Opinion ID: 1540460
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Charge of Diminished Capacity and Lesser-Included Offenses

Text: The defendant argues that evidence submitted as part of her insanity defense supported the alternative defense of diminished mental capacity, namely, that a disease of the mind prevented her from knowingly or purposefully murdering Theresa Feury. Defendant claims that the trial court committed reversible error by failing to instruct the jury that diminished capacity could mitigate murder to aggravated manslaughter. The defendant supplemented this argument following this Court's decision in State v. Ramseur, supra, 106 N.J. 123 claiming that because the Ramseur jury received an instruction on aggravated manslaughter, the jury below should have received a similar instruction. In Ramseur, we rejected the claim that diminished capacity mitigates murder to manslaughter. Instead, we concluded that diminished capacity does not operate to transform an offense, it can only negate it. Id. at 270. In that connection, we observed that diminished capacity either negates the state of mind required for a particular offense, if successful, or it does not. It either provides a complete defense, if successful, or it does not. Id. at 269. In the recent case of State v. Breakiron, 108 N.J. 591 (1987), we had occasion to consider in depth the defense of diminished capacity. There, defendant was convicted of murdering a young woman, as well as other related offenses. He presented an insanity defense to all charges and argued that if insanity were not established, the evidence of mental disease or defect still showed that the killing was not knowing or purposeful. Id. at 593. The trial court instructed the jury on insanity but refused to instruct that the evidence of mental disease or defect could be used to negate the required knowing or purposeful element for murder. Id. at 594. In reversing the Appellate Division's split decision affirming the conviction, we held that defendant was entitled to a jury charge that the evidence of mental disease or defect could negate the required elements of purposeful or knowing conduct with respect to the murder charge. Id. at 617-18. We thus reversed defendant's murder conviction because the charge to the jury did not allow it to consider whether the evidence presented in the insanity defense negated the elements of murder. In reversing defendant's conviction in State v. Breakiron , we noted that the diminished capacity defense was designed by the Legislature not as a justification or an excuse, nor as a matter of diminished or partial responsibility, but as a factor bearing on the presence or absence of an essential element of the crime as designated by the Code. 108 N.J. at 608. Breakiron had argued that by characterizing the diminished capacity defense as an affirmative one, N.J.S.A. 2C:4-2 impermissibly shifted to him the burden of disproving an essential element of the crime. We rejected defendant's argument, noting that when the Code says that mental disease or defect is an affirmative defense that must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence, it does not mean that the defendant must disprove that the act was knowing or purposeful. Id. at 611. In our view, the defendant's burden is simply to show that he or she suffered from a mental disease or defect that is relevant to the mental state of the offense. Ibid. Moreover, we concluded that it was not impermissibly unfair to impose that burden on a defendant wishing to avail him or herself of the diminished capacity defense. Id. at 612-14. We found support for that conclusion in the fact that [w]hether or not mental disease or defect is established the State always bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt the essential mental elements of the crime charged. Id. at 613. The defense's sole function is to establish the absence of an essential element of the crime.... Id. at 612. Breakiron also afforded this Court an opportunity to discuss the quality of evidence that would support a charge of diminished capacity: the only evidence of mental defect or disease that should be admitted on the defense is that relevant to the question of whether the defendant had the requisite mental state to commit the crime. 108 N.J. at 618. We also advised trial courts as follows: Because we agree with the view that diminished capacity as it exists under the Code is evidence which merely denies the existence of facts which the State must prove to establish [the essential elements of first degree murder], State v. DiPaolo, supra, 34 N.J. [279] at 294, we believe that the allocation of responsibility between judge and jury requires that competent reliable evidence be submitted to the jury and that a diminished capacity charge be given to the jury when competent reliable evidence has been offered. [ Id. at 617.] In discussing the admissibility of evidence of diminished capacity, we noted in Breakiron that [i]n some cases the evidence clearly will be admissible as part of an insanity defense. 