Opinion ID: 2343208
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: issue 2mitigating factors

Text: Our standard of review from the grant or denial of post-conviction relief is limited to examining whether the lower court's determination is supported by evidence of record and whether it is free of legal error. Commonwealth v. Morales, 549 Pa. 400, 701 A.2d 516, 520 (1997). While [we] will always defer to [a PCRA] court's factual determinations where supported by the record, the ultimate question of whether facts rise to the level of arguable merit is a legal determination. Commonwealth v. Saranchak, 581 Pa. 490, 866 A.2d 292, 304 n. 14 (2005). The PCRA court found that there was substantial information available at the time of trial that trial counsel should have investigated to support the Section 9711(e)(3) mitigator. It noted that during the PCRA hearing Jones presented evidence of his inability to appreciate the criminality of his act. Among the documents submitted into evidence were his Juvenile Court, school, and incarceration records that detailed a history of mood swings, auditory and visual hallucinations, and difficulty staying in touch with reality. PCRA ct. Op. at 22-23. In addition to those documents, several experts testified at the hearing. After meeting with Jones, Julie Kessel, M.D., a forensic psychiatrist (Dr. Kessel), who was testifying on his behalf, stated that Jones suffers from schizophrenic disorder paranoid subtype. [18] Id. at 23. He also exhibited delusional experiences. The records reviewed by Dr. Kessel showed that Jones began to manifest symptoms of the disease at the age of thirteen and that he was suffering from this disease at the time of the shooting. Id. Dr. Kessel concluded that as a result of his tendency to distort reality, his impairment in interpersonal relatedness and his suspiciousness, [Jones'] ability to appreciate the criminality of his conduct and to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was substantially impaired at the time of the offense. Id. Dr. Delores Sarno-Kristofis (Dr. Sarno-Kristofis), a clinical and forensic psychologist who was also called by Jones, testified at the hearing after she reviewed the same materials as Dr. Kessel, interviewed Jones and administered psychological tests. She stated that Jones presented classic paranoid-schizophrenic delusions[,] (N.T., 7/24/01, at 24-25), and concluded that Jones suffers from schizophrenia and did at the time of the offense. PCRA ct. Op. at 23-24. She concluded that as a result of his illness, capacity to appreciate the criminality of his acts was substantially impaired. Id. Jones' trial counsel, Richard E. Johnson, Esq. (Johnson), called no witnesses and presented no evidence at Jones' penalty hearing. [19] He testified that he did not recall reviewing the records that Drs. Kessel and Sarno-Kristofis evaluated. Johnson stated that, if he had read the pre-sentence report, he would have had Jones evaluated. (N.T., 7/23/01, at 177). As Jones aptly notes, although Johnson stated that he could not remember if he had reviewed the pre-sentence report, presumably he never did, because if he had, by his own admission, he would have had Jones evaluated. (Reply Brief of Jones at 15). Nor did Johnson recall when he began preparing for the penalty phase of Jones' trial. He did remember declining to obtain psychological evaluations of Jones because his interaction with Jones during trial led him to believe that Jones did not need one. PCRA ct. Op. at 24. The Commonwealth presented Dr. John O'Brien (Dr. O'Brien), who inspected the same documents as the other witnesses and spoke with Jones. [20] He concluded that Jones did not suffer from schizophrenia, even in remission. On cross-examination, Dr. O'Brien admitted that the schizoid personality can be a premorbid antecedent to a delusional or schizophrenic disorder. Id. When asked on cross-examination whether, on the basis of the psychological examinations available at the time of Jones' trial from previous court evaluations, he would have recommended another evaluation for possible use as mitigation, Dr. O'Brien responded yes. Id. at 24-25. In addition to the evidence and testimony detailed supra, Jones also presented the following evidence: the testimony of his sister and his cousin, as well as affidavits from his mother, another sister, his maternal aunt, his brother, and two family friends. PCRA ct. Op. at 22. This evidence revealed that: (1) Jones was one of nine children born to seven different fathers; (2) there was no father figure in the home, and the men who did occasionally live in the home abused both the children and their mother; (3) his mother was an alcoholic who suffered from mental illness, abused the children, and offered them no affection or support; (4) the family lived in a housing project that experienced rampant drug dealings and crime; (5) Jones was left to fend for himself from a very early age, rarely attended school, and began to show signs of mental illness at the age of nine; and (6) as he grew, Jones began to experience rapid mood swings, auditory and visual hallucinations, and difficulty staying in touch with reality. Id. at 22-23. On the basis of the foregoing, the PCRA court found that there was substantial information available at the time of trial that trial counsel should have investigated and that would have supported the statutory mitigating circumstances of Jones' inability to appreciate the criminality of his conduct, see 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(e)(3), and other evidence of mitigation concerning Jones' character and record and the circumstances of his offense, see 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(e)(8). Id. at 25. The Commonwealth attempts to establish error on the part of the PCRA court by arguing that Jones rested his allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel upon numerous layers of speculation. (Brief of Commonwealth at 24). The Commonwealth avers that Jones claims that trial counsel should have conducted a deeper investigation, which would have revealed a mental health problem which would have led counsel to conclude that Jones should receive a psychological examination which would have led Jones to reveal during that examination that he suffered from schizophrenia and did so at the time of the crime. According to the Commonwealth's theory, this, in turn, would have by necessity provided the basis for the Section 9711(e)(3) mitigator. The Commonwealth ultimately rests its argument on the weakness of this series of assumptions and the fact that Jones never proved that such indicators of mental illness existed. Id. What the Commonwealth fails to prove, however, is that the PCRA court erred in reaching its determination. The findings of a post-conviction court, which hears evidence and passes on the credibility of witnesses, should be given great deference. We will not disturb the findings of the PCRA court if they are supported by the record, even where the record could support a contrary holding. Commonwealth v. Sullivan, 472 Pa. 129, 371 A.2d 468, 476 (1977). This Court's scope of review is limited to the findings of the PCRA court and the evidence on the record of the PCRA court's hearing, viewed in the light most favorable to the prevailing party. