Opinion ID: 1705889
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to investigate and present mitigation evidence during penalty phase of trial.

Text: ¶ 12. In Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510, 123 S.Ct. 2527, 156 L.Ed.2d 471 (2003), the petitioner claimed that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel because his attorneys failed to investigate and present mitigating evidence at his sentencing. Id. at 521, 123 S.Ct. 2527. Quoting Strickland, the Court reiterated that strategic choices made after less than complete investigation are reasonable precisely to the extent that reasonable professional judgments support the limitations on investigation. Id. at 521-22, 123 S.Ct. 2527. In Crawford v. State, 867 So.2d 196 (Miss.2003), we relied on Wiggins and held that a court is to determine whether counsel exercised reasonable professional judgment in conducting its investigation based on an assessment of the prevailing professional norms, including a context-dependent consideration of the challenged conduct as seen from counsel's perspective at the time. Id. at 217 (internal quotations omitted). ¶ 13. Spicer asserts that his trial counsel did not conduct any investigation into mitigating evidence regarding his social history in preparation for the sentencing phase of his trial. During the sentencing phase, the State introduced evidence of Spicer's prior convictions in the State of Rhode Island, where he was convicted on nine separate felony counts in three separate case numbers. Seven of the nine felony convictions were for violent crimes involving the use or threat of violence against a person. The violent crimes included two counts of robbery, two counts of kidnaping, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault with intent to murder. Spicer served a total of eleven years in prison in Rhode Island. ¶ 14. In mitigation, the defense called two witnesses. First, the defense called Spicer's mother, Bobbie Nell Spicer. The defense asked Mrs. Spicer a total of thirteen questions. Six of those questions sought to identify the witness, her address, and her relationship to the defendant, and to verify that she knew the circumstances for the trial. Two questions called for her personal opinion on whether Spicer should receive the death penalty. The State objected to both of those questions, and the objections were sustained. The remaining five questions were directed at whether Spicer's mother knew her son had been in prison in Rhode Island for eleven years and whether Spicer had paid his debt to society for the past crimes. ¶ 15. The second witness called by the defense was Spicer's aunt, Regina Walters. The defense asked Ms. Walters a total of ten questions. Again, the first six questions sought to identify the witness, her address, and her relationship to Spicer. The next four questions established that Ms. Walters knew Spicer spent eleven years in prison and that he paid his debt to society on the previous convictions. ¶ 16. Spicer contends that if his defense counsel had investigated, they would have uncovered at leak fifteen substantial witnesses who could have and would have provided mitigating evidence concerning Spicer. Spicer has provided affidavits from these potential witnesses. The substance of these statements reveals many pieces of possible mitigating evidence. The law is now well established that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments require that the sentencer not be precluded from considering, as a mitigating factor, any aspect of a defendant's character, record, or any of the circumstances of the offense that the defendant proffers as a basis for a sentence less than death. West v. State, 519 So.2d 418, 426 (Miss. 1988). It is for the trial court to determine what is relevant evidence of a defendant's character, prior record, or the circumstances of his offense. According to many of the affidavits, Spicer's counsel never attempted to contact these witnesses and they were willing to testify at Spicer's trial. Many of the affiants lived in George County. Two of the affiants, Spicer's mother and his Aunt Regina Walters, did testify, but were never questioned about Spicer's childhood, education, drug habits, or other issues related to his character and childhood history. ¶ 17. To prevail on this claim, however, Spicer must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Mohr, 584 So.2d at 430. ¶ An attorney may, of course, call less than all the character witnesses in mitigation. See Stanley v. Zant, 697 F.2d 955, 965 (11th Cir.1983). There are many valid reasons for not calling witnesses: their testimony as a whole may be more harmful than helpful, their testimony may be impeached, their testimony may be cumulative, the witnesses may be unwilling or uncooperative; witnesses may be beyond the jurisdiction of the court or it may be beyond the financial ability of the defendant to provide for the witnesses' appearance. Leatherwood v. State, 473 So.2d 964, 969-970 (Miss.1985) (footnote omitted). In view of the importance of mitigating evidence in the sentencing phase it is difficult to understand why favorable, willing witnesses who could be discovered by questioning the defendant would not be called. If it it [sic] were within the financial ability of the defendant to arrange for the appearance of a representative group of them, this would have a strong bearing on whether trial counsel provided effective assistance. Of course, counsel's overall performance must be considered. Id. at 970. ¶ 18. Based on the limited information before this Court at this time, it is difficult to ascertain trial counsel's reasons for not bringing some of these factors to the attention of the jury. We also note that both attorneys indicated a lack of information and notes in their files other than official pleadings. Spicer has raised minimally sufficient allegations to be entitled to a hearing concerning the effectiveness of his counsel during the penalty phase of his trial. However, showing that counsel was deficient is but one prong of Strickland. Showing prejudice is a much harder task, and there is much needed information that this Court does not have before it. Therefore, we find that Spicer should be granted leave to proceed in the trial court in an evidentiary hearing, limited to Spicer's claim that his attorneys were ineffective for failing to investigate and present mitigating evidence of Spicer's character and childhood history at the penalty phase of Spicer's trial.
