Opinion ID: 2157107
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Blameworthiness

Text: For the purposes of examining defendant's moral blameworthiness, we examine such characteristics as motive, premeditation, justification or excuse, evidence of mental defect or disturbance, knowledge of helplessness of the victim, defendant's age or maturity level, and defendant's involvement in planning the murder. Loftin II, supra, 157 N.J. at 336, 724 A. 2d 129 (citation omitted). Consideration of those factors demonstrates that defendant has an average to high level of moral blameworthiness. Defendant's motive for murdering Keith Donaghy was monetary gain. $191.32 was taken from Mr. Donaghy's pocket, apparently after he was shot. Monetary gain as a motive is common in the death-eligible universe of cases, constituting a motive in more than one third of those cases. Defendant's blameworthiness is heightened, however, by the probability that he could have accomplished the robbery without committing murder. Evidence of premeditation by defendant is sparse. Although defendant borrowed a weapon several weeks in advance of the killing, he returned that weapon the same day that he borrowed it. That Mills and defendant retrieved the gun from the trunk of the car on the night of the murder suggests that defendant may have decided to commit the murder while at the Columbia Café on the night of the murder. Thus, the premeditation, if any, was minimal. There was some evidence that the murder may have been attributable in part to defendant's intoxication. He was drinking alcohol on the night in question and apparently also was using drugs. However, the effect of the alcohol and drugs on defendant is unknown and the jury unanimously rejected intoxication as a mitigating factor. Nor was there any evidence of provocation, justification or excuse. At the penalty phase of defendant's trial, he presented extensive evidence that he suffers from physical brain impairments as well as psychological impairments. Defendant's low intellectual capacity places him at approximately the bottom eight percent of the population, within the borderline mentally retarded or low-normal category. Despite evidence that defendant's childhood was dysfunctional and contributed to his personality disorders, the jury unanimously rejected mental disease or defect, or emotional disturbance, as a mitigating factor. Some jurors, however, found that defendant suffered one or more head traumas resulting in an organic brain condition, and that he was raised in a home with an emotionally and physically abusive father. It is likely that defendant had knowledge of his victim's helplessness. Keith Donaghy was the only attendant on duty in the gas station on the night he was murdered. Other than defendant's co-defendant who committed suicide, there were no witnesses to the crime, which indicates that the area was deserted and that Mr. Donaghy was especially vulnerable to attack. It appears that defendant relied on the victim's solitude and vulnerability in planning the attack. That defendant was twenty-two years old at the time of the homicide diminishes his blameworthiness to some extent. Defendant also presented evidence that his maturity level was significantly lower than his actual age because of childhood traumas and his low I.Q. The jury, however, did not find defendant's age or maturity level to be a mitigating factor. Whether defendant was the sole planner of the murder is uncertain. Mills committed suicide before defendant's trial, and therefore was unable to testify about whether defendant was solely responsible for the crimes. Moreover, there is evidence to support a finding that Mills played a substantial role in the planning and commission of the robbery and murder. In sum, the level of defendant's moral blameworthiness is average to high. There appears to have been little premeditation and defendant was young at the time of the murder. However, defendant exhibited complete callousness and lack of remorse toward his victim when he told a cellmate that he shot Donaghy to see what if felt like to kill someone. Moreover, defendant's knowledge of the victim's helplessness and vulnerability also is a factor that supports a finding of average to high moral blameworthiness.