Milton Tony Greene v. I.C. Haunani Henry, Warden

This case involves a petition for a writ of habeas corpus based on ineffective assistance of counsel.

I. Facts

The facts in this case are extremely difficult to ascertain. Milton “Tony” Greene was convicted of two counts of forcible oral copulation, foreign object rape, and rape. But Sherry Esposto, the purported victim, testified that he did not rape her, that he was her fiancé and lived with her, and that their sexual activities on the occasion at issue were entirely consensual. The evidence of the rape consisted of her prior account, to the police and a nurse practitioner, alleging that he and his companions forced various sexual activities on her against her will. She testified in Greene’s trial that she had developed a sexual relationship with another man and that she was jealous of her fiancé because she suspected him of sexual relationships with other women, so she had wanted to harm him by lying about him to the police. The case turned on whether her original story or her recantation at trial was a lie, or both were lies, or the truth was unas-certainable so that the jury ought to have had a reasonable doubt.

Here is the evidence that Greene did in fact rape…