Opinion ID: 3043524
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence in Penalty Hearing

Text: On October 16, 1998, the trial court held a penalty hearing. The trial court admitted evidence of: (1) Smith’s 1990 convictions for burglary and theft, (2) a pre-sentence report from the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles (the “Alabama Report”), and (3) Dr. Chudy’s 1998 report, labeled a “psychological evaluation” of Smith. For his 1990 convictions, Smith was sentenced to 10 years in prison, released on parole in 1996, and sent back to prison in 1997 when he violated his parole terms. According to the Alabama Report, Smith was arrested nine times between 1986 and 1997 for suspicion of minor crimes, including harassment (three times), menacing (twice), and disorderly conduct (once). As to Smith’s personal and social history, the Alabama Report stated that Smith “dropped out of school in the eighth grade” when Glenda Kay “withdrew him from school on the recommendation of his teachers who described [Smith] as being disrespectful and disruptive in class.” According to the Alabama Report, Smith “was a slow learner and was placed in special education classes.” Smith “failed both the seventh and eighth grades[,] and all of his grades, with the 12 Case: 14-10721 Date Filed: 08/03/2015 Page: 13 of 39 exception of physical education, were below average.” Smith “has had no further education or training since that time.”7 Dr. Chudy’s 1998 report included the following conclusions about Smith’s mental health. Evidence of Competency.8 The report stated that, during Dr. Chudy’s interviews, Smith “was alert and oriented,” was “able to recount the charges against him and ultimately what could happen to him if he were found guilty,” and “accurately define[d] the role and purposes of all the parties involved in the trial proceedings.” Dr. Chudy concluded Smith was mentally competent and capable of assisting his defense attorney. Evidence of Subaverage Intellectual Functioning. The report stated that Smith took the WAIS-R IQ test, and that he earned a verbal IQ score of 73, a performance IQ score of 72, and a full-scale IQ score of 72. According to Dr. Chudy’s report, those full-scale scores “place[d Smith] at the 3rd percentile in comparison to the general population.” These scores placed him “in the Borderline range of intelligence[,] which means that he operates between the Low Average and Mentally Retarded range.” According to Dr. Chudy, “[a]ctually[,] these scores 7 In a section titled “Evaluation of Offender,” the Alabama Report stated that several people at the motel, where Smith stayed prior to Van Dam’s murder, “stated they believe [Smith] has a mental problem.” According to the Alabama Report, in early 1997, Smith got into a fight with an elderly man and bit off the tip of one of the elderly man’s fingers. 8 These subheadings are not included in Dr. Chudy’s report itself but are created to organize the information in his report. 13 Case: 14-10721 Date Filed: 08/03/2015 Page: 14 of 39 place him at a level closer to those individuals who would be considered mentally retarded.” Evidence of Communication Limitations. Dr. Chudy’s report indicated that Smith had some communication problems, but was generally coherent. The report stated that (1) at times, it “was necessary to re-state questions in more elementary forms so that [Smith] could understand them,” (2) Smith’s “comprehension is limited,” and (3) Smith “lacks much insight or awareness into his behavior.” Evidence of Limitations in Daily Functioning. Dr. Chudy’s report noted that Smith had “emotional problems, which seem to be largely due to an extremely dysfunctional life . . . [and] compounded by his mental dullness.” The report stated that Smith’s emotional problems limit his “ability to deal with everyday stresses and demands.” Dr. Chudy characterized Smith’s state of mind as “indifferent and ineffectual,” and concluded that Smith’s “thinking [was] not real clear” and that Smith “lacks any direction or goal in life.” Dr. Chudy concluded that Smith generally “takes little notice of things around him” and “does not think through things.” Evidence of Deficits in Learning from Experience. Dr. Chudy concluded that Smith’s “indifferent and ineffectual” mindset “provides little basis for [Smith] [to act] in a consistently sensible manner or learn[ ] from experience . . . even when it involves bringing on pain to himself or those closest to him.” Smith’s “thinking 14 Case: 14-10721 Date Filed: 08/03/2015 Page: 15 of 39 is vague” and “easily confused,” and he “is often overwhelmed with incomprehensible feelings or impulses that he does not understand.” Smith “possesses extremely limited insight and judgment.” Evidence of Social Deficits. Dr. Chudy’s report indicated that Smith’s “personality functioning is equally dysfunctional.” As a result of his emotional problems, Dr. Chudy found, Smith often “withdraws from others” and only “[o]casionally . . . will become desperate enough that he will set out to find people to be with.” But “poor judgment causes [Smith] to end up with the wrong people.” Dr. Chudy found that Smith had “anger about being rejected and ‘getting a raw deal in life.’” “Fortunately, [Smith] has been successful at repressing his anger[,] but there is a down side to that. Sooner or later when his anger builds up, it will come out and it will probably come out explosively.” Dr. Chudy concluded that Smith “fails to use good judgment because he never learned how to incorporate successfully into societies [sic] norms.” Evidence of Varied Deficits. Dr. Chudy’s report examined the particulars of Smith’s WAIS-R test results. The report stated that (1) “Smith displayed major deficiencies in areas related to academic skills”; (2) he “functioned well below average in his recall of learned and acquired information (Information)”; and (3) he “was also quite weak in word knowledge and usage (Vocabulary) and mental mathematical computation (Arithmetic).” 15 Case: 14-10721 Date Filed: 08/03/2015 Page: 16 of 39 Other areas of weakness noted by Dr. Chudy had to do with Smith’s social skills. Smith “scored well below average in skills having to do with social reasoning and learning how to respond effectively in social situations (Comprehension).” Smith “also showed a major deficiency in his ability to predict social sequences of action (Picture Arrangement).” Dr. Chudy stated that Smith is “ineffective in problem-solving.”