appellate counsel. The Ninth Circuit reversed, holding that, although the petitioner’s submissions did not alert the Oregon Supreme Court to the federal nature of his claim, that court would have realized the claim rested on federal law had they read the opinion of the lower state court. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that “ordinarily a state prisoner does not ‘fairly present’ a claim to a state court if that court must read beyond a petition or a brief (or a similar document) that does not alert it to the presence of a federal claim in order to find material, such as a lower court opinion in the case, that does so.” Id. at 32, 124 S.Ct. 1347. In rejecting a rule that would require state appellate courts to read lower court opinions, the Court stated: Finally, we do not find such a requirement necessary to avoid imposing unreasonable procedural burdens upon state prisoners who may eventually seek ha-beas corpus. A litigant wishing to raise a federal issue can easily indicate the federal law basis for his claim in a state-court petition or brief, for example, by citing in conjunction with the claim the federal source of law on which he relies or a case deciding such a claim on federal grounds, or by simply labeling the claim “federal.” Id. The petitioner argued that his petition to the Oregon Supreme Court did, in fact, fairly present his federal claim because the Oregon and federal standards for deciding ineffective assistance claims are identical and therefore by presenting a state-law claim he necessarily presented the corresponding federal claim. Id. at 33, 124 S.Ct. 1347. The Supreme Court, however, declined to address this argument because the petitioner had not raised the argument before the court of appeals. Id. at 34, 124 S.Ct. 1347. In Nara v. Frank, 488 F.3d 187 (3d Cir.2007), the Third Circuit confirmed the continuing validity of the McCandless analysis in light Baldwin. In Nara, the petitioner pled guilty to first-degree murder in the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas and did not appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court. The petitioner filed several PCRA petitions, arguing that he was mentally incompetent when he pled guilty. The Commonwealth argued that the petitioner had not exhausted his state remedies with regard to his federal ineom-petency claim. The Third Circuit rejected this argument, holding that the Pennsylvania and federal standards for determining competency to enter a guilty plea are the same and that the petitioner had “repeatedly stat[ed] his claim ‘in terms so particular as to call to mind a specific right protected by the Constitution.’” Id. at 198-99 (quoting McCandless, 172 F.3d at 260). The court further noted that the petitioner had “consistently presented the basic factual outline of a federal claim” and had not required the state courts “to search beyond the pleadings and briefs for a federal issue.” Id. at 199. In the margin, the Third Circuit rejected the Commonwealth’s argument that “the Supreme Court’s decision in Baldwin v. Reese may have limited the viability of the McCandless analysis” by stating: Baldwin held that, “ordinarily a state prisoner does not fairly present a claim to a state court if that court must look beyond a petition or a brief (or similar document)- that does not alert it to the presence of a federal claim in order to find material, such as a lower court opinion, that does so.” Baldwin, 541 U.S. 27, 32, 124 S.Ct. 1347, 158 L.Ed.2d 64 (2004). Baldwin concluded that the petitioner’s briefs to the state courts in that case did not “fairly present” a federal claim because the briefs cited no case that might alert the state court to the federal nature of the claim, lacked a factual description supporting the claim, and yet cited federal law in support of other claims. Id. at 33, 124 S.Ct. 1347. These are among the same considerations set out in McCandless. Id. at 198 n. 17; see also Tome v. Stickman, 167 Fed.Appx. 320, 324 (3d Cir.2006) (stating “Baldwin left open the possibility that if a petitioner presents a state claim that state courts evaluate under a standard identical to the federal standard, then presentation of that claim might be sufficient to meet § 2254(b)’s exhaustion requirements” but finding that claims presented in that case were not identical). The Commonwealth advanced this argument again in moving to stay the mandate of the Third Circuit pending