Opinion ID: 2516369
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Mental Impairment and Abusive Childhood

Text: ś 143 The trial court found that the defendant had not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that his capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was significantly impaired within the meaning of Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 13-703(G)(1). It also concluded that, for purposes of nonstatutory mitigation, the defendant demonstrated an antisocial or borderline personality disorder but failed to prove a causal nexus between that malady and the killing. The majority agrees that the defendant has not connected his anti-social or personality disorder to the car-jacking and murder and gives no weight to this factor. Supra at ś 109. ś 144 Again I must disagree. In the first place, I reject any suggestion that proof of a causal connection always falls short of the mark in the absence of some magic words uttered by a psychologist or psychiatrist. We are talking about life or death, and insisting upon a formulaic approach to such a complex decision trivializes the inquiry. To my mind, the evidence here links the defendant's mental impairment and abusive family background to his criminal behavior. Because of their close relationship, I address these mitigating factors together. ś 145 Both the trial court and the majority place great emphasis on the testimony of Dr. Bayless, the state's psychologist. At the same time, they all but dismiss the defense expert, Dr. Lanyon, despite the fact that he has been in practice for over thirty years and is on the faculty at Arizona State University. Dr. Lanyon personally conducted psychological tests on the defendant. Dr. Bayless did not. I have considerable difficulty understanding, in a case where the ultimate decision must be life or death, how Dr. Lanyon's testimony can be so completely disregarded. ś 146 Although Dr. Bayless disagreed with Dr. Lanyon's opinion that the defendant suffered from Bipolar Disorder II, he did diagnose a borderline and/or antisocial personality disorder. According to both expert witnesses, the criteria for this syndrome include a pervasive pattern of disregard for the rights of others as shown by at least three of the following traits: (1) failure to conform to social norms, indicated by repeatedly performing unlawful acts; (2) deceitfulness; (3) impulsivity or failure to plan ahead; (4) irritability and aggressiveness; (5) reckless disregard for the safety of self or others; (6) consistent irresponsibility as indicated by the failure to sustain consistent work; and (7) lack of remorse. Although not agreeing in their ultimate diagnoses, both doctors found that the defendant demonstrated those characteristics set forth in numbers two through six. Dr. Bayless testified that, according to the defendant's MMPI scores, [h]e doesn't have the controls necessary, resulting in even more poor judgment and even more impulsive traits. According to him, people who have this have a tendency to act out in outbursts of violence.... ś 147 Both experts concurred that the defendant's family history and life experiences could have been factors in creating his antisocial personality. Having reviewed the circumstances of defendant's upbringing, Dr. Lanyon testified that it is certainly sufficient to have created those characteristics. I mean, the difficulties are certainly sufficient. The detachment, the lack of parental control, the abuse of alcohol, the sexual abuse, the neglect, the permissiveness in committing crimes. The modeling for crimes went on. He further stated, [f]or a person who had an antisocial personality disorder regardless, the impulsiveness, the disregard of the law and the belief that one is entitled to do what one desires to do, and this is sort of a longrange, a long-range set of beliefs, would certainly be characteristics that would be shown in this particular crime. (Emphasis added). Dr. Bayless did not challenge or contradict this opinion. In other words, the testimony of the two psychologists together support a causal nexus between the defendant's traumatic childhood, his resulting mental status, and his criminal behavior. ś 148 Other evidence points strongly to the same conclusion. [13] Mary Durand testified that she spent approximately forty hours with the defendant, far more than either psychologist, over the course of twenty or more visits. She also spent six hours with the defendant's sister Melissa, nine hours with his wife Tammy, and one day with his mother. Durand testified to the defendant's manic behavior, which she witnessed during her visits with him. She observed episodes of depression and described suicide attempts that were noted in reports and by the defendant's family. ś 149 The defendant's juvenile records repeatedly refer to impulsive behavior and vulnerability to peer pressure. They also show that he was a risk to himself and others, had problems with responsibility and decision making, and exhibited a history of