Opinion ID: 1697955
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Investigation into Mitigation

Text: Trotter contends that resentencing counsel was ineffective for failing either to present Trotter's two nieces as penalty phase mitigation witnesses or to provide them to Dr. Krop for interviews. The trial court found their testimony both irrelevant and cumulative. We affirm. The two nieces were Gladys Casimir and Marshanette Polite. Gladys was four years old when Trotter was placed in foster care, and Trotter lived with Marshanette's family for a time when she was five or six years old, and she had no more contact with him until they were both adults. They testified, for example, that Trotter married a drug-using prostitute, cared for her children, and was slow. In contrast, Dr. Krop, who testified for Trotter at both sentencing and resentencing, interviewed Trotter six times; reviewed numerous documents, including school records, psychological testing, and prison records; interviewed several people, including Trotter's mother, foster mother, sister, and one of Trotter's friends, a former foster child who lived with Trotter's foster family, and a correctional officer who knew Trotter; and consulted a pharmacologist, a psychiatrist, and a neuropsychologist. As stated previously, the testimony presented at resentencing established two statutory and several nonstatutory mitigating circumstances. Accordingly, Trotter failed to meet either of Strickland's requirements.