its filing of a petition for writ of certiorari, but the court rejected the argument again for the same reasons. See Nara v. Frank, 494 F.3d 1132, 1133 (3d Cir.2007). This long and winding road of Supreme Court and Third Circuit precedent leads to several conclusions about when a habeas petitioner has “fairly presented” a federal claim to state courts. First, a petitioner fairly presents a federal claim when he explicitly identifies before the state courts the federal source of law in which his claim is grounded. Baldwin, 541 U.S. at 32, 124 S.Ct. 1347; Duncan, 513 U.S. at 365-66, 115 S.Ct. 887. For example, a petitioner could explicitly reference the particular provision of the Federal Constitution on which his claim is based. Second, a petitioner fairly presents a federal claim in his submissions to the state courts by relying on state or federal cases deciding his claim on federal grounds. Baldwin, 541 U.S. at 32, 124 S.Ct. 1347; McCandless, 172 F.3d at 261; Evans, 959 F.2d at 1232; Daye, 696 F.2d at 194. For example, while not referencing a particular constitutional provision, a petitioner could rely on a case that analyzed his claim under federal law. Third, a petitioner fairly presents a federal claim when he presents the factual and legal substance of that claim to the state courts. Picard, 404 U.S. at 278, 92 S.Ct. 509; Harless, 459 U.S. at 6, 103 S.Ct. 276; Evans, 959 F.2d at 1231; Daye, 696 F.2d at 194. For example, although not explicitly referencing a particular constitutional provision or relying on a case decided on federal grounds, a petitioner could expressly assert the terms of a specific right protected by the Constitution or undertake the particular analysis required to assert a violation of that right. Application of these concepts to the case at hand demonstrates that Johnson fairly presented his sufficiency of the evidence claim to the Pennsylvania courts. As an initial matter, both the Supreme Court and the Third Circuit have explicitly rejected the Respondents’ proposed “rule of explicitness.” See, e.g., Picard, 404 U.S. at 278, 92 S.Ct. 509 (stating “we do not imply that respondent could have raised the equal protection claim only by citing book and verse on the federal constitution”); McCandless, 172 F.3d at 261 (“We read Duncan as reaffirming the teaching of Harless and Picard that the absence of explicit reference to federal law does not resolve the issue of whether a federal claim was fairly presented.”); Evans, 959 F.2d at 1231 (noting some of the “ways in which a state defendant may fairly present to the state courts the constitutional nature of his claim, even without citing chapter and verse of the Constitution”). Although Johnson did not label his claim as federal or rely on federal precedent, the “substance” of his sufficiency of the evidence claim was presented to the Pennsylvania courts. As noted in Evans, the test for sufficiency of evidence is the same under both Pennsylvania and federal law. 959 F.2d at 1232. The standard applied by the Pennsylvania courts in evaluating Johnson’s sufficiency of the evidence claim was: [T]he court must view all of the evidence admitted at trial in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the Commonwealth. The court must then determine whether the evidence was sufficient to permit the trier of fact to find each and every element of the crimes charged was established beyond a reasonable doubt. It is the providence of the trier of fact to pass upon the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be accorded the evidence produced and the fact finder is free to believe all, part or none of the evidence. (Doc. 33-2 at 30; see also Doc. 64-6 at 6.) This standard is indistinguishable from the federal standard: [T]he relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. This familiar standard gives full play to the responsibility of the trier of fact fairly to resolve conflicts in the testimony, to weigh the evidence, and to draw reasonable inferences from basic facts to ultimate facts. