Opinion ID: 2159715
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Representation Prior to Sentencing Retrial

Text: On remand, defendant's attorney, Samuel DeLuca, moved for a directed verdict of life imprisonment. DeLuca argued that no additional evidence existed to corroborate the aggravating factors that gave rise to the death sentence. The trial court denied the motion, and the Appellate Division declined to grant leave to appeal. In September 1991, defendant wrote a letter to the court, requesting appointment of new counsel. Defendant expressed his dissatisfaction with DeLuca's representation. The court allowed DeLuca to withdraw from the case and, in his stead, ordered the Public Defender to represent defendant. The Public Defender's Office assigned Assistant Deputy Public Defenders Barbara Lapidus and Michelle Soto to the case. Lapidus, who was assigned as lead counsel, had no experience in capital cases but was a seasoned public defender. Soto also had no experience trying capital cases, and had only two years experience trying criminal cases. Lapidus and Soto were chosen because attorneys with previous capital experience were already engaged in other death penalty cases. Lapidus was initially reluctant to defend a capital case, but her supervisor, Joseph Krakora, chief of the homicide division, expressed confidence that she could do the job. He also assured her that Soto would do the necessary legal writing. The supervisor talked to them about the case and made himself available for questions and discussions.
Prior to the sentencing retrial, Lapidus and Soto filed two motions to withdraw defendant's guilty plea. In the first motion, counsel argued that defendant's guilty plea should be withdrawn because his decision to plead was rendered involuntary by DeLuca's erroneous assurances that defendant would receive a life sentence. Counsel's subsequent motion was based on the ground that defendant's plea resulted from ineffective assistance of counsel. In support of both motions, counsel presented the testimony of defendant and DeLuca. In essence, counsel argued that DeLuca did not develop mitigation evidence on defendant's behalf because he was convinced that defendant would not receive the death penalty. According to counsel, DeLuca so grossly misinformed defendant regarding the consequences of pleading guilty that defendant did not enter his plea knowingly and voluntarily. The trial court denied both motions, finding that DeLuca had not misled defendant nor made any improper promises. The court also found that DeLuca's decision not to investigate had been reasonable. This Court ultimately affirmed the trial court's determination on both motions in DiFrisco II, supra, 137 N.J. at 451-59, 645 A. 2d 734.
Counsel began their mitigation investigation about the time that they had begun preparing the motions to withdraw defendant's guilty plea. They retained a licensed psychologist, Dr. Ronald Silikovitz; a psychiatrist specializing in substance abuse, Dr. William Annitto; and a mitigation specialist, Cessie Alfonso. They also requested the assistance of an investigator at the Public Defender's Office, Pam Cuevas. Toward the end of the investigation, counsel asked a different mitigation specialist, Carmeta Albarus, to take the place of Alfonso. Finally, counsel retained Dr. Peter Schiffman, a psychiatrist, as an expert witness on drug abuse. Although Dr. Silikovitz had never worked on a capital case before participating in defendant's case, his specialties included psychological testing, behavior modification, and neglected children. He had experience with child welfare cases involving the Division of Youth and Family Services. Krakora approved retention of Dr. Silikovitz to evaluate defendant for purposes of the motion to withdraw defendant's guilty plea. Counsel did not provide Dr. Silikovitz with the legal standards for plea withdrawal. However, to assist him in his task, counsel provided Dr. Silikovitz with their case report, the incident report, and the transcripts of the guilty plea and original sentencing hearing. Silikovitz met with defendant for three hours, and he performed a number of tests, including a WAIS-R for intellectual evaluation, H-T-P, D-A-P, Projective Drawings, Bender, Rorscharch, WRAT, sentence completion, TAT, and Three Wishes. Dr. Silikovitz delivered his first report to defense counsel on February 25, 1992, several months prior to the hearings for both motions to withdraw defendant's guilty plea. The report discussed defendant's overall psychological status and reported defendant's account of his confession to authorities. Dr. Silikovitz stated that defendant could not recall any phase of the confession process because he was high on cocaine and probably also heroin at the time when the `confession' was made. The report indicated that several people, including defendant's mother and his attorney, witnessed defendant's condition. The report also indicated that defendant