Opinion ID: 2639434
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Tactical Considerations

Text: Forester stated he had considered hiring a psychologist or psychiatrist, but he did not think it was necessary in this case. [11] He explained that he kn[e]w [petitioner] confessed his crime to nobody because that was just not [him], and that he did not confess to Darlene because she married him after the alleged confession. Instead, Forester believed that Darlene was present at the three homicides, which, given her grant of total immunity, presented a problem all along in cross-examination because it wouldn't help [petitioner] a lot for her to confess that she was in fact present when he did all these murders. Forester added: So I think all of my cross-examination and the investigation of her background or her psychiatric profile was tempered by that problem. Forester outlined his trial strategy: I had my own theory and my own trial tactics with respect to the case as to her. And my problem was that I believed, and to this day I believe, she was present when all these things were committed. Forester added that he did not need a psychiatric expert to tell him that the reason Darlene went to a psychiatric unit after Debbie's disappearance was a result of the fact that she had participated in these offenses. When asked whether a report that stated Darlene was delusional would have assisted his cross-examination, Forester replied: I do not believe her to be a delusional person and I would not have retained a psychiatrist to establish something that I didn't believe. Forester provided his reasons for his belief that Darlene was involved: She was described in the trial as [petitioner's] automation [ sic: automaton] by [the trial prosecutor] and I ... would agree with that. That she did whatever [petitioner] wanted her to do. That she was there when he wanted her to be there. And that she was always with him when he wasn't working and when she could get away from the foster home. She was with him all the time. And as petitioner had only one friend in town, Joe Crespin, and everybody [else] in town really hated him, Forester felt that none of the victims would have gotten into petitioner's car unless Darlene was present. Forester acknowledged that of course Darlene had never admitted being present at the murders during her interrogations, the preliminary hearing, or the trial.