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). Johnson, while relying only on state law, asserted his claim in terms so particular as to call to mind the specific due process right protected by the Fourteenth Amendment as described in Jackson. The Pennsylvania courts applied the same legal analysis to the same facts, and presumably came to the same conclusion, as they would have if Johnson had explicitly labeled his claim “federal.” In this way, the Pennsylvania courts were given a fair opportunity to initially pass upon Johnson’s claim. Neither federal-state comity nor judicial economy would be better served by requiring Johnson to return to the state courts simply because those courts’ decisions do not include a “see also” citation to Jackson v. Virginia. Although the Supreme Court has not expressly held that a petitioner fairly presents a federal claim to the state courts by asserting a state claim that is evaluated under a standard identical to the federal standard, neither does its precedent foreclose this result. In fact, the Supreme Court’s frequent focus on the similarity of the state and federal claims at issue suggests such a rule. See, e.g., Duncan, 513 U.S. at 366, 115 S.Ct. 887; Harless, 459 U.S. at 6, 103 S.Ct. 276; Picard, 404 U.S. at 277-78, 92 S.Ct. 509. However, because the Supreme Court has explicitly left unanswered the question presented here, Baldwin, 541 U.S. at 34, 124 S.Ct. 1347, Third Circuit precedent controls this case. The Third Circuit has held that a petitioner who presents a claim to the state courts which is decided under identical state and federal standards has given the state courts notice of the legal and factual substance of his claim, and that this satisfies the fair presentation rule. See Nara, 488 F.3d at 197-98; McCandless, 172 F.3d at 261; Evans, 959 F.2d at 1231. The majority of other federal courts to address this question have come to the same conclusion. See, e.g., Mulnix v. Sec’y for the Dep’t of Corr., 254 Fed.Appx. 763, 764-65 (11th Cir.2007) (holding petitioner fairly presented sufficiency of the evidence claim because federal and Florida standards are identical); Harrison v. McBride, 428 F.3d 652, 660-63 (7th Cir.2005) (holding Supreme Court’s decision in Baldwin does not require more of a petitioner than the four-part test articulated in Daye and later adopted by the Seventh Circuit); Jackson v. Edwards, 404 F.3d 612, 620-21 (2d Cir.2005) (holding that petitioner necessarily presented federal claim where state court’s inquiry would have been the same if petitioner had explicitly invoked constitutional provision at issue); Sanders v. Ryder, 342 F.3d 991, 1000-01 (9th Cir.2003) (holding petitioner fairly presented ineffective assistance claim where Washington and federal standards are identical); Nadworny, 872 F.2d at 1099-1100 (holding “if an individual’s claim, arising under and asserted in terms of state law, is functionally identical — a point of more than trifling concern — to the federal claim, we must regard the federal claim as fairly presented”); Lowe v. Schomig, 2007 WL 773881, at *3 (D.Nev. Mar.9, 2007) (“The Court can see no reason to find a claim unexhausted when the claim has been reviewed by the state courts under the identical standard applied to a claim expressly designated as a federal claim. Such a claim has been fairly presented to the state courts and in fact fully reviewed by those courts.”); Walker v. Palahovich, 2007 WL 666763, at *6 (E.D.Pa. Feb.26, 2007) (holding petitioner fairly presented claim despite citing only to state law because “[t]he state and federal due process inquires for a claim of pros-ecutorial misconduct are substantively identical”). But see Barton v. Quarterman, 2007 WL 2051236, at *3 (N.D.Tex. July 16, 2007) (relying on Baldwin for holding that “[e]ven if a state standard is identical to the federal standard of review, a claim must be labeled as a federal issue in order to be fairly presented”). Based on the precedent detailed above, the Court holds that Johnson fairly presented his federal due process claim based on the sufficiency of the evidence to the Pennsylvania courts, and therefore, has exhausted his available state remedies as to this claim. 