manifests guilt and remorse related to his history of criminal and drug activity. The report observed, One has the sense that [defendant] may be more of a follower and a victim of circumstance rather than an individual who tends to initiate, originate, and create difficulty. Based on Dr. Silikovitz's three-hour meeting with defendant, the psychologist diagnosed defendant with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and multiple drug dependencies. Soto believed that Dr. Silikovitz's report was harmful to defendant's case, particularly the ASPD diagnosis. Krakora, Soto's supervisor, agreed. Lapidus, on the other hand, felt that the diagnosis, viewed in conjunction with the entire report, was not too damaging. Notwithstanding Soto's and Krakora's doubts, Lapidus asked Dr. Silikovitz to evaluate and assess possible mitigating factors. Dr. Silikovitz met with defendant a second time, again for three hours. Dr. Silikovitz relied on defendant's own reasons why he should not be put to death. After defendant's interview, counsel gave Dr. Silikovitz a copy of the statutory aggravating and mitigating factors used in capital cases and told him to call either Lapidus or Cuevas, the investigator, if he had any questions. Dr. Silikovitz met with counsel, conducted telephone interviews with four family members and defendant's former girlfriend, and reviewed the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, revised third edition (DSM-III-R). He then produced a revised report. He changed his ASPD diagnosis to a diagnosis of Adult Antisocial Behavior. Dr. Silikovitz's revised report also provided greater detail regarding defendant's remorse for his crime; included information about defendant's broken home, lack of supervision, and need for male role models, all of which were linked to defendant's history of substance abuse; discussed at length defendant's drug abuse and addiction; and included some of defendant's positive character traits. Lapidus liked the revised report because it conveyed defendant's remorse, his regard for Franciotti as a father figure, and his susceptibility to Franciotti's influence because of his drug dependency and need for a male role model. Soto, however, was adamant that Dr. Silikovitz should not be called as a witness because of the initial ASPD and revised Adult Antisocial Behavior diagnoses. As for Dr. Silikovitz himself, the two lawyers also differed. Lapidus felt that he was genuine, that he cared for defendant, that he was credible, and that those qualities would come across to the jury. Soto, on the other hand, felt that the doctor was inarticulate and unclear. Dr. Silikovitz met with counsel twice after completing his revised report. Dr. Annitto, a board-certified psychiatrist with expertise in the field of substance abuse, met with defendant and submitted a brief report to counsel addressing defendant's drug use at the time of his confession. Dr. Annitto concluded that defendant's use of cocaine, Valium, and heroin would have had a dramatic impact on his physical condition at the time of his arrest and confession. The report further concluded that defendant would have been suffering severe withdrawal by the time of his confession, which would have led him to say just about anything so as to get some relief and peace. Because defendant described his symptoms of withdrawal without any prompting from Dr. Annitto, the doctor found defendant's account to be credible. Counsel also retained Alfonso Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in, among other things, the collection and presentation of psychosocial mitigation evidence. Cessie Alfonso, who ran the firm, was highly regarded in the Public Defender's Office. Counsel asked Alfonso to evaluate defendant's history, background, and family relationships for mitigation purposes. Soto told Alfonso to obtain as much information as possible, even if bad, because it might be useful in developing some mitigating factors. Soto also asked Cuevas, who had worked at the Public Defender's Office for about a year, to conduct her own investigation of defendant's background. Although counsel met with Cuevas to discuss the case, they did not direct Alfonso on how she should focus her investigation. Lapidus and Soto later testified that they relied on Alfonso's expertise and, therefore, did not feel the need to supervise her. Alfonso never saw Dr. Silikovitz's reports, and the work of Alfonso Associates and Cuevas was never shared with Dr. Silikovitz. Lapidus later testified that the reports were never shared because they were being prepared contemporaneously. Alfonso, however, testified that had she seen Dr. Silikovitz's report during her investigation, she would have done substantially more research into defendant's relationship with Franciotti, defendant's need for a father figure, the losses that occurred during defendant's childhood and adolescence, defendant's depression, and defendant's remorse. Likewise, Dr. Silikovitz