556
Scalia, J., dissenting
Mrs. Lacs's car and credit cards on Friday in the afternoon, rather than Thursday, id., at 180. He lied to Armstrong about how he obtained Mrs. Lacs's ring, ibid. And, knowing that the information he provided to Selvog would be used to attack his death sentence, Wiggins had every incentive to lie again about the supposed abuse he suffered. The hearsay statements in Selvog's report pertaining to the alleged sexual abuse were of especially dubious reliability; Maryland courts have consistently refused to allow hearsay evidence regarding alleged sexual abuse, except for statements provided by the victim to a treating physician. See Bohnert v. State, 312 Md. 266, 276, 539 A. 2d 657, 662 (1988) (refusing to admit into evidence a social worker's opinion, based on a child's "unsubstantiated averments," that the child had been sexually abused); Nixon v. State, 140 Md. App. 170, 178-188, 780 A. 2d 344, 349-354 (2001) (child protective services agent's testimony that retarded teenager told agent she had been sexually abused was inadmissible hearsay); Low v. State, 119 Md. App. 413, 424-426, 705 A. 2d 67, 73-74 (1998) (refusing to admit into evidence examining physician's testimony regarding a child's statements of sexual abuse).
Given that the anecdotes in Selvog's report were unreliable, and therefore inadmissible, the only way Wiggins' trial attorneys could have presented these allegations to the jury would have been to place Wiggins on the witness stand. Wiggins has not established (and the Court does not assert) any "reasonable probability" that they would have done this, given the dangers they saw in exposing their client to cross-examination over a wide range of issues. See App. 353 (Wiggins' trial attorneys advising him in open court: " 'Kevin, if you do take the witness stand, you must answer any question that's asked of you. If it is a question the judge rules is a permissible question, you would have to answer' "). Their perception of those dangers must surely have been heightened by their observation of Wiggins' volatile and obnoxious behavior throughout the trial. See, e. g.,
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