aggressive and oppositional behavior. ś 150 The history of Hoskins' dysfunctional family and childhood abuse is well documented. The Arizona Juvenile Needs Assessment Form from the Department of Corrections Youth Parole Plan indicates that his parents were unwilling or uninterested in caring for the defendant and that the lack of resources in the home were such that his parents [were] unable to provide appropriate care. Durand interviewed the defendant's mother and opined that she had never seen a woman express less interest in a child in [her] life. As examples, Ms. Durand noted that the defendant's mother did not remember that her son had repeated a grade in school or that he had broken his leg when he was five years old. In addition, the corrections plan confirms that there was considerable fighting and conflict in the home. ś 151 Defendant's juvenile records show that the he had a history of alcohol and drug abuse from an early age and that his sister, Melissa, led him to these addictions. Testimony indicated that he started drinking alcohol as early as age six and used marijuana at age eight. Melissa confirmed this, saying that she provided the defendant with alcohol and drugs when he was very young, and introduced him to crime around age ten. In fact, according to Melissa, the defendant's mother and grandmother excessively abused alcohol, and both drugs and alcohol were readily available in the home. According to Hoskins' wife, the drug culture continued to envelop him during their marriageâ the two of them consumed enormous amounts of crystal methamphetamine. ś 152 A predisposition report indicates that the defendant was physically abused by both his mother and sister. It is also clear that the mother never intervened in any way on her children's behalf, particularly the defendant's. In fact, Mary Durand described her own interaction with the defendant's mother as one of the most disheartening and uncomfortable interviews because the woman knew absolutely nothing about her child.... She really couldn't be bothered. In a report from the Arizona Department of Youth Training and Rehabilitation, an officer recommended that because of the home situation, the lack of parental supervision by [the defendant's mother], Aaron's use of alcohol, drugs, and the continued violence in the home involving Aaron, the only answer is that Aaron be sent to the Arizona State Department of Corrections. Thus, prison was deemed a better environment for the defendant than his own home! ś 153 Records from the Department of Corrections indicate that as part of the defendant's probation he was to have no contact with Melissa. This condition was violated when Melissa continued to live in the home after the defendant was released on probation. He was thereafter returned to custody. Although his mother knew of the probationary condition, she allowed the defendant to be sent back to prison instead of preventing her adult daughter from continuing a relationship with him. ś 154 All of the children in the defendant's home had criminal records. The perversity of the family situation, however, is perhaps best illustrated by Melissa's conviction on a charge of armed robbery. She admitted committing the crime to be with her girlfriend, who had previously been incarcerated. She then committed additional offenses in prison so that she could be sent to maximum security, where the girlfriend was confined. ś 155 According to his juvenile records, Melissa's testimony, and the mother's interview with Durand, Hoskins never lived with his father. His mother left that relationship before the defendant was born, when Melissa complained that the man was sexually abusing her. That marriage was the mother's fourth or fifth, and her four children had three different fathers. She remarked that there had been a pretty extensive amount of inbreeding in the family of Hoskins' father. ś 156 In her interview with Durand, the defendant's wife, Tammy, said that she met him when they were both sixteen years old. On the day they met, the two of them went to her motel room where she provided him with drugs and alcohol. The next day he moved in with her. According to Melissa, Tammy sold drugs, was involved in prostitution and pornography, and physically abused the defendant. The two later lived in the home of Tammy's mother, where they used alcohol and drugs with her the mother, her boyfriend, and Tammy's younger brother, codefendant DeShaw. Defendant's mother-in-law ultimately died of alcohol-related problems. ś 157 Although evidence of the defendant's sexual abuse is based on his self-reporting, it is significant that he told both his sister and wife about it long before he committed the present crimes. According to Melissa, Hoskins slept in the same bed with his mother, behind a closed door, until he was approximately ten years old, even though he had his own room. She thought it was definitely possible that the defendant's mother had sexually abused him. In addition, Durand testified that Dr. Bayless told her the