Opinion ID: 785951
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Application of the Strickland Standard

Text: 31 Affinito argues the District Court erred in concluding that the New Jersey Courts reasonably applied Strickland. As stated previously, each individual argument derives from Russell's decision to use Ferretti as an expert witness and failure to provide him with all relevant discovery documents. First, Affinito alleges Ferretti was not qualified to testify in support of a diminished capacity defense and that Portnow's prior evaluation should not have been ignored. Affinito also claims it was unreasonable to have Ferretti testify when he had spent only fifty-five minutes interviewing Affinito, reviewed no documents, including Affinito's medical and mental health history, and supported his testimony with the unknown diagnosis of vulnerable brain. Finally, Affinito contends that Russell's failure to provide Ferretti with Affinito's statements to police fell below any objective standard of reasonableness. 32 1) Was the Performance of Affinito's Counsel Constitutionally Deficient? 33 At the outset, we are unpersuaded that Ferretti was inherently unqualified as an expert witness or that hiring him was unreasonable. Strickland provides that counsel has wide latitude in making strategic and tactical decisions. 466 U.S. at 669, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Determining which psychiatric expert to consult is such a decision, be it strategic or tactical. 6 See United States v. Kirsh, 54 F.3d 1062, 1072 (2d Cir.1995). 34 In order to circumvent the teachings of Strickland, Affinito attempts to paint Ferretti as incompetent by isolating a single statement from his direct testimony. Answering a question on Affinito's mental capacity, Ferretti stated that Affinito was not acting with mature decision-making capacity and good judgment, [and] therefore had diminished capacity. Affinito claims this demonstrates Ferretti lacked an understanding of the legal definition of diminished capacity — a mental disease or defect that negates the relevant state of mind required for an offense (here intent). See N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:4-2; State v. Galloway, 133 N.J. 631, 628 A.2d 735, 743 (1993). 35 But in answering the very next question, Ferretti stated that — in light of Affinito's medical history, his intoxication at the time of the crime and the stress of a fight — Affinito lacked the capacity to knowingly and by design perpetrate a murder. This demonstrates Ferretti did understand the diminished capacity defense. In fact, Ferretti's uncontroverted testimony establishes him as an expert qualified in the field of psychiatry who has testified in several hundred court cases. In this context, retaining him was reasonable. 36 In addition, Ferretti's examination of Affinito was sufficient based on the record before us. One complaint of Affinito's is that Ferretti interviewed him for only fifty-five minutes. While Ferretti may have interviewed Affinito for a shorter period of time than either Portnow or the State's psychiatric expert, Affinito does not state why, or even if, a fifty-five minute interview is insufficient or contrary to professional standards. And as just stated, Ferretti's uncontroverted testimony establishes him as a psychiatric expert. While a short interview suggests the possibility of a less than thorough evaluation and an unprepared expert witness, Affinito fails to make a persuasive case that, even at this low threshold, his counsel was ineffective. 37 As for whether Ferretti reviewed any medical or personal documents, Affinito's claim of no review is incorrect. Ferretti admitted that he had no written background information at the time of his examination. He testified, however, that he reviewed background material later on, and that involves virtually every aspect of [Affinito's] life, medical history, work history, legal history and family history. This background material, Ferretti opined, supported his independent conclusions. 38 Further, selecting Ferretti to testify was a reasonable tactical decision because his and Portnow's evaluations, while not identical, are similar. Both noted Affinito had seizures in the past and a personality disorder that lowered his impulse control. Both stated Affinito was an alcoholic and long-time abuser of various drugs. Both based their conclusions on the fact that, on the night of the murder, Affinito was suffering from a convulsive disorder, was highly intoxicated and was attempting to thwart a perceived homosexual advance from Cupsie. In addition, Ferretti's use of the phrase vulnerable brain is not that dissimilar from Portnow's report describing Affinito as a congenitally damaged individual and a central nervous system damaged individual. One could take issue with Ferretti's choice of words, but this does not demonstrate that Russell's reliance on Ferretti's expert opinion was unreasonable. 39 We conclude, however, that Russell's failure to provide Ferretti with Affinito's statements to the police fell below any constitutionally required standard of reasonable representation. Affinito's statement to the police differed in several respects from the version of the incident told to Ferretti. Specifically, Affinito failed to mention the second strangling at the junkyard. On cross-examination, Ferretti was asked a series of hypothetical questions to determine if his diagnosis of diminished capacity would change, including the following: 40 [I]f Affinito further threw [the victim] in the trunk, drove him several blocks away from that location in a deserted area, opened the trunk and [the victim] was still alive and tried to get out of the trunk and Affinito beat him and strangled him and killed him at that spot, how about those factors? 