2. Merits Analysis a. Legal standard “[T]he due process guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment [mandates] that no person shall be made to suffer the onus of a criminal conviction except upon sufficient proof — defined as evidence necessary to convince a trier of fact beyond a reasonable doubt of the existence of every element of the offense.” Jackson, 443 U.S. at 316, 99 S.Ct. 2781. The Court must uphold the jury’s verdict if “after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. at 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781. It is the role of the jury “to resolve conflicts in the testimony, to weigh the evidence, and to draw reasonable inferences from basic facts to ultimate facts.” Id. Therefore, in reviewing a conviction, the court does not weigh evidence or determine the credibility of witnesses and must credit all available inferences in favor of the government. United States v. Gambone, 314 F.3d 163, 170 (3d Cir.2003). The court must examine the totality of the evidence, both direct and circumstantial, id. at 170, but the prosecution may meet its burden entirely through circumstantial evidence, United States v. Bobb, 471 F.3d 491, 494 (3d Cir.2006). This standard of review is highly deferential to the jury’s verdict and places an extremely heavy burden on the defendant. United States v. Lore, 430 F.3d 190, 203-04 (3d Cir.2005). “[Rjeversal on the grounds of insufficient evidence should be confined to cases where the failure of the prosecution is clear.” United States v. Jimenez, 513 F.3d 62, 81 (quoting United States v. Carr, 25 F.3d 1194, 1201 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 939, 115 S.Ct. 341, 130 L.Ed.2d 298 (1994)). b. Evidence presented at trial With this standard of review in mind, the Court will summarize the evidence presented at trial. The first witness to testify was Laura Davis, a patrol officer with the Harrisburg Bureau of Police. (N.T. 43.) Officer Davis testified that she was on patrol in her patrol car in early morning hours of December 15, 1995 when she heard a loud booming sound nearby. (N.T. 45-46.) Officer Davis began to search for the source of the shot and encountered a couple who indicated that someone had been shot in an alley between two houses on Market Street. (N.T. 48.) Officer Davis then encountered a crowd of people in front of the Midnight Special bar, located on 14th and Market Streets, and an individual there indicated he heard a shot from the 1400 block of Market Street. (N.T. 49.) After Officer Davis searched further, an individual waved her over to an alley between 1420 and 1422 Market Street where she discovered the body of Taraja Williams. (N.T. 50-51.) The alley was about four feet wide and extended eight to ten feet back to a fence. (N.T. 58-60.) The body was found just inside the alley. (N.T. 51.) The next witness was Leroy Lucas, a member of the Harrisburg police department’s forensics unit. (N.T. 68.) When Officer Lucas arrived at the crime scene, he observed multiple sets of footprints leading from the victim back into the alley toward the six-foot fence and on the other side of the fence through the alley. (N.T. 70.) Officer Lucas also recovered from the scene a partial shotgun, with the barrel missing. (N.T. 71.) Officer Lucas testified that the body of the victim was approximately ten feet from the fence, relatively close to the sidewalk at the entrance to the alley. (N.T. 73, 82.) The next witness was Gary Miller, the son of the owner of the Midnight Special bar. (N.T. 88, 89-90.) Miller testified that he was working at the bar the night of December 14-15, 2005 and recalled seeing Williams and Corey Walker in the bar but did not recall seeing Lorenzo Johnson. (N.T. 90-91.) Miller testified that he was working when he heard the doorman yelling “you all got to take that out of here” and then went to the door where he saw Walker and Williams leaving. (N.T. 93-94.) The next witness was Carla Brown, a friend of the victim. (N.T. 98-99.) Brown testified that she was in the bar on the night of December 14-15, 2005 and saw Walker, Johnson, and Williams engaged in an argument. (N.T. 102-03.) Brown could not hear what they were saying, but the argument involved “a lot of arm movements.” (N.T. 103-04.) Before long, the bouncer told the three men to leave. (N.T. 102.) Brown followed Walker, Johnson, and Williams as they left the bar “because she wanted to know what was going on.” (N.T. 104.) Brown recalled that Walker was wearing a long leather coat and walked as if he had something hidden under it. (N.T. 104-05.) The three men walked in a single-file line with Walker in the front, Williams in the middle, and Johnson in the back. (N.T. 106.) Brown followed slowly behind with her hood up acting like any other person on the street so that Walker and Johnson did not notice her, but Williams, who knew her, did. (N.T. 106.) The three men continued walking single file until they reached the alley where Walker entered first, Williams entered next, and Johnson remained at the entrance. (N.T. 106, 108.) As she