108 N.J. at 619. In cases where there is no insanity defense, we advised trial courts to conduct a Rule 8 hearing in order to determine the admissibility of proofs. Where an insanity defense has in fact been presented, we advised the trial court to formulate its diminished capacity charge by referring to the standards that we suggested a trial court employ when evaluating defendant's proffer: (1) that the condition defendant purports to establish is relevant to his or her ability to have formed the requisite criminal mental state; (2) that the medical theory underlying the effect of the condition is generally accepted within the scientific community; and (3) that the evidence is relevant to show the existence of the condition. Id. at 619. Whether the defendant's evidence establishes the condition, and whether the condition diminished defendant's capacity to form the requisite criminal mental state, are issues left to the jury as part of its ultimate determination of criminal guilt or innocence. Id. at 620. In the instant case, where defendant did in fact present an insanity defense, the record persuades us that sufficient competent evidence was adduced at trial to support a charge of diminished capacity. As part of her insanity defense, defendant offered evidence that would permit a jury to decide whether she suffered from a condition that diminished her capacity to form the knowing or purposeful mental state required to convict her of murder. The trial court, however, instructed the jury only on the insanity defense and did not instruct the jury that the evidence presented as part of that defense could be used to negate the elements of count twenty, the purposeful or knowing murder. As in State v. Breakiron , Moore was charged with both purposeful and knowing murder. In Breakiron, we noted that [t]he former state of mind evidences a conscious object and desire, the latter, that the defendant be practically certain that death would result. 108 N.J. at 615. Moore's insanity defense testimony presented evidence that her diminished mental capacity, though perhaps not full legal insanity, negated the purposeful and knowing elements of the murder charge. While the main thrust of Moore's insanity defense involved the issue of multiple personality, the defense also introduced evidence of defendant's psychological history in an effort to demonstrate that her mental illness was not a recent fabrication. Defendant introduced a letter that Moore's aunt sent to a neurologist/psychiatrist whom defendant consulted on only one occasion in 1968. Defendant's aunt observes in that letter to the psychiatrist that defendant exhibited characteristics of split personality. Although not a trained psychologist, defendant's aunt attributed defendant's radically changing disposition to some form of psychological disorder. Defendant also produced the testimony of a psychologist whom she consulted briefly in 1978, Margaret Judge Corny. After finding little physical cause for defendant's seizure ailment, a colleague referred defendant to Ms. Corny in order to determine whether the seizures defendant complained of had a psychological basis. During their consultation, defendant informed Ms. Corny that she had been raped by Mr. Ragusa, a friend's father, that she had had a bad relationship with her mother, and that she was anxious and unable to work. Moreover, a representative of Caldwell College, where defendant completed one year of study, testified that defendant's teachers had noted in her records that she appeared to have personal problems. In a further attempt to demonstrate a general background of mental illness, defendant relied on the testimony of Mary Gardullo regarding the latter's stay with defendant in California in 1978. Mary Gardullo testified that she went to California with Moore and Tammy, where they lived in an apartment next door to a woman named Helen, whom Moore befriended. Mary, who by this time knew about and believed that Moore was involved with Billy, learned that Helen was one of Billy's associates. Mary testified that Moore stayed downstairs with Helen while Helen recovered from an operation. Mary heard what sounded like Helen beating and abusing Moore. Mary would try to help Moore but was told to mind her own business, if you know what's good for you. Mary was also very scared of Helen because Helen was supposedly tearing out Moore's hair, and starving her to satisfy Billy's request that Moore lose weight. Mary finally left California despite Moore's threats that Billy would bomb her plane if she tried to leave Moore behind. When Mary and Moore met again in New Jersey, Moore told Mary that she had saved her life by convincing Billy not to bomb the plane, and Mary believed her and shortly thereafter moved back in with her. Mary said that Moore came back much thinner, had lost a lot of hair, and had a cast on her leg, which Moore claimed had been fractured. Mary also said that after she moved back in with Moore, the two were close and that she would care for Moore when she blacked out. Roberta Bayne, Harriet's mother, supported Mary's testimony concerning California. She testified that Moore changed tremendously after coming back from California. Mrs. Bayne testified that she was friendly with Moore in 1976 and that in 1979, after she met Moore again, she told Moore that she felt that Moore had become a hard, cold woman. Moore replied that this was due to her experiences in California. Roberta Bayne also supported Mary's testimony concerning black-out spells, stating that in 1976 Moore had to have a person with her in case she passed out. This history was used by the defense to counter the charge that Moore was faking and to support the defense experts' testimony that Moore was legally insane. In addition to evidence of blackouts, defendant introduced