Opinion ID: 77450
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to investigate and present sufficient mitigation evidence

Text: 37 Williams contends that the Supreme Court's decision in Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510, 123 S.Ct. 2527, 156 L.Ed.2d 471 (2003), requires that this court grant him habeas relief because his defense team insufficiently investigated potential mitigation evidence to present at sentencing. Both the state trial court and the state appellate court rejected this claim on both prongs of Strickland. The state courts found as follows: 38 First, the appellant contends that his attorneys rendered ineffective assistance because they allegedly did not investigate and present sufficient mitigating evidence during the penalty phase of his trial. Specifically, he contends that counsel should have called witnesses who could have testified about his background and upbringing, including the personal hardships and severe deprivations he suffered. 39 . . . 40 The record from the appellant's direct appeal shows that Dr. Raymond O. Sumrall testified before the jury during the penalty-phase proceedings. Dr. Sumrall, who was a professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Alabama and an associate professor with the University's Department of Criminal Justice, testified that he spent ten hours interviewing the appellant and that he had reviewed the appellant's background. He testified that the appellant's mother deserted him when he was very young; that he lived with his maternal grandmother; that, at age seven, when his maternal grandmother died, he moved in with his aunt; that he did not have a stable home environment; that he had not had any relationships with significant adult and stable women in his life; that he did not have a relationship with his father because his father left when the appellant was two years old; that, from the ages of nine to twelve, he was pretty much a street kid who came and went without very much supervision from anybody (Trial R. 1026); that he could not discipline himself; and that he had been extensively involved in the use of drugs and other substances since he was sixteen. Dr. Sumrall also testified that he had not observed any pattern of behavior in the appellant that was assaultive or violent and that committing murder was not consistent with the appellant's prior behavior, which involved only property offenses. 41 There was also testimony that the appellant had been evaluated at the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility (Taylor Hardin) by several doctors. Using that evaluation, Dr. Bernard E. Bryant, a psychiatrist, testified that the appellant had an antisocial personality and that he showed remorse about the offense. 42 Finally, the trial court held a separate bench sentencing hearing after the jury had returned its recommendation and after the presentence investigation had been completed. At this hearing, Reverend Charles Hunter testified that he had known the appellant since the appellant was a child and that he was not a violent person. The appellant also testified at the hearing that he was the type of person who liked to help people and look out for people. He further testified that he did not have a history of violence and that he had never previously been convicted of a violent crime. When addressing this claim, the circuit court made the following findings: 43 In his Post-Hearing Brief, Williams contends that testimony could have been adduced by defense counsel through Herbert Echols, Debra Grenshaw (spelled Grinshaw in the transcript of the evidentiary hearing), Jesse Hill [the appellant's stepfather] and/or Laura Williams to paint a picture of Luther Williams' deprived and impoverished childhood. There is some question as to Mr. Echols' accessibility and availability during the period of [trial counsel's] representation of Williams, inasmuch as Mr. Echols testified at the evidentiary hearing that he was living in Detroit from 1988 to 1990, and even his brother did not really know how to find him, because at one point in time he was homeless. (EH 145). Nonetheless, the testimony elicited from him and from the other aforementioned witnesses at the evidentiary hearing related to information essentially cumulative to that provided the jury by Dr. Sumrall. Williams argues in his Post-Hearing Brief that those witnesses could have acquainted the jury with the fact that his mother had deserted him and his siblings when he was still very young; that his father likewise had abandoned him; that he thereafter was raised by Laura Wilkins; and that he was often locked out of her house and forced to fend for himself. In his testimony at the evidentiary hearing, Luther Williams explained that when Ms. Wilkins would lock him out, for two to three days at a time, he would live over [at] other friends' houses. (EH 189-90). The contention is made in the Post-Hearing Brief that testimony could have been presented