later testified that had he received defendant's school records incorporated in the Alfonso report, he would have conducted further testing because the records indicated a learning disability. Cuevas reviewed all available discovery and set up appointments to interview a number of witnesses. She interviewed defendant and spoke to his relatives. She obtained defendant's prison records from the State and from the Essex County jail. The investigator also received some of defendant's school records, and she interviewed defendant's former girlfriend. However, defendant's stepmother, Janet DiFrisco, made it difficult to involve defendant's half-sister, Theresa, in the investigation. Although Theresa was supposedly close to defendant and Soto felt that she might be helpful to the defense, she did not testify. Soto decided not to subpoena Theresa because counsel did not know what she would say at the retrial. In June 1992, Alfonso Associates sent defense counsel an initial report prepared by Alfonso and two associates, one of whom was Carmeta Albarus. The report revealed that defendant's father was emotionally unavailable, that his mother was depressed and unable to provide discipline, and that defendant received little attention or family support. The report also provided information about defendant's drug use, and stated that defendant was exposed to drug use in the home at a young age. Finally, the report noted that defendant never had appropriate male role models, and that his father's neglect led to defendant's lack of self-esteem. In October 1992, Lapidus expressed dissatisfaction about working with Soto (the disagreement over Dr. Silikovitz helped put a strain on their relationship). Krakora then removed Soto from the case and assigned Peter Liguori to replace her. Soto and Liguori had similar legal backgrounds at the Public Defender's Office. In November 1992, Alfonso notified defense counsel that, due to health problems, she would be unable to testify at the sentencing retrial. She recommended Billy Feinberg, a social worker with experience testifying in capital cases, to replace her. Also in November, approximately six weeks before the sentencing retrial, Lapidus resigned from the Public Defender's Office. Krakora asked Soto to resume work on the case as lead counsel and to try the case with Liguori. Krakora later testified that he had decided to reassign Soto to the case because the presiding judge was strictly enforcing court deadlines, and Soto was the only person with knowledge of the case who was in a position to take over. Soto and Liguori decided that Carmeta Albarus, one of Alfonso's associates, would testify in place of Alfonso. Although Albarus had no experience testifying, counsel felt that she would be a satisfactory witness. They believed that she came across as a genuine, warm person, and other attorneys in the Public Defender's Office agreed that Albarus would be the more appropriate choice. Albarus had no contact with defense counsel prior to November 1992. Liguori later testified that they rejected Alfonso's recommendation to call a different witness, Billy Feinberg, because Feinberg did not know defendant's case and Albarus did. In December 1992, defense counsel's focus turned toward preparing Albarus to testify. Albarus conducted re-interviews of several people so that she would have personal knowledge of the individuals and the information in Alfonso's report. Also, Alfonso Associates prepared a second report that incorporated the information gained from those additional interviews. The cover letter to the second report stated that the report's substance bore no significant changes and the themes and issues remain consistent with the first Alfonso report. After becoming lead counsel, Soto decided not to call Dr. Silikovitz to testify. She believed that the expected benefits of the doctor's testimony were outweighed by his diagnosis of ASPD. Additionally, in a conversation with Soto, Dr. Silikovitz described defendant as a sociopath. Soto feared that the jury would reject defendant's mitigation defense if it heard that defendant suffered from ASPD, or if it heard him labeled a sociopath. Soto considered replacing Dr. Silikovitz, but ultimately rejected that idea because she could not be sure what another expert might say about ASPD. Counsel thought that stressing defendant's drug addiction and family background would be a better approach under the circumstances. Soto decided to call Dr. Peter Schiffman as an expert witness on drug abuse and its effects on a person's judgment. Soto chose to limit the scope of Dr. Schiffman's testimony to the effects of drug abuse in general. She believed that she had to confine his testimony so that the court would not disallow it entirely (the discovery deadlines had long passed), and because defense counsel had not uncovered sufficient evidence to corroborate defendant's specific claim that he was using drugs at the time of the offense.