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Meadius, 582 Pa. 174, 870 A.2d 802, 805 (2005). To succeed with a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must show that such ineffectiveness in the circumstances of the particular case, so undermined the truth-determining process that no reliable adjudication of guilt or innocence could have taken place. 42 Pa. C.S. § 9543(a)(2)(ii). We have interpreted this standard to require a petitioner to prove that: (1) the underlying claim is of arguable merit; (2) counsel's performance lacked a reasonable basis; and (3) the ineffectiveness of counsel caused appellant prejudice. Commonwealth v. Todaro, 549 Pa. 545, 701 A.2d 1343, 1346 (1997). In the instant case, the PCRA court found that the underlying claim of trial counsel's ineffectiveness was of arguable merit. We agree. Numerous prior cases of this Court, as well as the United States Supreme Court, detail the obligations of defense counsel to develop mitigating evidence in a capital sentencing proceeding. Where counsel fails to investigate reasonably mitigating evidence of childhood abuse, family dysfunction and neglect, as well as mental health impairments, deficient performance exists. Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510, 123 S.Ct. 2527, 156 L.Ed.2d 471 (2003); Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000); Commonwealth v. Basemore, 560 Pa. 258, 744 A.2d 717, 737 n. 21 (2000) (Evidence of a difficult family history and emotional disturbance is typically introduced by defendants in mitigation.) (citing Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104, 115-16, 102 S.Ct. 869, 71 L.Ed.2d 1 (1982)). In the instant matter, Johnson had an obligation to investigate potential mitigating evidence. He failed to do so. As the evidence presented at the PCRA hearing demonstrates, there was a wealth of material available at the time of sentencing that could have led to persuasive evidence of mitigation. Therefore, we agree with the PCRA court that Jones has succeeded in proving that trial counsel was ineffective. Further, we can discern no strategy on the part of Johnson for failing to conduct a review of available records, interviews of available family members, and subsequent investigation stemming from such research. In fact, Johnson offered no strategic reason for failing to do so, stating instead that he did not see any need. Finally, the PCRA court's conclusion, that there was a substantial likelihood that the outcome of the penalty hearing would have been different with the addition of the Section 9711(e)(3) and (e)(8) mitigators, is without error. To show prejudice in the penalty phase of a death penalty case, an appellant must show the reasonable probability that, absent trial counsel's failure to present mitigating evidence, he would have been able to prove at least one mitigating circumstance by a preponderance of the evidence and that at least one jury member would have concluded that the mitigating circumstance(s) outweighed the aggravating circumstance(s). Commonwealth v. Ford, 570 Pa. 378, 809 A.2d 325, 332 (2002) (Opinion Announcing the Judgment of the Court). Such prejudice existed in this case. Therefore, we agree with the PCRA court that Jones has established the ineffectiveness of trial counsel. Our inquiry, however, does not end there, for Jones has merely satisfied the arguable merit prong of appellate counsel's ineffectiveness. We must still proceed to the remaining two prongs of the Pierce test as it relates to the ineffectiveness of appellate counsel. See Commonwealth v. Rush, 576 Pa. 3, 838 A.2d 651, 656 (2003) (citing Commonwealth v. McGill, 574 Pa. 574, 832 A.2d 1014, 1023-24 (2003)). As we previously stated, Jones failed to develop each prong of the Pierce test as to the deficient representation of appellate counsel. Jones' failure in this regard, however, is not fatal to his claim. As we noted in McGill, in light of the lack of clear guidance to petitioners who filed before we decided that case, a remand to the PCRA court may be appropriate where the petitioner has failed to preserve, by pleading and/or presenting, a layered ineffectiveness claim in a manner sufficient to warrant merits review. McGill, 832 A.2d at 1024; see also Rush, 838 A.2d at 657 (noting that appellant's failure to present argument as to appellate counsel ineffectiveness was specifically the type of presentation defect that the remand provision in McGill was created to address). In McGill itself, because the PCRA court properly determined that trial counsel was not ineffective, we declined to remand to allow McGill to properly plead and argue his claim of layered ineffectiveness. Id. at 1026. In several cases subsequent to McGill, we noted the remand option but explained that it was inapplicable in light of the appellant's failure to prove the ineffectiveness of trial counsel. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Brown, 582 Pa. 461, 872 A.2d 1139, 1146-47 (2005); Commonwealth v. Cox, 581 Pa. 107, 863 A.2d 536 (2004); Commonwealth v. Terrance Williams, 581 Pa. 57, 863 A.2d 505, 513-14 (2004); Commonwealth v. Lopez, 578 Pa. 545, 854 A.2d 465 (2004). In contrast, Jones has succeeded in establishing that trial counsel rendered him ineffective assistance. Therefore, pursuant to McGill, we remand the matter to the PCRA court to allow Jones the opportunity to develop the record and present argument with respect to: (1) whether appellate counsel had a reasonable basis for failing to argue that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and present evidence of the Section 9711(e)(3) and (e)(8) mitigators; [21] and (2) whether appellate counsel's failure in this regard prejudiced Jones.