through Mr. Echols that Luther, along with Mr. Echols, was regularly whipped by Mr. Hill with switches, belts, and extension cords. Williams himself testified at the evidentiary hearing that he had a good relationship with Mr. Hill when he didn't whip him, and Luther still loved him. (EH 190). Dr. Sumrall put before the jury that Luther Williams' mother deserted him at a very young age and that he lived with a maternal grandmother for a while but that she died when he was seven, leaving Luther with an aunt who apparently adopted him when he was about nine; that from his birth to age nine he had no stable environment; that he had no relationship with significant adult and stable women in his life; that he had no relationship with a significant father figure in his life[]; that his father had left him when he was only two years old; and that from about nine to twelve years of age he was pretty much a street kid who came and went without very much supervision from anybody. (R. 1025-26). When Williams' present counsel called Jesse Hill to the stand at the evidentiary hearing, he was not asked any questions concerning any alleged mistreatment of Luther by him. Further, Mr. Hill was asked virtually no questions at that hearing concerning Luther Williams' impoverished or deprived background, other than concerning the undisputed fact that Luther's mother and father were not involved in his life after his early years. (EH 163). With respect to the argument made in the post-hearing brief that use of a psychologist, such as Dr. Barbara Tarkin, could have paved the way for presentation of significant non-statutory mitigation evidence, the testimony she presented was not in disagreement with that of Dr. Sumrall or the State's penalty-phase expert, Dr. Bernard E. Bryant. The contention is made in the post-hearing brief that Dr. Tarkin, or another qualified psychologist, could have offered an opinion, consistent with that of Taylor Hardin's psychiatrist, that Mr. Williams' condition was a condition that developed in all probability by virtue of his very early childhood deprivation. (PHB, p. 17). Dr. Bryant, who testified that he was employed at Taylor Hardin from April 1 of 1986 through August 31 of 1989, opined that Williams had an antisocial personality (R. 108). He explained that it is a characterological or personality disorder developed during a person's formative years, of ages 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 years old, whereby the person has ended up with this personality. (R. 1082). Dr. Bryant acknowledged during cross-examination by [trial counsel] that an unstable family could, if there were not a proper male or female role model, contribute to a person having antisocial characteristics. (R. 1097). He further acknowledged that substance abuse does exacerbate[.] (R. 1098). 44 The court does not find that the failure to utilize the witnesses now suggested by Williams constituted ineffective assistance of counsel . . . . The pertinent information was presented to the jury through Dr. Sumrall, without the risk being run of possibly harmful information being elicited from those witnesses on cross-examination. Furthermore, even if [trial counsel's] preparation and presentation were deficient in this regard, Williams has failed to show the requisite second prong of prejudice. He has not met the Strickland test of showing a reasonable probability that, absent the error in question, the sentencer would have concluded that the balance of aggravating and mitigating circumstances did not warrant death; he has not shown a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome. 45 We agree with the circuit court's findings and adopt them as part of this opinion. In addition, we note that the trial court found, as nonstatutory mitigating circumstances, that the appellant had an antisocial personality, that he did not have a significant prior history of assaultive or violent conduct, that he had not had a stable family environment during his formative years, and that he had extensively abused alcohol and drugs since he was about 16 years old. (Trial R. 1433)[.] For the above-stated reasons, the appellant has not shown that counsel rendered ineffective assistance in the preparation and presentation of mitigating evidence. See Strickland, supra. 46 Williams v. State, 783 So.2d at 115-121. 47 Our review of this claim is limited to whether the state courts unreasonably applied Strickland to the facts of this case. Although Williams urges us to apply Wiggins to his case, the controlling Supreme Court precedent with regard to claims of ineffective assistance of counsel is Strickland. See Marquard, 429 F.3d at 1304 (noting that Strickland is the `controlling legal authority' to be applied to ineffective assistance of counsel claims). As the district court found, the state courts did not unreasonably apply the Strickland standard to Williams's claim of ineffective assistance for failing to investigate and present sufficient mitigation evidence at the sentencing phase. 