Opinion ID: 1797214
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Yet More Psychological Testing

Text: At trial, Attorney Farrow asked the jury to consider the following mitigating factors: 1. Ron Chris Foster was only 17 at the time of the crime; 2. The defendant has no significant history of criminal activity; 3. The crime was committed while the defendant was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance; 4. The defendant acted under extreme duress and or under the substantial domination of another person; 5. The capacity of the defendant to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law was substantially impaired; 6. The defendant has limited intelligence; 7. The defendant did not carry a weapon to the crime scene; 8. As a youth the defendant suffered a head injury that impairs his mental capacity; 9. Any circumstance or combination of circumstances surrounding the offense which reasonably mitigates against imposition of the death penalty; 10. Any circumstance or combination of circumstances surrounding the defendant's life and character which reasonably mitigates against imposition of the death penalty; 11. That the defendant was intoxicated during the commission of the crime; 12. That the defendant has an eighteen month old son; 13. Any other circumstance which you may deem mitigating. Foster faults Farrow for not further investigating his psychiatric condition. Farrow filed a Motion for Psychiatric Examination which was granted by the trial court. The order requested the Whitfield psychiatrists to render an opinion regarding the present competency of Foster in relation to the McNaughten criteria. Now, Farrow is questioned for not providing the jury a psychological report prepared by a neutral expert at Whitfield Mental Institution per the order stated above, and in its stead, providing school records, to demonstrate Foster's limited intelligence level. Foster claims that had the jury been shown the Whitfield Report, they would have discovered that he had an I.Q. of eighty, and the mental age of a thirteen year old. He believes that these facts would have shown that he suffered from a mental disease or defect that impaired his capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. Perhaps, the following language, from the Whitfield Report, will explain why Attorney Farrow chose not to introduce it into evidence: It was the unanimous opinion of the staff present that Mr. Foster did have a rational as well as factual understanding of courtroom proceedings and would be able to assist his attorney in preparing a defense. It was also our unanimous opinion that he knew the difference between right and wrong in relation to his actions at the time of the crime. At no time during our observation of him here has Mr. Foster displayed any symptom of psychotic disorder or organic mental disorder. Our ward observations, former mental status observations, and psychological testing all supported the diagnosis of Conduct Disorder and Personality Disorder with Antisocial and Narcissistic Features. These diagnoses reflect an individual who tends to disregard the rules of society and places his own needs and desires ahead of those of other people. Mr. Foster tends to over-emphasize his own importance and prowess and minimize his responsibility for his behavior and its consequences. Because of these personality traits he may not always choose to cooperate with his attorney or with the court, but I believe that he is capable of cooperating if he chooses to. He has been involved in physical altercations both in the jail and here and this behavior may well continue. This is the kind of report that would once and for all settle the question of whether Foster had the capacity to conform his behavior to the requirements of the law; and that answer would not be favorable to Foster. Admitting such a damaging informational document into evidence would surely leave the jury with the impression that Foster knew right from wrong and he could not care less about his actions or the consequences thereof. It would defeat his entire defense strategy that others encouraged and convinced him to jump over the counter and rob the store clerk, and that his feeble mind was too weak not to succumb to the influence of others. Defense counsel's tactical decision not to investigate psychological evidence did not deprive defendant of effective assistance of counsel at sentencing phase of capital murder trial where defense counsel could have judged that psychological report would have been harmful. Wiley v. State, 517 So.2d 1373 (Miss. 1987), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1036, 108 S.Ct. 2024, 100 L.Ed.2d 610 reh'g denied, 487 U.S. 1246, 109 S.Ct. 6, 101 L.Ed.2d 957 (1988). Nothing in this report would support an argument that a reasonable attorney would present such damaging information to the jury or conduct further investigation into Foster's mental state. Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 84 L.Ed.2d 53 (1985), sets forth the framework whereby indigent defendants are entitled to independent expert assistance. However, unlike Ake, Foster did not attempt to present the insanity defense, and the State did not argue future dangerousness. The State did not use expert testimony regarding Foster's mental health; therefore, Foster needed no assistance for cross-examination. The doctors at Whitfield, after forty-four days of examination and observance, opined that Foster was determined to be a violent and uncooperative person capable of choosing to conform. Put another way, Foster was violent and uncooperative by choice. The Whitfield doctor's examination revealed that Foster was competent to stand trial, completely sane at the time of the offense, and totally free of any medically cognizable mental dysfunction. Thereafter, Foster had no good faith argument to request further psychiatric/psychological expert assistance for purposes of mitigation. Based on this report by court-appointed, neutral experts, Foster was mentally sound but in need of an attitude adjustment. In no way could such information by deemed mitigating. The State points out that Foster has presented no evidence that counsel did not inquire further about such possibilities from the doctors at Whitfield. Foster has not explained how the additional expert assistance could have been made available to an indigent defendant at trial following the report returned by neutral experts. Foster's only support comes from the affidavit of Dr. Zimmerman. Dr. Zimmerman supports the diagnosis of the experts at Whitfield, but he claims that such a diagnosis could be used for mitigation. Upon reading the explanation of the diagnosis presented by the court-appointed, neutral experts at Whitfield, and considering the convenient explanation