evidence of a seizure disorder. In this connection, defendant relied on the testimony of Dr. Dibsie, the physician who had been treating her for seizures since 1978. Dr. Dibsie testified that the medication he regularly prescribed for defendant was used in the treatment of epilepsy. In order to substantiate that claim defendant produced testimony of others who witnessed defendant's seizures. Defendant also produced evidence indicating that she had suffered brain damage, perhaps as the result of a car crash. The defense produced the results of a CAT scan in order to demonstrate that defendant did have brain damage in the form of frontal lobe atrophy. On cross-examination of a State expert, defense counsel established that psychosis could result from head injury. The defense produced three expert witnesses in support of its contention that Marie Moore suffered from a multiple personality disorder. Dr. Charles Opsahl, a clinical psychologist and faculty member of the Yale University School of Medicine, conducted intelligence quotient, personality, and neuro-psychological tests of defendant. During his interview with defendant, the personality of Billy also appeared. He conducted similar tests of the Billy personality, and observed that those test results differed from the results obtained when he tested Marie. Based on this observation, as well as other observations concerning differences in behavior between Marie and Billy, Dr. Opsahl believed that defendant suffered from a multiple-personality disorder. He was also persuaded that defendant had some brain damage. Opsahl's professional opinion was that defendant was thus legally insane because she did not know right from wrong when she was Billy. Dr. Dorothy Lewis, a board certified psychiatrist from New York University, administered similar tests. She also spoke with Billy who informed her that defendant's father raped her during childhood, that her father drank heavily and beat defendant's mother, and that a Mr. Ragusa had also raped defendant. Dr. Lewis concluded that Billy was psychotic, delusional, and was filled with very violent fantasies. After observing that the Billy personality exhibited traits of paranoid schizophrenia, Dr. Lewis explained that this meant that defendant also had such traits in her own personality. Dr. Lewis' expert conclusion was that defendant suffered from a multiple-personality disorder brought on by her history of sexual abuse. Dr. James Merikangas, also on the faculty of the Yale University School of Medicine, was the final defense expert. He, too, was board certified in neurology and psychiatry. Dr. Merikangas conducted neurological tests of defendant, and interpreted CAT scan results to show that defendant had significant atrophy of frontal lobe brain tissue. Dr. Merikangas observed that defendant had hallucinations, grandiose delusions, and was frequently out of touch with reality. Based on his tests and observations, he concluded that defendant was psychotic and suffered from a multiple-personality disorder. He thus determined that she was legally insane. Given the nature and extent of the testimony elicited with regard to the insanity defense, we are persuaded that ample evidence existed to support a charge to the jury that a finding of diminished capacity could negate the knowing and purposeful elements of murder. We believe there was sufficient evidence to warrant a diminished capacity charge, particularly when we `view[] the evidence and legitimate inferences to be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to defendant....' Breakiron, supra, 108 N.J. at 617. Accordingly, we find that the trial court committed reversible error by failing to charge the jury that diminished capacity could negate the knowing or purposeful elements of the murder count. We so find despite the fact that defendant did not request such an instruction. As we made clear in Ramseur, the trial court has a duty `to charge the applicable law to the jury based upon facts regardless of what requests counsel may make....' 106 N.J. at 270-71 n. 62. Defendant had presented sufficient evidence at trial to warrant a diminished capacity instruction, an instruction that would have permitted the jury to determine whether the State had proved the knowing and purposeful elements of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. This is particularly relevant in this case where the defendant sought and was denied a charge on manslaughter and aggravated manslaughter. We also find reversible error in the trial court's failure to charge the jury with respect to aggravated manslaughter and manslaughter, as defendant had requested. Our review of the record persuades us that the evidence at trial would have warranted the jury's consideration of an aggravated manslaughter charge, particularly if the jury had believed that defendant's diminished capacity negated the knowing and purposeful elements of murder. Because the trial court failed to charge the jury with respect to diminished capacity and the lesser-included offense of manslaughter, we reverse defendant's murder conviction. It is clear that [a] charge on a lesser-included offense cannot be automatically given to a jury when the defense of diminished capacity is raised by a defendant. Ramseur, supra, 106 N.J. at 269. However, negating the mental state for murder by producing evidence of mental disease or defect does not prohibit a conviction for manslaughter provided the essential elements of that crime are present. Breakiron, supra, 108 N.J. at 610. As we noted in Ramseur, the `included offense' statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:1-8(e), specifically states as to lesser-included offenses that the court shall not charge the jury with respect to an included offense unless there is a rational basis for a verdict convicting the defendant of the included offense. 