offered each of the above items of
evidence in order to contradict self-serving portions of
McGill’s testimony. For instance, McGill testified that he had
readily admitted his participation in the first April 1989
robbery and pleaded guilty, but that the Maryland prosecutor
refused to make a plea deal unless he also pleaded guilty to a
second robbery. In response to McGill’s claim that he had
admitted the first robbery, the government introduced his
statement denying his involvement. McGill also told the jury
that he did not participate in the second robbery, and his
counsel emphasized his claims of innocence by asking McGill
how he felt about being wrongly imprisoned for a crime he
did not commit. In addition, McGill testified that he was
implicated in the second robbery because the Maryland police
officers tricked his codefendant, Little, into falsely confessing
that McGill was1.   Pretrial Counsel

     Thomas Abbenante was Alfred’s first attorney in this
case, commencing his representation on July 28, 2000. Long
before that (starting in early 1992), Abbenante took on the
representation of Alberto Martinez, a cooperating witness
who would ultimately testify against Alfred. Abbenante
continued to represent Martinez through trial in this case. He
                              168
withdrew from representing Alfred on October 6, 2000, citing
the potential conflict between the two representations.

      Prior to withdrawing as Alfred’s counsel, Abbenante
arranged a meeting between Alfred and Omar Wazir, who
was cooperating with the government and who ultimately
testified against Alfred.