¶ 19. Spicer asserts that his attorneys were similarly ineffective in failing to present evidence of mental impairment as a mitigating factor at the penalty phase. As the State points out, on June 28, 2002, counsel filed a Motion for Determination of Defendant's Mental Competency. The motion was granted, and Spicer was sent to the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield, Mississippi. The summary report of the results from Spicer's forensic mental evaluation under the heading Forensic Opinions stated: We are unanimous in our opinion that Mr. Spicer has the sufficient present ability to consult with his attorney with a reasonable degree of rational understanding in the preparation of his defense, and that he has a rational as well as factual understanding of the nature and object of the legal proceedings against him. We are unanimous in our opinion that Mr. Spicer would have known the nature and quality of his alleged acts at the time of the alleged offense, and that he would have known at that time that those alleged acts would be wrong. Under the heading Discussion, the report further states: We are aware that Mr. Spicer has received mental health treatment in the past and that he is currently prescribed psychiatric medications for the diagnosis of schizophrenia. In our opinion, Mr. Spicer was not experiencing symptoms of any major mental disorder at the time of the alleged offense. Although, at the time of our evaluation, he appeared to be making a great effort to represent himself as having psychotic symptoms, limited intellectual abilities, and symptoms of amnesia, he did not seem to exhibit any credible symptoms of a major mental disorder, he seems to be of at least low average intelligence, and he easily recalled details regarding his personal history. During our evaluation, he admitted to abusing several substances at the time of the alleged offense. It is our opinion that both his past behavior and his current mental state are best accounted for by the presence of a severe substance abuse disorder. Mr. Spicer had no difficulty communicating with us during the evaluation interview. He should have no difficulty conferring rationally with his defense attorney, should he so choose. ¶ 20. Following the report, Spicer's attorneys filed a Motion for Further Examination to Determine Defendant's Mental Competency, which the trial court denied. Spicer's counsel were effective in seeking a mental evaluation of Spicer, and even attempted to acquire additional testing for their client. Some of the results from Spicer's evaluation arguably could amount to mitigating evidence, such as the acknowledgment by the doctors that Spicer previously had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. However, Spicer's mental evaluation revealed that Spicer was malingering. This issue will be more fully developed below during the discussion of Spicer's Ground V. ¶ 21. There is a presumption that counsel's conduct is reasonable and professional and that decisions made are strategic. Murray v. Maggio, 736 F.2d 279, 282 (5th Cir.1984). In the Addendum to Outpatient Evaluation Results of Psychological Testing, provided by the doctors at the Mississippi State Hospital, Spicer's doctors summarized him as: . . . a 37-year-old, divorced, Caucasian man from George County charged with capital murder. Test results and clinical observations suggest that the defendant attempted to malinger memory and cognitive deficits on measures of memory, intelligence, achievement, and mental status, perhaps in an attempt to mitigate his legal problems. This description of Spicer, if used by the State to rebut Spicer's claims of mental problems, could have been damaging in the eyes of the jury. Any decision not to use Spicer's mental evaluation in mitigation can be presumed strategic, and Spicer has failed to overcome that presumption.