Opinion ID: 175813
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Merits of Rossum's Strickland Claim

Text: A competent attorney would not have conceded that fentanyl caused de Villers's death without first having his autopsy specimens tested for metabolites of fentanyl; a determination to the contrary, particularly without an evidentiary hearing, would constitute an unreasonable application of Supreme Court law, unless counsel could show some strategic reason for his failure to conduct an elementary investigation. Strickland recognized that an attorney's duty to provide reasonably effective assistance includes the duty to make reasonable investigations or to make a reasonable decision that makes particular investigations unnecessary. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 691, 104 S.Ct. 2052; see also ABA Standards for Criminal Justice: Prosecution Function and Defense Function 4-4.1(a) (3d ed. 1993) (Defense counsel should conduct a prompt investigation of the circumstances of the case and explore all avenues leading to facts relevant to the merits of the case ....). In Rossum's case, this investigatory duty extended to the cause of de Villers's death. Rossum's attorneys were presented with tantalizing indications that de Villers's autopsy specimens might have been contaminated: the medical and toxicological evidence raised serious questions as to whether fentanyl could have caused de Villers's death, an alternative cause of death was readily apparent, and there was a lapse in the chain of custody of de Villers's autopsy specimens. Stankewitz v. Woodford, 365 F.3d 706, 719-20 (9th Cir.2004). The medical and toxicological evidence would have prompted a competent attorney to question Dr. Blackbourne's conclusion that de Villers died from an overdose of fentanyl. The fentanyl concentration levels measured by the three toxicology labs were widely disparate, suggesting, at the very least, that something might have been amiss with de Villers's autopsy specimens. The measurements were also extraordinarily high. Dr. Stanley, the prosecution's fentanyl expert, testified that at a concentration of 4 nanograms of fentanyl per milliliter of blood, about fifty percent of people would be breathing very slowly or not at all. The concentration of fentanyl that Pacific Toxicology measured in de Villers's blood was about fourteen times this level. Dr. Stanley also testified that in his decades of experience with anesthesiology, he had never seen fentanyl concentrations as high as those measured in de Villers's stomach. Given fentanyl's potency, a competent attorney would have wondered how the concentration of fentanyl in de Villers's blood, urine, and stomach contents could have reached such an extraordinary level before the drug killed him. [7] Competent counsel would also have questioned how de Villers could have lingered for six to twelve hours before finally succumbing to fentanyl. As Dr. Richeimer's declaration indicates, if Rossum administered a single, large dose of fentanyl to de Villers, then he almost certainly would have died within a matter of minutes, not hours. If, instead, de Villers absorbed fentanyl gradually, his breathing would have stopped, and thus he would have perished long before the concentration of fentanyl in his blood reached the stratospheric levels measured by the toxicology labs. [8] The inconsistency between fentanyl's potency and its relatively rapid onset, on the one hand, and de Villers's prolonged period of unconsciousness and his extraordinarily high toxicology results, on the other, would have prompted a competent attorney to investigate the possibility that de Villers's death was caused by another substance. Rossum's lawyers would not have had to look far for an alternative explanation of de Villers's death. In addition to fentanyl, toxicologists also found clonazepam and oxycodone in de Villers's autopsy specimens. True, the concentration of clonazepam was in the high therapeutic range, and only a trace amount of oxycodone was found. But Dr. Stanley testified that clonazepam and oxycodone are synergistic, each multiplying the effect of the other when they are taken in combination. Thus, a concentration of clonazepam near the top of the therapeutic range could potentially have turned lethal when its effect was compounded by the presence of oxycodone. In addition, Dr. Stanley conceded that the concentration of clonazepam in de Villers's body might have fallen after his death due to postmortem redistribution. De Villers thus might have had a fatal concentration of clonazepam in his body at the time of his death, even though the postmortem testing of his autopsy specimens produced measurements within the therapeutic range. The lapse in the chain of custody of de Villers's autopsy samples would also have led a competent attorney to investigate the possibility of contamination. Although concerns about a potential conflict of interest prompted the OME to send de Villers's specimens to an outside laboratory for testing, it nevertheless stored the samples at its lab for a period of thirty-six hours before they were transferred to the sheriff's office. During this time, anyone with a key to the OME had access to the specimens. Indeed, Robertson claimed to have opened at least one of the samples while they were housed at the OME. Since the OME stores fentanyl at its lab, contaminationwhether intentional or unintentionalcould have occurred. While the district court concluded that the possibility of intentional contamination was speculative, the record indicates otherwise. Although the potential motivations for such an act are manifold, two are particularly salient. First, the samples could have been contaminated by a coworker upset by the preferential treatment Rossum seemed to receive from Robertson. Second, an OME employee seeking to dethrone Robertson from his position as laboratory manager could have contaminated the specimens to cast suspicion on both him and Rossum. [9] The appellee rejoins that if one of Rossum's coworkers had decided to frame her or Robertson, he would not have used fentanyl to do so because he would have known that toxicology labs rarely test for fentanyl. The record belies this contention. As an initial matter, the appellee's argument does not account for the possibility of unintentional contamination. It also fails to recognize that OME employees could well have known that de Villers's specimens would be sent to an outside lab, and the first lab selected to analyze de Villers's samples, Pacific Toxicology, did test for fentanyl as part of its standard drugs of abuse screen. Finally, the argument ignores the manner in which toxicology testing is ordinarily done. Dr. Blackbourne testified that if a toxicology lab's initial testing fails to disclose a cause of death, further tests are often conducted to determine if less common substances are present in the decedent's body. Even if fentanyl were not initially discovered by toxicologists, then, it might have been found in later tests. The appellee also contends that Rossum has failed to show that her coworkers held sufficient animosity toward her to