Opinion ID: 2977007
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence Presented at Mitigation Hearing

Text: In the instant case, the Ohio Court of Appeals reached the following conclusion concerning the evidence introduced at Jells’s trial: [T]he mitigation presented at trial tended to focus upon petitioner's loving behavior to his family, his good behavior at school, his obedience to authority and his teachers, his strong work ethic, and his tendency to walk away from an argument. In addition, trial counsel indicated that petitioner's family had moved many times, and also presented expert opinion evidence that petitioner was of borderline intelligence and over-controlled his hostility. Finally, petitioner presented an unsworn statement in which he emphasized his work ethic, his empathy for Devon, his sadness at the tragic manner in which Stapleton must have met her death, and his disagreement with the verdict reached by the panel. Further, in its written opinion, the three judge panel observed that petitioner had presented evidence of, inter alia, character, family relationships, employment history, and emotional stability. Jells, 1998 WL 213175, at . At the mitigation hearing, Jells’s counsel produced four witnesses—(1) Dora Jells Michael, Jells’s mother; (2) Barabaray Lee Jones, Jells’s uncle; (3) Anna Bee Jells, Jells’s maternal grandmother; and (4) Dr. Eisenberg—as well as unsworn testimony from Jells himself. Jells’s 4 Referencing the “cumulative” presentation of information, the Ohio Court of Appeals noted that it was “unable to conclude that there is a reasonable probability that, but for this alleged omission of counsel, the result of his trial would have been different, and [Jells’s] challenge to the effectiveness of his counsel in this respect fails.” Jells, 1998 WL 213175, . This reference at most addresses how Jells’s counsel’s failure to present certain pieces of evidence was not deficient—it certainly makes no determination as to whether the failure to present this evidence caused him prejudice. See Jells, 1998 WL 213175, -6. No. 02-3505 Jells v. Mitchell Page 15 mother testified that Jells moved frequently as a child, from Mississippi to New York to Cleveland, and that he was raised by multiple family members. She further stated that Jells was “quiet,” “liked to work,” and “never gave [her] any problems, except what normal kids would do with parents.” Jones testified that he had helped raise Jells. Jones described Jells as a “happy-go-lucky” and nonviolent person, and, as far as Jones was aware, someone who did not have any disciplinary problems in school. Jells’s grandmother likewise testified that she assisted in raising Jells and was a strong influence in his life. She indicated that Jells did not have any problems at school, worked several jobs, and had an even temperament. Finally, Dr. Eisenberg provided expert testimony concerning the results of various psychological tests that he had administered to Jells. According to Dr. Eisenberg, an intelligence test showed that Jells has an IQ of 77, which “place[d] him in a borderline area of intelligence.” Other tests showed that Jells “has trouble in the area of dealing with feelings,” “tends to deny unpleasantness and hold things in,” has “a need for a strong nurturing figure,” and “doesn’t have the ability to cope well in unstructured situations.” In short, the tests showed that Jells has “a tendency to brush things under the rug . . . minimize some of the unhappy experiences in his life, and . . . prevent emotions such as sadness [from] coming to the surface.” Based on these tests, Dr. Eisenberg concluded that Jells did not suffer from any antisocial personality disorder or any other mental illness. Jells also offered his own unsworn testimony detailing his social and educational background. Jells described that he had moved frequently as a child, and that the moving had frightened him. He explained that he had difficulty with some subjects in school, and that he had been “beaten up” by bullies and occasionally got into fights at school. Jells further indicated that as a teenager he regularly did odd jobs for neighbors until he was sent to a juvenile detention camp for a year for stealing a purse. At the camp, Jells obtained a General Educational Development (“GED”) and, following his release, was consistently employed until the time of his arrest. Besides this testimony and that of the four witnesses, Jells offered no other mitigation evidence.