Opinion ID: 78421
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Carroll's First 3.850 Motion for Post-Conviction Relief

Text: On February 1, 1996, Carroll filed his first motion to vacate judgment and sentence pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. He later submitted an amended motion, in which he raised 24 claims. Judge Perry again presided over the proceedings. Following a Huff [3] hearing, he concluded an evidentiary hearing was necessary on five of the claims, including Carroll's claims that his counsel was ineffective for failing to provide background materials to mental health experts to assist them in determining Carroll's insanity and intoxication at the time of the offense (Claim VI), that his counsel was ineffective for failing to provide background materials to mental health experts to assist them in determining Carroll's competency (Claim XIX), and that his counsel was ineffective for failing to properly investigate and provide the mental health experts with necessary information, thereby resulting in the loss of the affirmative defense of insanity (Claim XXI). On August 4-5, 1997, Judge Perry conducted an evidentiary hearing, during which five expert witnesses testified for the defense as to Carroll's mental health. Of these experts, threeDr. McMahon, Dr. Danziger, and Dr. Gutmantestified at the guilt phase of Carroll's trial. Dr. Barry M. Crown, a psychologist who specialized in clinical and forensic psychology and neuropsychology, was the first health expert to testify. Dr. Crown had evaluated Carroll twice in 1997 and had conducted a number of neuropsychological tests during those meetings. The tests examined different facets of Carroll's intellectual functioning, including, [i]n lay terms, how smart [Carroll] [wa]s, how well he deal[t] with difficulties, and his intellectual efficiency. Based upon these tests, Dr. Crown testified Carroll's full scale IQ was 81 and described this score as being in the border-line range, which is this nether nether land between mentally retarded and being low average. [4] He added the tests indicated Carroll had a problem-solving capacity of someone who's 11 years and five months old and had an attentional capacity of someone who was about eighty years old suffering from the beginning of a degenerative process. Dr. Crown further testified regarding Carroll's general ability: [H]is reading ability was at about the second grade level, spelling at about the third grade, simple arithmetic at about the fifth grade level. That's actually a range in the .08 percentile. That means that roughly better than 99 out of 100 people are able to process this better than he. And even at his best, 98 out of a hundred are able to function at a level that's significantly higher than he is. Carroll's performance on the neuropsychological tests led Dr. Crown to conclude Carroll suffered from brain damage that affected his intellectual, cognitive, and affective capacities. Dr. Crown further opined this brain damage had manifested early in Carroll's life, largely the result of fetal alcohol syndrome, physical abuse, and substance abuse. As support for this conclusion, Dr. Crown testified Carroll's brain capacity had not changed since he was a child, noting that Carroll's 1997 tests yielded similar results to those conducted when Carroll was twelve and thirteen years old. Specifically, Dr. Crown explained Carroll's childhood tests produced the same numbers, the same scores that, that I [found]; they were in the same, same reference group with a minimal variance. And there's a great deal of similarity in terms of those identified functions. He noted Carroll produced a full-scale IQ of 80 on the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children in both 1968 and 1969, and testified it's highly unlikely that someone could fake that number on a deliberate basis beginning when they were 12 years old. Dr. Crown did mention a 1990 test had yielded a verbal IQ of 58 but explained the score was a lower outlier because Carroll was psychotic at the time of the test. Dr. Crown concluded his testimony on direct examination by stating if he had been given the opportunity to conduct the testing in 1992 and to testify at Carroll's trial, he would have testified Carroll met the requirements for two statutory mitigating factorsspecifically, Carroll's capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct and conform his conduct to the requirements of the law was substantially impaired, and Carroll committed the murder under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance. Like Dr. Crown, Dr. Jethro W. Toomer, a forensic psychologist, was a new mental health expert for the defense. Dr. Toomer stated he conducted a psychological evaluation of Carroll on January 25, 1996, at the request of Carroll's counsel. After examining Carroll and reviewing his medical records, Dr. Toomer believed Carroll present[ed] symptomatology that r[an] the entire gamut of several personality disorders, all the way through to a major mental disorder. At times he manifest[ed] symptomatology indicative of psychosis... and at other times he manifest[ed] symptomatology reflecting a severe personality disorder. Dr. Toomer further testified Carroll's mental history was inconsistent with a conclusion that he was malingering at the time of trial. Based upon these conclusions, he stated that had he been called during Carroll's penalty phase, he would have testified Carroll was unable to appreciate the criminality of his conduct and suffered from severe mental or emotional disturbance. Dr. McMahon and Dr. Danziger again testified for the defense and reiterated their initial conclusions as to Carroll's mental status and competency. Like Dr. Crown and Dr. Toomer, they both testified that if they would have been called during the penalty phase of Carroll's trial proceedings, they would have opined that Carroll's capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct and conform his conduct to the requirements of the law was substantially impaired, and that he committed the murder under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance. Dr. Gutman was the final mental health expert to testify at the evidentiary hearing on Carroll's 3.850 motion. Dr. Gutman had testified for the State at trial, but had changed his diagnosis after reviewing Carroll's entire medical history and psychological evaluations. After initially concluding Carroll had psychosexual and mixed personality disorders and was malingering during his September 1991 evaluation, Dr. Gutman amended his diagnosis to include brain damage: My current diagnosis would be mental disorder with mood, memory, personality change and cognitive decline associated with alcohol deterioration and influence on the brain. [5] Dr. Gutman explained the portions of Carroll's history that led to his new diagnosis, including school records that indicated Carroll's IQ was in the 75 to 85 range. Dr. Gutman further testified that had he been called during Carroll's penalty phase, he would have given an opinion that Carroll was unable to appreciate the criminality of his conduct and suffered from severe mental or emotional disturbance. On October 20, 1998, Judge Perry entered an order denying all of Carroll's claims for post-conviction relief. The Florida Supreme Court later affirmed the trial court's order and denied Carroll's petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Carroll II, 815 So.2d at 607.