motivate them to take the drastic step of framing her for murder. Thus, the appellee argues, Rossum's attorneys could reasonably have decided not to waste their time and resources pursuing a theory of intentional contamination. Again, this argument fails to consider the possibility of unintentional contamination. More importantly, however, it ignores the fact that a contamination defense was the bestand perhaps the only viabledefense available to Rossum. Cf. Gomez v. Beto, 462 F.2d 596, 597 (5th Cir.1972) (When a defense counsel fails to investigate his client's only possible defense, although requested to do so by him; and fails to subpoena witnesses in support of the defense, it can hardly be said that the defendant has had the effective assistance of counsel.). A competent attorney would have been extremely reluctant to concede that fentanyl caused de Villers's death because the concession would essentially doom the defense's theory that de Villers committed suicide. While there were significant holes in the prosecution's theory that Rossum murdered de Villers with fentanyl, the defense's suicide-by-fentanyl theory was even more implausible. The medical and toxicological evidence suggested that de Villers could only have died from an overdose of fentanyl if he was administered the drug on multiple occasions throughout the day. If de Villers self-administered a large, single dose of fentanyl, then he would have died too rapidly for the bronchopneumonia to develop in his lungs and for the large quantity of urine to collect in his bladder. But de Villers could not have voluntarily taken multiple doses of fentanyl over the course of the day because in the last hours of his life, he was too comatose even to breathe properly, much less self-administer fentanyl. A competent attorney would have recognized the defects in a defense based on the theory that de Villers committed suicide by taking fentanyl and thus would have thoroughly investigated the possibility of contamination before conceding that fentanyl caused de Villers's death. Dr. Richeimer's declaration indicates that a toxicology lab could have definitively determined whether de Villers's samples were contaminated by testing them for the presence of metabolites of fentanyl. [10] Although the district court and the appellee note that the absence of fentanyl metabolites would not have exonerated Rossum because she could have killed de Villers with another drug, it seems highly unlikely that a jury would have convicted Rossum if the defense were able to conclusively contradict the prosecution's theory that Rossum murdered de Villers with fentanyl and show that de Villers's autopsy specimens were contaminated, either intentionally or through inadvertence. If, on the other hand, fentanyl metabolites were found, the defense would have suffered no harm. Even if the prosecution were somehow able to discover the test results, but see Cal.Penal Code § 1054.3(a) (West 2002) (requiring the defense to disclose the results of scientific tests to the prosecution only if the defense intends to introduce the results as evidence at trial), the defense would have been left to pursue the very theory that Rossum's attorneys argued at trialthat de Villers committed suicide by taking fentanyl. This leaves only the appellee's argument that Rossum's attorneys could reasonably have decided not to pursue a contamination theory so as not to contradict testimony that Rossum provided at trial. However, this could not have been the basis for their decision not to pursue a contamination theory, as they had an obligation to investigate such a theory before the trial, when there was no testimony to contradict. In any event, this argument misconceives the relevance of a single question and answer made during Rossum's cross-examination: Q. So it is your testimony, then, that Greg de Villers voluntarily took fentanyl, clonazepam, and oxycodone, correct? A. As far as his death, yes. Trial Tr. vol. 21, 2569. Rossum's answer amounted to no more than a restatement of her defense: de Villers committed suicide by voluntarily taking whatever drugs were found in his system. Rossum was not averring that she had firsthand knowledge that de Villers took fentanyl, along with other drugs. In fact, her entire defense was founded on the premise that she did not have such firsthand knowledge because de Villers, not she, administered whatever drugs caused his demise. Because the medical and toxicological evidence raised serious questions about de Villers's purported cause of death, because an alternative cause of death was readily apparent, and because there was a lapse in the chain of custody of de Villers's specimens, we conclude that a competent attorney would not have pursued a suicide-by-fentanyl theory, with all its defects, without first having de Villers's specimens tested for the presence of fentanyl metabolites. [11] On this record, Strickland's first prong therefore appears to be satisfied. [12]
To prevail in her ineffective assistance claim Rossum must also demonstrate that she was prejudiced by her counsel's deficient performance. We are unable to determine from the record before us whether Rossum was prejudiced by her attorneys' deficient investigation, as that conclusion must ultimately rest on whether or not de Villers's autopsy samples prove to contain fentanyl metabolites. As noted above, the appellee argues that even if de Villers's autopsy specimens do not contain metabolites of fentanyl, such a finding would not exonerate Rossum because she could have murdered de Villers by other means. This argument ignores both the weaknesses of the prosecution's case against Rossum and the impact that evidence of contamination would likely have had on the jury. The prosecution's case was based entirely on circumstantial evidence. It primarily relied on the inferences that could be drawn from (1) the medical and toxicological evidence; (2) the lack of other plausible suspects; (3) Rossum's apparent motive to kill de Villers to stop him from disclosing her affair and drug use; and (4) her access to the drugs found in his body. If the defense had tested de Villers's autopsy specimens and found no fentanyl metabolites, it could have definitively refuted the prosecution's theory of the casethat Rossum murdered de Villers with an overdose of fentanyl. And, given the evidence, the prosecution would have had an extremely difficult time convincing the jury that Rossum instead committed the murder with different drugs. At trial, the prosecution downplayed the significance of the oxycodone and clonazepam found in de Villers's specimens, noting that the concentrations of these drugs were not at lethal levels. Furthermore, if jurors learned that de Villers's autopsy samples had been contaminated, either intentionally or by accident, they could well have viewed all of the prosecution's evidence more skeptically. Thus, whether or not Rossum was prejudiced by her counsel's deficient performance is a question that ultimately turns on whether fentanyl metabolites are present in de Villers's autopsy samples, a question that cannot be answered based upon the current record.