Opinion ID: 1127469
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Hyperactivity and Impulsivity

Text: Roger argues that evidence of his hyperactivity shows that he acted impulsively and was unable to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. Roger's mother and aunt testified that he was hyperactive while growing up. In 1984, a psychologist gave a diagnostic impression that Roger had a conduct disorder and was undersocialized and aggressive, after which Roger received more than a year of treatment and rehabilitation at the Alabama Department of Youth Services. Dr. Potts diagnosed defendant with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Defense psychiatrists diagnosed Roger as having an anti-social personality disorder and traumatic stress disorder symptomatology. Dr. Potts concluded: The defendant's life has been directed by what is quite probably an organic brain disorder. The psychological testing conducted upon defendant since he was 14 is consistent with brain damage. It manifests as hyperactivity, poor impulse control, a short fuse, violent rages, and increased susceptibility to the effects of alcohol and other illicit substances. A sociologist opined at sentencing that the homicides appeared impulsive. In rebuttal on impulsiveness, the state offered testimony of a victim and investigating officer for a crime in Alabama for which the defendants were suspects. The 78-year-old victim testified that on April 30, 1991, two weeks before the crimes at Grasshopper Junction, she had been assaulted and robbed by two men at her home in Mt. Hope, Alabama. They came to her house about 9:00 p.m., armed, tied her up, beat her, ransacked her house, and took off with valuables. The heavy set man wore a mask and carried a pistol. The other man did not cover his face. She identified that person as Roger in a photo lineup on May 2. She also identified the mask, a sleeve cut out of a sweatshirt. Mike Ball, Alabama Bureau of Investigations, testified that a sweatshirt with a sleeve missing was found by the Murray brothers' father and turned over to police. The material matched that of the mask. The state also offered evidence concerning a shotgun sold to an individual in Las Vegas on May 11 or 12. The man who purchased the gun drove a white Ford sedan. Although the seller of the gun could not positively identify either defendant, the serial number of the gun matched the gun found in defendants' car. The gun had been sawed off since it was sold; a hacksaw was found in defendants' vehicle. The phone number and address of the man who sold the shotgun were also found in the car. Character or personality disorders alone are generally not sufficient to find that defendant was significantly impaired. Apelt, 176 Ariz. at 377, 861 P.2d at 662. A mental disease or psychological defect usually must exist before significant impairment is found. Id. Despite the evidence of hyperactivity and anti-social personality disorder, [t]his case does not involve the same level of mental disease or psychological defects considered in other cases in which the ง 13-703(G)(1) mitigating circumstance was found to exist. Brewer, 170 Ariz. at 505, 826 P.2d at 802. The trial court found that the offenses were not impulsive, but were planned in advance. The trial court noted that using the tow truck as a decoy is evidence that defendants knew their conduct was wrongful. See Stokley, 182 Ariz. at 520, 898 P.2d at 469. The atlas found in the Tempo that had Grasshopper Junction circled, though it was not marked otherwise, also suggests that defendants carefully chose this site for the crime. Although Roger's hyperactivity was proven by a preponderance of the evidence, there is no evidence that he did not know that his conduct was wrongful. Defendant also failed to show that his ability to control his actions was substantially impaired. See Brewer, 170 Ariz. at 505-06, 826 P.2d at 802-03.