defendant's mother would have to maintain that emotional profile [of detachment from her son] to be able to have a sexual relationship with him. When Hoskins finally moved out of his mother's room, he moved in with his older sister, Jenise. Melissa testified that when the defendant was fourteen years old, he told her that Jenise was molesting him. ś 158 Defendant's wife was the first person to tell Mary Durand about sexual abuse issues in the family. Tammy said Hoskins confided to her that he had fathered Jenise's oldest child when he was thirteen years old. The defendant also told Tammy that he once walked in on Jenise and her twin brother, James, having sexual intercourse. Tammy told Durand that Hoskins was extremely disturbed by this and that he was very private about it [and] didn't want people to know because they would think he was crazy. Tammy thought that the defendant's sexual behavior with her had been damaged by his relationships with his mother and sister. In addition, when James later drowned in a lake, the defendant was unable to forgive himself for anger he felt toward his brother because of the latter's involvement with Jenise. Although the death was considered accidental by the police, the defendant and his family believed it was a drug-related murder. ś 159 Finally, the defendant told Melissa in letters from prison that he had been forced to have sex with people when he was a child, after she confided to him about having been raped. Virtually all of the evidence and the testimony of the witnesses is consistent with the defendant's claims of sexual abuse and with what we now know about this young man's upbringing. Moreover, the fact that the defendant told his sister and wife about the abuse before he committed the offenses herein increases the reliability of the information, and, indeed, the trial court found the evidence credible. ś 160 In summary, the above proof is more than sufficient to support a finding that the defendant suffered from an abusive and traumatic childhood. I disagree with the majority's assertion that no credible evidence exists linking the defendant's early life to this crime. It defies reason and common experience to suggest that a youngster coming out of the horrific environment described in the evidence was largely unaffected and should be held accountable as a functioning adult. At the age of twenty, he had not lived away from this terribly dysfunctional situation for any significant period of time. There is no evidence that he had ever overcome his past and acted as a mature adult. ś 161 The majority cites several cases in which we did not find abusive family backgrounds to be mitigating because the defendants failed to establish any link between their crimes and the past. All are distinguishable from the present case. In State v. Wallace, 160 Ariz. 424, 427, 773 P.2d 983, 986 (1989) (Wallace II) , and State v. Stokley, 182 Ariz. 505, 524, 898 P.2d 454, 473 (1995), the defendants were adult offenders, ages thirty-three and thirty-eight, respectively. Both failed to show how their family backgrounds influenced their murderous behavior. In Wallace II, the defendant raised the issue of a difficult family background for the first time on appeal and never claimed that it had anything to do with his crime. 160 Ariz. at 426-27, 773 P.2d at 985-86. Similarly, the defendant in State v. Towery, 186 Ariz. 168, 189, 920 P.2d 290, 311 (1996), was twentyseven years old, and we observed that his childhood abuse had occurred long before he robbed and murdered. ś 162 State v. Spears, 184 Ariz. 277, 282-83, 908 P.2d 1062, 1067-68 (1996), relied on by the majority, is also inapposite. There, the defendant was thirty-three years old at the time of the crime. He feigned a romantic relationship to gain the victim's confidence and then proceeded to breach her trust in shocking fashion. Thinking she was going on a trip with her boyfriend, the woman was persuaded to use her credit card to obtain cash, merchandise, and an airline ticket for him. The defendant also duped her into signing over the title to her car before he killed her. These facts place Spears alongside State v. Willoughby, 181 Ariz. 530, 533-34, 892 P.2d 1319, 1322-23 (1995) (carefully planned killing of one spouse by the other) and State v.. Milke , 177 Ariz. 118, 120-21, 865 P.2d 779, 781-82 (1993) (plan by mother to have her infant child slain for insurance proceeds) at the extreme end of the (F)(5) spectrum. At the same time, Spears provides little or no detail with respect to that defendant's mental health and abusive family background. Only one paragraph of the opinion is devoted to the subject. Thus, we have no idea how persuasive that evidence might have been, especially when weighed against a very strong aggravator. ś 163 Although the trial court in State v. Murray found that the two defendants, Robert and Roger Murray, suffered from a dysfunctional background, there was no proof that this impacted their criminal behavior. 