approached the alley, Williams told Brown to keep going. (N.T. 107.) Brown walked a few feet beyond the alley when she heard a loud boom and ran. (N.T. 109-10.) Brown admitted that she had been addicted to cocaine and that she was high on cocaine at the time of the killing. (N.T. 112.) The amount of drugs in her system, on a scale of one to ten, was about a seven. (N.T. 151.) She also stated that after the incident she ran to a friend’s house and got high. (N.T. 128-29, 144.) Brown testified, however, that she had been clean for nine months and was currently employed. (N.T. 114-15.) Brown admitted that at the preliminary hearing in the case she had testified that she was drunk at the time of the incident but not on drugs. (N.T. 121, 152-53.) Brown testified that she did not contact police because she was scared that she would be killed too. (N.T. 129-30,154-55.) Brown admitted that, when she was first contacted by police, she told them she knew nothing about the incident. (N.T. 131-32.) Brown also testified that while she knew who Victoria Doubs was after being shown a photograph of her, she was not Mends with Doubs and had never talked to Doubs about the incident. (N.T. 115, 130-31.) The next witness was Aaron Dews, an in-house advisor at Visions Youth Works which was located in one of the buildings bordering the alley. (N.T. 156-57.) Dews testified that he and another staff member heard a loud boom on the night of the incident. (N.T. 159.) After checking to see if it was the furnace, Dews looked out the window and saw two silhouettes running up the driveway away from the house. (N.T. 159-60.) Dews stated that he could not see the two individuals in detail because there was plastic over the window. (N.T. 161.) The next witness was Brian Ramsey, a friend of the victim. (N.T. 164-65.) Ramsey testified that Williams was a cocaine addict who sometimes sold drugs to support his habit. (N.T. 166.) He stated that he knew who Walker and Johnson were and that he had seen them together most of the time. (N.T. 167.) Ramsey testified that on the night of the incident, he was selling drugs on Market Street near the Midnight Special bar. (N.T. 169.) Williams was also out on Market Street making runs for drug dealers that night. (N.T. 171.) Ramsey first testified that, when he last saw Williams, he was moving into an alley with two individuals. (N.T. 174.) On cross-examination, Ramsey corrected himself, stating that he saw three individuals with Williams, one female and two males. (N.T. 186-88.) This testimony was consistent with the statement he gave police on the night of the incident. (N.T. 191.) Ramsey testified that one of the individuals with Williams walked with a limp, so Ramsey assumed it was a “crippled guy” whom he knew to be a drug dealer. (N.T. 176.) Ramsey stated he assumed Williams was in the alley to make a drug deal. (N.T. 174.) However, he testified that “I would say he was forced in that alley.” (N.T. 189.) A minute after Ramsey saw Williams and the individuals enter the alley, he heard a loud boom. (N.T. 176-77.) After Ramsey heard the shot, he walked around the block. (N.T. 177.) When he returned, he noticed Walker and Johnson among the crowd of people in front of the Midnight Special bar. (N.T. 178.) Ramsey testified that Walker and Johnson seemed stunned, “like sort of maced ... like what happened, Taraja has been killed ... are you serious.” (N.T. 179.) Ramsey admitted that he was serving a sentence in Dauphin County Prison, that he was under the influence of cocaine on the night of the incident, and that while he was still a drug addict, he was in recovery. (N.T. 164,166,168,193.) The next witness was Detective Kevin Duffln of the Harrisburg Bureau of Police, who investigated the Williams murder. (N.T. 197-98.) Detective Duffln testified that, at around noon on December 15, 1995, he was in an unmarked car when he approached three individuals in a brown Ford. (N.T. 200.) The Ford sped away at a high rate of speed in an attempt to get away from him. (N.T. 200.) Detective Duffln placed a light on the roof of his car and pursued the Ford. (N.T. 205-06.) When the Ford struck another car, the three occupants fled on foot. (N.T. 206-07.) Two of the individuals were apprehended. (N.T. 207.) One of them was Johnson. (N.T. 207.) The next witness, Victoria Doubs, testified that she, Walker, and Johnson were “close friends” who “ran the streets together.” (N.T. 211, 212-13.) On