106 N.J. at 269. Our characterization of the interplay between the diminished-capacity and lesser-included offense instructions in Ramseur is relevant to our disposition of the instant case. There we found: The trial court charged on aggravated manslaughter in this case not because diminished capacity could reduce the offense from murder to aggravated manslaughter, but because evidence warranted consideration of aggravated manslaughter by the jury in the event it was unpersuaded that defendant had acted purposely or knowingly. The trial court determined, and we agree, that if the jurors did not find knowing and purposeful conduct, they should then appraise the evidence to determine whether defendant acted with a conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk, N.J.S.A. 2C:2-2, under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference for human life, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-4  the constituent elements of manslaughter. [106 N.J. at 269-70.] In the instant case, the trial court should have instructed the jury that if it did not find knowing or purposeful conduct, it should then appraise the evidence to determine whether defendant was guilty of manslaughter. Our review of the record persuades us that there was sufficient evidence to establish the essential elements of manslaughter  certainly enough to warrant a charge under our law. In State v. Crisantos, 102 N.J. 265, 275 (1986), we noted that the decision to charge a lesser-included offense was governed by N.J.S.A. 2C:1-8(e): The court shall not charge the jury with respect to an included offense unless there is a rational basis for a verdict convicting the defendant of the included offense. As we noted in Crisantos, the rational-basis test of the Code imposes a low threshold ... for permitting a charge on a lesser-included offense. Id. at 278. We thus held that [w]hen the lesser-included offense charge is requested by a defendant, as in this case, the trial court is obligated, in view of defendant's interest, to examine the record thoroughly to determine if the rational basis standard has been satisfied. Ibid. (citations omitted). Here, defendant asked the trial court to charge the jury with respect to the lesser-included offenses of manslaughter and aggravated manslaughter. We find that there was evidence in this case that would have afforded the jury a rational basis for convicting defendant of manslaughter. The two potential lesser-included offenses for the murder count are manslaughter and aggravated manslaughter, and are defined statutorily by N.J.S.A. 2C:11-4: a. Criminal homicide constitutes aggravated manslaughter when the actor recklessly causes death under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life. b. Criminal homicide constitutes manslaughter when: (1) It is committed recklessly, or (2) A homicide which would otherwise be murder under section 2C:11-3 is committed in the heat of passion resulting from a reasonable provocation. Because we find no evidence that would give rise to a rational basis to convict defendant of passion/provocation manslaughter, we will limit our discussion to the aggravated and reckless forms of manslaughter, for which we do find evidence in the record. The Code defines reckless conduct as follows: A person acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an offense when he consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and purpose of the actor's conduct and the circumstances known to him, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the actor's situation. Recklessness, with recklessness or equivalent terms have the same meaning. [ N.J.S.A. 2C:2-2(b)(3).] The State argues that the evidence supports only the verdict of knowing and purposeful murder because Moore told Theresa that she would never leave, because Theresa was starved over her last month, because each day physical violence was knowingly and purposefully inflicted on Theresa, and because defendant presented only evidence of insanity as a defense. Defendant argues that there is sufficient evidence to raise a legitimate question of whether Moore ever intended to kill Theresa. Admittedly, Theresa Feury, starved and continually punished, was in a seriously deteriorated medical condition on the day of her death. Nonetheless, she died not from these causes but rather from injuries she sustained as a result of being accidentally dropped by Ricky. Moreover, defendant alleges that Moore's encouragement and orders to Ricky to inflict punishment on and withhold food from Theresa manifested an extreme indifference to human life, rather than an intent to kill. We find that a jury could have reasonably concluded that defendant acted recklessly in bringing about Theresa's death. Furthermore, the record below provided a rational basis on which a jury could have found that Moore caused Theresa's death by consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the girl's death, the material element, would result from her pattern of conduct. One