41 Unbeknownst to Ferretti, this hypothetical mirrored the actual facts of the case. Ferretti replied that, under those facts, he would not apply diminished capacity at that point because I would think he formulated intent. 42 When the key issue in a criminal case is whether the defendant suffered from diminished capacity, we can think of nothing more critical than ensuring that the defense's psychiatric expert has as complete and accurate a description of the facts and circumstances surrounding the crime as possible. The decision not to avail Ferretti of Affinito's statements defies logic. A defendant's own statements to the police have to be some of the most, if at times not the most, crucial documents with which an evaluating mental health expert should be familiar. It is almost inconceivable that Ferretti could take the witness stand without knowing Affinito engaged in a second struggle with Cupsie at the junkyard and strangled him again. This was not a trial tactic, it was gross incompetence. Even assuming the decision not to provide Ferretti these statements was deliberate, it satisfies the first prong of Strickland. See United States v. Tucker, 716 F.2d 576, 586 (9th Cir.1983) (stating that some defense strategies may be so ill-chosen that they may render counsel's overall representation constitutionally deficient). 7 Any intimation to the contrary by the New Jersey Courts is an unreasonable application of Strickland. 43 2) Did Affinito Suffer Prejudice Because of His Counsel's Error? 44 Having concluded that Russell's failure to provide Affinito's statements to Ferretti was constitutionally deficient, we examine whether this error satisfies the second, or prejudice, prong of Strickland. To constitute prejudice, Russell's error must undermine our confidence in the outcome of the case. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Admittedly, this error (leading to Ferretti's reversal of opinion on cross-examination) de facto prevented Affinito from presenting any diminished capacity defense. 45 In the New Jersey Courts and before us, Affinito points to Portnow's evaluation, made with full knowledge of the facts of the case, as strong evidence supporting his diminished capacity defense and undermining his conviction. In response, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court concluded on PCRA appeal that, had Portnow been called to testify, his conclusion would have been subject to a similarly damaging cross-examination as was Ferretti's. Therefore, Affinito had not demonstrated a reasonable likelihood that a different result would have been reached. Under AEDPA, it is not for us to determine whether we agree with, or would rule identically to, the New Jersey Courts. Our only inquiry is whether their application of Strickland was objectively unreasonable. It was not, even assuming that Portnow would have testified with full knowledge of the facts and would not have abandoned the diminished capacity defense as Ferretti did. 8 46 Portnow's written report contained many omissions and inconsistencies when compared to Perez's eyewitness testimony. In Portnow's report, Affinito is quoted as stating that Perez took out a pipe, put white powder into it, and smoked it. But Perez testified Affinito had pulled out a pipe and pretended to fill it with marijuana. Affinito is also quoted as saying that Cupsie started to climb out of his seat to get in the back with me. Once again, Perez testified that Affinito was unprovoked and grabbed Cupsie unaware from behind. Portnow's report also fails to address any of the specific facts that provide the context for Cupsie's death — such as Affinito's expressed desire to take the car, his talk of being able to render Cupsie unconscious with a sleeper hold, lulling Cupsie into a vulnerable position with the ruse of smoking marijuana, the statement (when Cupsie was already bloody and unconscious) that Cupsie had to be killed, the decision to dispose of the body in a junkyard, and the second strangling upon discovering that Cupsie was not, in fact, dead. 47 Unlike our dissenting colleague, we believe these omissions and inconsistencies terminally undermine Affinito's defense. First, the inconsistencies noted in the preceding paragraph involve physical actions (who did what), not Affinito's alleged auditory hallucinations (who said what). (Per Portnow's report, Affinitio denies visual hallucinations and paranoid ideation.) Further, Portnow premised his opinion on Cupsie initiating the altercation, writing in the Conclusions section of his report that Cupsie made a physical advance towards Affinito which sparked off a seizure like rage in Affinito. But as just discussed, Perez testified that Cupsie made no physical advances in the car and was the victim of an unprovoked attack. Because Affinito admittedly was not suffering from visual hallucinations, the lynchpin of Portnow's entire analysis is suspect. In addition, Perez's testimony is internally consistent, painting the story of a joyriding plan gone horribly wrong. Portnow's report makes little attempt to put the events of the evening in context. 48 Affinito had the opportunity to call Portnow, or another psychological expert, to testify at the PCRA hearing, but failed to do so (for whatever reason). In this context, we will not speculate on the outcome of theoretical testimony, especially when many of Affinito's arguments on appeal are based on the supposed thoroughness and quality of Portnow's evaluation and report. 9 Given the overwhelmingly one-sided nature of the evidence in this case and the failure of Portnow's report to address this evidence adequately, Affinito has failed to meet his demanding burden to demonstrate that the PCRA Court unreasonably applied Strickland.