The sentencing retrial lasted five days, one day of which was devoted to defendant's mitigation case. Two expert witnesses testified, Albarus and Dr. Schiffman. Also, defendant's sister, father, brother, and mother testified. Albarus testified as a mitigation specialist, stating that she performed a psychosocial assessment of defendant. She narrated his family background and history of drug abuse. Albarus also briefly discussed defendant's relationship with Franciotti. On cross-examination, the prosecutor attempted to discredit Albarus by bringing out the fact that she did not have an undergraduate degree in psychology, did not have any advanced degree beyond the undergraduate level, and lacked training in substance abuse. The prosecutor also highlighted the fact that Albarus had never before testified in court, and that her report was very similar to the prior report submitted by Alfonso. With regard to Dr. Schiffman's testimony at the sentencing retrial, Soto recounted that his testimony was devastating to [defendant's] defense. Soto noted that the doctor's testimony, which deviated from that which Soto had anticipated, made it look like [defendant] was a danger. For example, Dr. Schiffman told the jury that heavy cocaine use usually leads to paranoia, followed by out and out psychosis, and that a cocaine addict may even be driven to the point of hurting people trying to get [drugs]. One of Soto's supervisors testified that he would not have agreed to present Dr. Schiffman as a witness. Members of defendant's family testified. They recounted defendant's unhappy home, his father's neglect, and his drug abuse. After both sides had rested, defendant made a brief statement to the jury asking the members to spare his life. Outside the jury's presence, counsel engaged in a colloquy with the court about whether defense counsel would be permitted to allude to defendant's remorse. Counsel intended in their summation to submit defendant's remorse to the jury as a mitigating factor. The court told counsel that it was considering striking remorse as a mitigating factor because there's no evidence of it. The only suggestion of remorse, the court observed, was in defendant's statement to the jury. Defense counsel objected, stating that remorse is one of the central themes of our defense. The court ultimately ruled that although it may be a stretch, the jury may infer the continuing presence ... of remorse from the prior statements [the confession] and prior testimony, if they so wish. In closing, Soto did argue defendant's remorse by contending that defendant's confession to an otherwise unsolved murder should weigh heavily against the death penalty, as well as defendant's cooperation with the police. Finally, Soto spoke of defendant's drug use and how that affected Franciotti's influence over defendant. In its verdict, the jury found unanimously that the first aggravating factor, that the murder was for pecuniary gain, had been established beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury did not unanimously find, and therefore rejected, the existence of the second aggravating factor, that the murder was committed for the purpose of escaping detection for another crime. As reflected on the verdict form, the jury's findings on mitigation were as follows:
(12) No (0) Yes b. The defendant's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law was significantly impaired as the result of mental disease or defect or intoxication, but not to a degree sufficient to constitute a defense to prosecution[.] (12) No (0) Yes c. The defendant rendered substantial assistance to the State in the prosecution of another person for the crime of murder[.] (6) No (6) Yes d. The childhood and upbringing of Anthony DiFrisco. (0) No (12) Yes e. Anthony DiFrisco suffered from his father's lack of love, recognition and attention. (0) No (12) Yes f. Anthony DiFrisco's mother was unable to provide him with the discipline and guidance he needed while growing up. (0) No (12) Yes g. Anthony DiFrisco could not turn to his two older brothers for guidance and support because they were drug abusers. (0) No (12) Yes h. Anthony DiFrisco never developed any self-esteem. (0) No (12) Yes
(0) No (12) Yes j. Anthony DiFrisco's excessive drug abuse affected his ability to make sound judgments. (8) No (4) Yes k. Anthony DiFrisco was vulnerable and susceptible to the older Franciotti because he looked up to him as a father figure. (0) No (12) Yes l. Anthony DiFrisco was dependent upon Franciotti for drugs. (11) No (1) Yes m. Anthony DiFrisco allowed himself to be manipulated by Anthony Franciotti. (0) No (12) Yes n. Anthony DiFrisco's motivation in confessing to the murder was remorse. (12) No (0) Yes o. Anthony DiFrisco remains remorseful about killing Edward Potcher. (11) No (1) Yes p. Edward Potcher's killing would have remained unsolved, if Anthony DiFrisco himself had not confessed. (0) No (12) Yes q. Any other factor which is relevant to the defendant's character or record or to the circumstances of the offense. (12) No (0) Yes As indicated, one or more jurors found thirteen of the mitigating factors. Of those thirteen, the jury found nine factors unanimously, including that defendant's emotional maturity level was stunted due to drug addiction, that defendant was vulnerable and susceptible to Franciotti, that defendant allowed himself to be manipulated by Franciotti, and that the murder itself would have remained unsolved had defendant not confessed. The jury concluded that it was unanimously satisfied that the one aggravating factor outweighed the mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. Consequently, the trial court sentenced defendant to death.