incident that could have persuaded the jury that defendant behaved recklessly, rather than knowingly or purposely, occurred several weeks before the girl's death. After weeks of confinement, continued abuse, and starvation, Theresa lost consciousness while cuffed in the kitchen. The evidence shows that Moore became alarmed and tried to bring Theresa out of her seizure. After ensuring that Theresa regained consciousness, defendant recuffed the victim in the kitchen. Evidence of this type might have persuaded a jury of two things: (1) that defendant did not intend that Theresa die; and (2) that by recuffing the victim once she regained consciousness, defendant resumed the pattern of conduct that she feared had caused the girl's death, thus supporting the view that defendant consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the pattern of conduct would result in Theresa's death. It is also likely that a jury could have reasonably concluded that the pattern of conduct leading to Theresa's death manifested extreme indifference to human life. The immediate cause of the victim's death lends further support to our conclusion that a rational basis existed for a jury to convict defendant of manslaughter. According to the medical examiner, the victim died as a result of blows to her head and face. The evidence indicates that the victim received those deadly blows when Flores attempted to pick the victim off of the bathroom floor and then released her, causing her head to strike the bathtub. On the morning that this incident occurred, defendant had instructed Flores to remove Theresa from the bathroom in order to allow her daughter Tammy to ready herself for school. Flores testified that ordinarily he would uncuff Theresa from the bathroom floor and she would walk to the kitchen on her own, where she would be recuffed for the remainder of the day. Flores testified that on the morning of her death, however, Theresa did not get up on her own. Consequently, he lifted her to her knees by her shoulders and released her, expecting that she would then walk to the kitchen as usual. Instead, she fell forward and hit her head on the tub. Given these facts, a jury could have reasonably concluded that defendant did not knowingly or purposefully cause the victim's death in this manner, but rather that defendant recklessly engaged in a pattern of conduct that manifested extreme indifference to human life and resulted in death. As this court stated in Ramseur, the trial court should charge the jury regarding `all of the possible offenses that might reasonably be found from such facts.' 106 N.J. at 270-71 n. 62 (quoting State v. Choice, 98 N.J. 295, 298-99 (1985)). The trial court's failure to follow that directive in the instant case by refusing to charge the jury on manslaughter and aggravated manslaughter requires us to reverse defendant's murder conviction. The juvenile court's decision to accept Flores' manslaughter plea provides further support for defendant's claim that there was a rational basis on which a jury could have found manslaughter or aggravated manslaughter. The defendant argues that Flores inflicted the punishments on Theresa Feury and caused her death by his own conduct, and was thus as culpable as Moore. By agreeing to accept his plea, defendant argues, the State conceded that manslaughter is a possible crime to be found in the case sub judice. The juvenile court's decision on whether or not to accept a plea is governed by Rule 3:9-2, made applicable to the Family Court by Rule 5:1-1. State in the Interest of G.W., 206 N.J. Super. 50, 54 (App.Div. 1985); Pressler, Current N.J. Court Rules, Comment R. 5:1-1. Rule 3:9-2 provides in relevant part: A defendant may plead only guilty or not guilty to an offense. The court, in its discretion, may refuse to accept a plea of guilty and shall not accept such plea without first addressing the defendant personally and determining by inquiry of the defendant and others, in the court's discretion, that there is a factual basis for the plea and that the plea is made voluntarily, not as the result of any threats or of any promises or inducements not disclosed on the record, and with an understanding of the nature of the charge and the consequences of the plea. When the defendant is charged with a crime punishable by death, no factual basis shall be required from the defendant before entry of a plea of guilty to a capital offense or to a lesser included offense, provided the court is satisfied from the proofs presented that there is a factual basis for the plea. Under this Rule, the Family Court had to find that there was a factual basis for Flores' manslaughter plea. Flores, however, is not similar to Moore in that he did not direct or control the household, was a juvenile at the time, and acted at Moore's direction. Nonetheless, Flores meted out almost all of the punishments, exercised discretion in how many times he would hit the victims, and designed some of the punishment on his own, albeit to please Moore and Billy. Moreover, prior to the plea agreement the prosecutor was prepared to seek a waiver from Family Court and try him as an adult for Theresa Feury's murder. Thus, the fact that the Family Court would accept Flores' plea of guilty to manslaughter shows that a factual basis for his plea existed and offers some support to Moore's argument that the jury should have been given the option to find her guilty of a lesser-included offense.