Opinion ID: 3039713
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Second Penalty Trial

Text: Petitioner likewise argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel from lawyer Mary Yale during the second penalty trial because Yale, too, decided against presenting a mental health expert witness. We hold that Yale’s decision was a valid strategic choice warranting judicial deference. 18864 RALEY v. YLST In the context of assessing mental impairment evidence, “[w]e have repeatedly held that counsel may render ineffective assistance if he ‘is on notice that his client may be mentally impaired,’ yet fails ‘to investigate his client’s mental condition as a mitigating factor in a penalty phase hearing.’ ” Caro v. Woodford, 280 F.3d 1247, 1254 (9th Cir. 2002) (quoting Hendricks v. Calderon, 70 F.3d 1032, 1043 (9th Cir. 1995)). We have recognized a defendant’s right to habeas relief in cases where counsel failed to investigate mitigating mental health evidence adequately. See id. at 1255 (holding that counsel was ineffective where he knew of the defendant’s lifelong exposure to toxic pesticides but failed to retain any expert to assess potential brain damage); see also Deutscher v. Whitley, 884 F.2d 1152, 1159 (9th Cir. 1989), judgment vacated on other grounds, 500 U.S. 901 (1991) (holding that counsel was ineffective where he conducted no investigation into the defendant’s psychiatric history even though health records revealed that the defendant had been born prematurely and had been diagnosed with mental illness). [4] By contrast, Yale conducted a reasonable investigation into Petitioner’s mental condition. She had assisted Shechmeister during Petitioner’s first penalty trial. She therefore had the benefit of his earlier preparations, including his consultations with three mental health professionals, and she knew that the first penalty trial successfully avoided the imposition of the death penalty without an expert on the defense side. In preparation for the second penalty trial, Yale discussed with Shechmeister the findings and opinions of the three retained experts. Yale also reinterviewed Dr. Spiegel twice and provided him with additional background information related to aggravation evidence that the prosecution planned to offer during the penalty retrial. Additionally, she interviewed the jurors from the first penalty trial, seeking insight into their perspectives on the strengths and weaknesses of the defense’s case. RALEY v. YLST 18865 [5] After this additional investigation, and given Shechmeister’s success in attaining a hung jury without the use of expert testimony, Yale decided to continue to rely on the lay testimony of Petitioner’s father and sister as the means of informing the jury of Petitioner’s history of abuse. Yale, like Shechmeister, conducted a reasonable investigation and made an informed tactical decision not to present expert testimony. Thus, we reject Petitioner’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel as to the second penalty trial.