December 14, 1995, Doubs, Walker, and Johnson woke up together at around 11:00 a.m. in a house at 18th and Carnation Streets. (N.T. 214.) They went out to buy some marijuana and then were hanging out in front of the Kentucky Fried Chicken near 14th and Market Streets. (N.T. 215.) When Williams approached, Walker went over to talk to him and the two of them walked back toward Johnson and Doubs. (N.T. 217.) Doubs testified that Walker and Williams “were talking about the money that Taraja [Williams] had owed us.” (N.T. 217.) Walker continued to confront Williams about the money. (N.T. 218.) Williams “started getting smart,” began “cussing out” Walker, and told “him he’d give it to him when he felt like and he ain’t scared of him.” (N.T. 218.) Walker hit Williams and they started to fight. (N.T. 218.) Williams won the fight, beating Walker with a broomstick. (N.T. 218-19.) Many people saw Williams beat Walker, which made Walker very angry. (N.T. 219.) After the fight, Walker, Johnson, and Doubs left. (N.T. 219.) Doubs and others laughed at Walker and made jokes. (N.T. 220.) Walker stated “Pm going to kill that crackhead. Pm going to kill that kid.” (N.T. 221.) Doubs testified that Walker “was hot. He was heated.” (N.T. 221.) Johnson was present when Walker made these statements. (N.T. 221.) Walker, Johnson, and Doubs returned to the house at 18th and Carnation Streets where others were told about the fight and also made fun of Walker. (N.T. 221.) This made Walker angry and he repeated that he was “going to kill that kid.” (N.T. 221-22.) Doubs testified that she first told police that late on the night of December 14, 1995, she, Johnson, Suquan Ripply, “a guy named Cliff, and a girl named ReeRee” were on their way to New York. (N.T. 222-25.) The next time Doubs met with police, however, she told them that she had lied and did not actually recall being in New York on the night of the murder. (N.T. 225.) Doubs told police that she had made up her initial statement because “she was going to be paid to tell that story.... [M]y bail was supposed to be paid.” (N.T. 225.) Doubs explained that one of Walker and Johnson’s friends named Larry was going to pay her to tell the story to police. (N.T. 227.) Doubs stated that she went to New York with this same group “two to three times a week,” but could not say that she was in New York with Johnson on December 14 or 15, 1995. (N.T. 225-26.) Finally, Doubs testified that sometime after Williams’ death, she ran into Carla Brown and that the two of them got high together. (N.T. 227-28.) Doubs testified that, while they were smoking crack together, Brown stated that Walker had given her a couple of crack rocks to take Williams into the alley on the night of the murder. (N.T. 228.) On cross-examination, Doubs admitted that she had a conviction for forgery in connection with stolen checks. (N.T. 238-39.) Doubs also admitted that she was in Dauphin County Prison on a robbery conviction. (N.T. 239.) The next witness was Sergeant Frederick Wentling of the Pennsylvania State Police who testified about the partial shotgun recovered from the crime scene. (N.T. 241-78.) The next witness was Suquan Ripply, who was incarcerated in Dauphin County Prison at the time. (N.T. 257-58.) Ripply was one of the individuals that fled from Detective Duffin on December 15, 1995. (N.T. 259.) Ripply first testified that he, Johnson, David Hairston, Vicki Doubs, a man named Clifton, and woman named Ree-Ree left Harrisburg for New York around 4:00 p.m. on December 14, 1995 and did not return until 4:00 a.m. on December 15, 1995. (N.T. 260-61.) Ripply admitted that he had initially told police this same story, but later told police that this story was false and that he was not in New York with Johnson on the night of the murder. (N.T. 265-66.) On the stand, Ripply testified that his first statement was actually correct and that he told Detective Duffin “what he wanted to hear” after the detective told him he would be charged with perjury if he was lying. (N.T. 262-64.) On re-cross examination, Ripply admitted that he made the trip to New York with Johnson many times, that he was “off with the dates” when he made his first statement to police, and was “not exactly” sure whether he was with Johnson in New York on December 14 or December 15. (N.T. 272-75.) The next witness, Dr. Wayne Ross, medical examiner, testified that the cause of Williams’ death was a shotgun wound to the chest.