184 Ariz. 9, 40, 44, 906 P.2d 542, 573, 577 (1995). In Robert's case, the forensic psychologist testified that there was no evidence of mental disorder or defect at the time of the crime other than intoxication. Id. at 39, 906 P.2d at 572. In State v. Jones, 185 Ariz. 471, 490-91, 917 P.2d 200, 219-20 (1996), the defendant's stepfather and a court-appointed expert testified that the defendant's abusive and chaotic childhood colored his behavior, but we were unable to find any connection between this history and his conduct on the night of the murders. Finally, in State v. Bolton, 182 Ariz. 290, 313-14, 896 P.2d 830, 853-54 (1995), the testimony of the defendant's psychologist, who diagnosed him as being emotionally handicapped and suffering from a conduct disorder, was contested by the state's expert who was unable to find any acute emotional disorder or signs of a mental defect. Neither psychologist testified that the defendant's capacity to conform his conduct to the law was impaired. The argument that his abusive childhood affected his ability to cope and to control impulses came only from defense counsel. Id. at 314, 896 P.2d at 854. ś 164 In stark contrast, Hoskins was only twenty years old and had not yet escaped his dysfunctional family situation. In fact, he apparently committed this crime while on his way to visit and make amends with his mother. He clearly was not free of her influence. Dr. Lanyon testified that the defendant's early use of drugs and alcohol prevented him from developing emotional maturity, which is the process of learning to cope intellectually, where you cope by using your thoughts. This process normally begins in early childhood and continues through adolescence. He also stated that drug and alcohol use during this period served as an escape so you don't have to face [emotions] or learn to deal with them. He concluded that Hoskins cannot help but be pre-adolescent as far as his emotional maturity is concerned.... I believe he is engaged in none or at least very little of those extensive learning experiences that one needs to have so that one can handle one's feelings by working them through in one's head. ś 165 Defendant's abuse of alcohol at the age of just six years is very different from the substance abuse we have seen in other cases. A child that young cannot be expected to make informed decisions concerning the consumption of such substances. We expect parents and other caretakers to guide children in making healthy choices. Here, however, drugs and alcohol were freely available in the defendant's home for his entire life, and he was encouraged to participate by the very people who should have been protecting him from these dangerous activities. As Mary Durand testified, I don't know that [Hoskins] had an opportunity nor had the maturity at age four or five, six, seven and eight to make decisions to walk away from a family that had already significantly destroyed his ability to think, to reason, to reflect, and to act in appropriate ways because none of them have ever acted appropriately. To think that such abuse did not directly affect the defendant's ability to act as a responsible and productive adult is to entertain fantasy. I believe the evidence clearly demonstrates a reasonable connection between Hoskins' upbringing and the murder of Crystel Cabral. Defendant has shown, through the testimony of expert witnesses and others, an abnormal mental status resulting from his abusive background, characterized by impulsiveness, a disregard of the law, and a pattern of acting as he desired without considering consequences. Dr. Lanyon's testimony sensibly links these traits to the present crime. [14] ś 166 In Trostle we recognized that the legislature did not intend to include character and personality disorders as mitigation under Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 13-703(G)(1). 191 Ariz. at 20, 951 P.2d at 885. We also noted, however, that even if a disorder does not rise to the level of mental disease or defect originally contemplated in (G)(1), the inquiry is not over. Id. There continues to be a duty to examine the facts for their nonstatutory mitigating value, a distinction the majority seems to ignore. Thus, [i]n considering evidence of mental impairment, our primary task is to determine its mitigating weight, if any. Id. at 20-21, 951 P.2d at 885-86. The weight given should be proportionate to a defendant's ability to conform or appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct. Id. at 21, 951 P.2d at 886. ś 167 Here, the defendant's evidence was sufficient to establish by a preponderance-the full extent of his burdenâ that mental abnormalities impaired his ability to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. In addition, by showing that his mental status was linked to his dysfunctional family background, Hoskins has demonstrated that these unfortunate life experiences directly affected his ability to control his actions. I believe the majority errs in not giving this evidence serious consideration as nonstatutory mitigation.