Opinion ID: 2643773
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Testimony of Dr. Brendel and the Holy

Text: Family Hospital Records Pena's Sixth Amendment claim is based on his counsel's failure to enter into evidence records of Pena's hospitalization at Holy Family Hospital (HFH) in August 2004. Although Dr. Brendel reviewed these records in preparation for her testimony, Pena's counsel inadvertently failed to produce them to the prosecution during discovery. Therefore, the prosecutor successfully objected to Dr. Brendel's testimony regarding the HFH records and the court struck that portion of her testimony from the record. Dr. Brendel's testimony was based on Pena's medical records going back to 1996, as well as interviews she conducted with Pena and his sister. Dr. Brendel testified that, beginning in 1996 in the Dominican Republic, Pena was diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic features and treated for symptoms of severe depression and psychosis. He also had problems with drug and alcohol abuse at that time. In 1999, he was committed to a -10- hospital and given electroconvulsive therapy and antipsychotic medications. Pena moved to the United States in 2002, where he continued to experience problems with mental health and substance abuse. In 2003, a doctor at Boston Medical Center diagnosed him with recurrent major depression and prescribed several medications. He saw a social worker five days before the murder, who noted depressive symptoms and poor memory and concentration. After the murder, but shortly before Pena turned himself in, he went to a police station complaining that voices in his head were telling him to hurt himself. He was referred to HFH, where he was hospitalized for seven days. The records from that hospitalization include a diagnosis of psychotic disorder, not otherwise specified, and confirm that Pena went to a police station seeking help for auditory hallucinations. The records note that Pena does not appear to be a reliable historian, and explain that it is difficult to determine whether his responses are due to cognitive impairment or planned evasiveness and avoidance, or one posing as a mental patient. They further state that [t]here is a suspicion of being purposely avoidant and vague on account of his illegal [immigration] status. Once Pena was in custody for the murder, he was evaluated at Bridgewater State Hospital for competence to stand trial. The report from Bridgewater indicated a high suspicion that Pena was -11- feigning memory problems. In their interviews with Dr. Brendel prior to trial, both Pena and his sister reported that he had been experiencing symptoms of mental illness in the period leading up to the murder. Pena also told Dr. Brendel that he had not slept for three nights prior to the murder and had been using cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol. During the course of Dr. Brendel's testimony, Pena's counsel asked about the HFH records. Dr. Brendel responded that: [I]n those records, there was some concern about Mr. Pena's difficulty with memory and being able to give an accurate history. The discharge diagnosis included a diagnosis of psychosis not otherwise specified. So, the physicians in the hospital did observe him at some time during the hospitalization to be suffering from psychotic symptoms. At that point, the prosecutor objected on the grounds that Pena had not produced the HFH records in discovery. He did not appear opposed to the admission of the records into evidence, but he stated, I'd like to see them, at the very least. If not, I ask that the answer be stricken. Pena's counsel responded that if they weren't provided, it was inadvertently that they weren't provided. And I don't have any more questions about these records. The court decided to strike Dr. Brendel's answer regarding the HFH records, and Pena's counsel offered no argument against the court's decision. -12-