Opinion ID: 2511886
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: mr. gardner's trial, conviction, and death sentence

Text: ¶ 6 At his trial for the murder of Mr. Burdell, Mr. Gardner was represented by Andrew and James Valdez of Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association. Their strategy was to argue that Mr. Gardner was under such pain and physical distress after being shot that shooting Mr. Burdell was an unintentional reactionthat it was an accident or, at most, done with reckless disregard for human life. Nevertheless, the jury convicted Mr. Gardner of first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, aggravated kidnaping, escape, and possession of a dangerous weapon by an incarcerated person. ¶ 7 At the penalty phase of the trial, the State presented evidence that Mr. Gardner posed a continuing threat even while incarcerated and that previous attempts to deter [Mr. Gardner's] criminal behavior had failed. [4] Witnesses testified for the State about criminal behavior Mr. Gardner had engaged in since becoming incarcerated. [5] For instance, the jury heard testimony from twelve state witnesses that corroborated each of the following instances of conduct: Mr. Gardner escaped from the minimum security facility in 1981; [6] after his escape he stabbed and beat a man at his former sister-in-law's house without having been provoked; [7] still out of custody after escaping from prison, he instigated a shootout at a friend's house that resulted in his arrest; [8] after the shootout, he told the arresting deputy that he knew the deputy's family and would have them killed; [9] also in 1981, he attempted to escape from the medium security facility at the Utah State Prison; [10] in 1984, after an incident in medium security caused him to be transferred to maximum security, he attacked a member of the transporting tactical squad with a screwdriver, only complied with officers' orders after being threatened with a stun gun, and, even then, threw his head back hard, cracked an officer's nose, and kicked at the officers, bringing three of them down in the process; [11] also in 1984, upon hearing from an officer that he would be transferred to maximum security, Mr. Gardner spit in the officer's face at least three times, punched the wall, smashed his television by throwing it on the floor, and threatened to kill the officer and his children; [12] also in 1984, Mr. Gardner escaped from custody after being examined at the University Hospital by attacking his guard, knocking him down, taking his loaded gun, pointing it at his head, and forcing him to remove Mr. Gardner's restraintsall of which resulted in lost vision in one of the guard's eyes, a nose broken in sixteen places, four ruptured discs in the guard's back, and emergency surgery where physicians rebuilt the guard's eye socket from one of his ribs, placed a rod through his face to anchor his cheekbones apart, and wired the bones in his face together; [13] also during this escape, Mr. Gardner hijacked a motorcycle-riding medical student at gunpoint and forced the medical student to drive him to a nearby apartment building where, in the laundry room, Mr. Gardner took the medical student's clothes and his wallet, put on the clothes, hit the student with the gun and kicked him while he was on the ground, and rode off on the student's motorcycle; [14] in 1985, Mr. Gardner was to be booked into jail, and as the officer approached, he kneed her in the groin; [15] Mr. Gardner was responsible for the 1984 murder of Mel Otterstrom, who was tending bar at the Cheers Tavern. [16] ¶ 8 Defense counsel called six witnesses to testify in mitigation, although his trial counsel would later testify that Mr. Gardner prevented them from calling other witnesses and especially certain family members that might have presented evidence about his family background, his intellectual limitations, and possible physical and sexual abuse he suffered as a child. What the jury did hear was evidence that Mr. Gardner's older brother went to prison while they were still young; that Mr. Gardner had family problems as a child; that Mr. Gardner was taken from his home and put into State custody when he was eight or nine years old; that around that time, Mr. Gardner began missing school and inhaling (huffing) gas; that the State moved the young Mr. Gardner from placement to placement, including stays at shelter homes, the detention center, foster homes, and the State Industrial School; [17] that the difficult living conditions endured by Mr. Gardner while at the State Industrial School would ultimately result in the school's closure; [18] that while at the State Industrial School, Mr. Gardner's resident counselor took a strong liking to Mr. Gardner, had a special relationship with him, and found him real likeable, real cooperative in the unit, real outgoing, and always ready to help the staff; and that when Mr. Gardner was ten years old, his probation officer found him to be a very charming, engaging, likeable young man, who was also cooperative and had a great deal of potential, but also suffered from a lack of parental supervision and an environmental situation that evoked empathy but. [19] To dispel the potential notion the jury might have had that a life sentence might result in a fairly short prison term, defense counsel called Dennis Fuchs from the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, who testified that of the eleven first degree murderers he had reviewed while serving on the Board, only two had received parole one after having served twenty years in prison and the other after having served thirteen years in prison. [20] ¶ 9 Defense counsel also called Dr. Heinbecker, a psychiatrist, to testify regarding Mr. Gardner's mental status. Dr. Heinbecker only had twenty-four hours to prepare to testify. [21] He prepared by interviewing Mr. Gardner and Mr. Gardner's mother and brother, and by reviewing Mr. Gardner's previous medical and psychological records. [22] Dr. Heinbecker did not administer any psychological tests. He instead relied on psychological tests prepared by prison officials and others. At trial, based on Mr. Gardner's medical history and these tests, Dr. Heinbecker testified that Mr. Gardner suffered from organic brain damage, which, coupled with other mitigating circumstances explained Mr. Gardner's antisocial behavior. [23] He testified that Mr. Gardner had contracted meningitis when he was four years old and had sniffed glue and gasoline from age nine until after age thirteenboth of which can cause brain damage. [24] Dr. Heinbecker also based his opinion on the results of psychological tests that showed high scores on some parts and low scores on other parts, also evidence of brain damage. [25] Dr. Heinbecker also testified that Mr. Gardner grew up in an unstable and impoverished environment; that he had been institutionalized for most of his life and had thus absorbed the moral values of others involved in antisocial criminal conduct; that his antisocial personality disorder ... might be explained genetically because his grandfather, brother, sister, nephew, three cousins, and two half-siblings had all experienced trouble with the law; and that Mr. Gardner's problems stemmed from parental neglect and inadequate parenting. [26] The State challenged this diagnosis with a psychological evaluation of Mr. Gardner by Dr. John Gill, who stated that his findings [were] not indicative of blatant organic impairment. [27] When asked to explain Dr. Gill's statement, Dr. Heinbecker replied, Well, you know, when he says it is not indicative of blatant organic impairment, it sounds to me like he is hedging his bets on whether there is organic impairment or not. In other words, he is saying, to me, more sophisticated testing ought to be done. [28] ¶ 10 At the end of the penalty phase, the jury unanimously found three aggravating factors: (1) Mr. Gardner knowingly created a risk of death to a person other than the person he killed; (2) Mr. Gardner committed the homicide to effect his escape from custody; and (3) Mr. Gardner had previously been convicted of two felonies involving the threat of violence to a person. [29] Ultimately, the jury sentenced Mr. Gardner to death.