48 Bivens hired Dr. Sumrall to investigate and conduct his mitigation defense. Dr. Sumrall presented evidence to the jury that assisted Bivens in his mitigation strategy. Dr. Sumrall testified that Williams came from a disadvantaged background that led to his alcohol and drug abuse and property crimes, which were not violent in nature. This testimony allowed Bivens to argue to the jury that Williams was not a violent person, and a sentence of life in prison would be more appropriate for him. Also, Dr. Sumrall stated that he spent ten hours with Williams, recounting his family history, educational history, and criminal history. Dr. Sumrall also reviewed Williams's mental health, police, probation, and parole records. Dr. Sumrall's testimony led the trial court to find as mitigation that Williams had a poor family history, a history of non-violent crimes, an extensive history of drug and alcohol abuse, and an anti-social personality disorder. 49 Assuming this investigation was deficient, Williams cannot show how the alleged deficient investigation prejudiced him at sentencing. At the Rule 32 hearing, Williams's expert psychologist, Dr. Barbara Tarkin (Dr. Tarkin), testified that she spent approximately nine hours meeting with Williams. She stated that she read virtually the same files as Dr. Sumrall; she talked to only one family member over the phone; and she was not intimately familiar with the facts of the case. [R. Vol. VI, Rule 32 hearing p. 284-91, 299, 315-17.] In her expert opinion, Dr. Tarkin found that Williams suffered from an anti-social disorder and Bivens should have argued in mitigation that Williams was suffering from a mental disturbance; that Williams was too passive to be anything but an accomplice; and that Williams was shaped by the poor environment in which he was raised. Dr. Tarkin's conclusions are essentially the same as Dr. Sumrall's conclusions, to which he testified at sentencing. 50 In addition to Dr. Tarkin, Williams presented several other witnesses at the Rule 32 evidentiary hearing to testify to mitigation evidence not previously presented at trial. Herbert Echols (Echols) testified that Williams's mother was an alcoholic, and that Williams did not know his biological father. He also stated that Williams's step-father, Jesse Hill, whipped Williams if he did something wrong, but that these whippings never required medical attention. [R. Vol. V, Rule 32 hearing p. 140-151.] Deborah Greenshaw (Greenshaw) testified that she had known Williams since he was 16 years old. Greenshaw stated that Williams's aunt would often lock him out of her house for several days when Williams did not do what she asked. [ Id. at 155, 160.] Jesse Hill (Hill) testified that Williams's mother moved to New York when Williams was about ten years old, and that he only met Williams's father once or twice. No attorney asked Hill about his alleged whippings of Williams. [ Id. at 161-68.] Laura Williams (Laura), Williams's sister, testified that their mother left them at an early age, and they lived with their aunt, Laura Wilkins (Ms. Wilkins). Laura stated that Ms. Wilkins was always good. [ Id. at 169-70.] 51 Under the prejudice prong of Strickland, the question is whether there is a reasonable probability that, absent the errors, the sentencer . . . would have concluded that the balance of aggravating and mitigating circumstances did not warrant death. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 695, 104 S.Ct. at 2068-69. Under this standard, it is apparent that [a] petitioner cannot establish ineffective assistance by identifying additional evidence that could have been presented when that evidence is merely cumulative. Van Poyck v. Fla. Dep't of Corrs., 290 F.3d 1318, 1324 n. 7 (11th Cir.2002). This is exactly what happened at Williams's Rule 32 hearing. He presented evidence that was cumulative. The witnesses may have elaborated on prior mitigation evidence, but no witness testified to any new mitigating factors. Each witness presented cumulative evidence that merely re-established the mitigating circumstances previously argued by Bivens at trial and considered by the trial court at sentencing: (1) an anti-social personality disorder, (2) a non-violent criminal history, (3) an unstable family life, and (4) an extensive alcohol and drug abuse problem. There can be no reasonable probability that this cumulative testimony of mitigating factors already presented to and considered by the trial court to be weak and unpersuasive would have tipped the sentencing scales, especially when the trial court noted that the statutory aggravators far outweighed the mitigating factors. [R. Vol. 7 p. 1427.] Thus, Williams cannot demonstrate that the state courts' determination that he failed to prove prejudice under Strickland was objectively unreasonable. Accordingly, Williams is not entitled to relief on this claim of ineffective assistance of counsel at sentencing. 52