to his testimony at trial, Panisi never became a "green beret," never served three tours in Vietnam, and in fact never left the United States. The records reveled that Panisi enlisted in the army on May 19, 1971, at the age of 17. The records further revealed that in the summer of 1972, Panisi disappeared and went "absent without official leave" (AWOL) for almost three months. As a result, Panisi was served with court-martial charges, and after conferring with JAG counsel, on June 13, 1972, requested a voluntary discharge from the military "for the good of the service." Instead, Panisi received an undesirable discharge in lieu of a court martial. Panisi later petitioned to have this undesirable discharge converted to a general discharge, but his request was deniedby the Army Discharge Review Board on March 1, 1982.
At the hearing on defendant's motion for a new trial, pursuant to a subpoena the State presented the testimony of defense counsel's investigator, Quentin Hall. Hall testified that he accompanied defense counsel to Las Vegas and was present when defense counsel interviewed Panisi on June 27 and June 28, 2005. Hall stated that he did not remember Panisi saying anything about his military background during those interviews. At the State's request, Hall also produced a "case status" memorandum which he had prepared regarding the interview and tendered it to the court. This document, however, revealed no mention of Panisi's military record.
After hearing arguments by both counsel regarding the motion for a new trial, the circuit court denied defendant's motion.