presented by Foster's own expert, the State contends that the Whitfield explanation is more plausible. We agree. See McCoy v. Cabana, 794 F.2d 177, 183 (5th Cir.1986) (decision to introduce or withhold a psychiatric report usually considered a tactical decision). Attorney Farrow should be commended for circumventing such a document, and still devising a trial strategy to let the jury understand that Foster had low intelligence (via school records) and had suffered two head injuries which resulted in strange behavior thereafter (via testimony from his parents). Generally, strategic choices made after thorough investigation of law and facts relevant to plausible options are virtually unchallengeable; and strategic choices made after less than complete investigation are reasonable precisely to the extent that reasonable professional judgments support the limitations on investigations. In other words, counsel has a duty to make reasonable investigations or to make a reasonable decision that makes particular investigations unnecessary. In any ineffectiveness case, a particular decision not to investigate must be directly assessed for reasonableness in all circumstances, applying a heavy measure of deference to counsel's judgments. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690-91, 104 S.Ct. at 2066. A decision to introduce or withhold a psychiatric report is a tactical decision. Wiley v. State, 517 So.2d 1373 (Miss. 1987), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1036, 108 S.Ct. 2024, 100 L.Ed.2d 610 reh'g denied, 487 U.S. 1246, 109 S.Ct. 6, 101 L.Ed.2d 957 (1988); Marks v. State, 532 So.2d 976 (Miss. 1988) (defendant did not establish ineffective assistance of counsel where record indicated that psychiatric examination was performed, but results were not shown, and evidence indicated that defendant's alleged diminished capacity, if any, resulted at least in part from voluntary intoxication); McCoy v. Cabana, 794 F.2d 177, 183 (5th Cir.1986); Johnson v. Cabana, 661 F. Supp. 356 (S.D.Miss.), aff'd, 818 F.2d 333 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1061, 107 S.Ct. 2207, 95 L.Ed.2d 861 (1987) (trial counsel's failure to present mitigating evidence of mental impairment did not render assistance ineffective where the failure was not based on error or incompetence but, rather, on considered conclusion that the evidence was insubstantial). We find that Farrow met his burden of behaving as reasonable counsel. He ordered a psychological evaluation. He got the results. He knew the evidence would not be absolutely convincing for the jury. From this document, the more plausible conclusion was that Foster had an attitude problem rather than an emotional disturbance. Thus, Farrow chose an alternate course to present the limited intelligence and mental health mitigators. We find that Farrow made a reasonable decision not to pursue further psychological testing once the results from the Whitfield Report were reported to the court. This was a reasonable decision not only at the time it was made, but even in hindsight. There was no reason to delve further into the exact level of his I.Q. His school transcripts revealed that he was both a poor and truant student. This factor was presented to the jury as mitigator number 6. His parents' testimony also leaves the impression that they weren't exactly stellar in their intellect either. A juror may not comprehend the implication of Borderline Intellectual Function evidenced by an I.Q. of eighty; however, the average juror does comprehend the failure to complete eighth grade, grades like C and D, yearly averages of 58 in English, 46 in math, 52 in history, 62 in industrial arts, 74 in science, and forty days of missed school. A juror also comprehends the educational environment of a defendant whose father cannot read or write, and parents who cannot understand or respond to simple questions. The record reflects that Foster's father could not even read the letters on his son's report card enough to determine whether his son was doing well or poorly in school. Once again, Foster has failed to show deficiency and prejudice. Nor did Farrow need to further investigate the two head injuries Foster suffered as a youth. His parents' testimony revealed that the injuries occurred and Foster acted strangely thereafter. In light of the Whitfield Report which indicated that no organic mental disorder existed, Farrow cannot be faulted for not further investigating this avenue, as it would lead to a dead-end. Neither Farrow, nor his current attorneys, have been able to show any kind of medical documentation evidencing that Foster changed in personality due to those head injuries. The parental pleas and the school transcripts were the the best argument he could make given the circumstances under which he found his client. See Faraga v. State, 514 So.2d 295, 308 (Miss. 1987) (where it was alleged that counsel admitted too much, but the Court found that his decision was tactical in order to gain jury's confidence and further found that failure to present expert psychological testimony at sentencing phase was not ineffective assistance of counsel). In the past, we have reversed and remanded death penalty cases involving ineffective counsel claims where all the defense counsel had done was admitted to the guilt and begged the jury for mercy. Woodward v. State, 635 So.2d 805, 809 (Miss. 1993). In Woodward, the psychological testing revealed that Woodward could differentiate between right and wrong, but nonetheless suffered from a severe mental disturbance at the time of the crime. Id. at 810. We found that trial counsel was ineffective in not realizing that they could offer the psychiatrist's testimony without opening the door to unlimited character evidence. Id. at 810. Here, unlike Woodward, Foster's psychiatric evaluation from Whitfield did not indicate that he was suffering from a severe mental disturbance at the time of the crime. Thus, to introduce it would be to introduce all of the damaging statements as previously discussed. Moreover, Attorney Farrow did not throw his client upon the mercy of the court. He introduced school records and the testimony of his parents who stated their love for him. He discussed the fact that Foster did not bring a weapon to the store. He mentioned that Foster had a very young child. He emphasized that Foster had drunk twelve beers before committing the crime. Again, we find that Attorney Farrow acted reasonably. Based on the foregoing, we find that under the first prong of the Strickland test Farrow's conduct was not deficient in presenting the limiting intelligence and mental health mitigators. There is no need to proceed to the second prong of prejudice due to deficiency, as none existed when foregoing the Whitfield Report.