Opinion ID: 1288147
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Alleged Failure to Obtain an Independent Expert in Forensic Pathology

Text: The State presented testimony at trial from a forensic pathologist, Dr. Mark Koponen. Dr. Koponen testified that the victim was first shot and was then beaten severely about the face and head, possibly with the butt of Terrell's pistol. Dr. Koponen further testified that he was able to conclude that the victim was alive during the beating because the victim had bleeding underneath the membrane covering the brain. The victim's eye socket, cheek, nose, and jaw were broken, his left ear was injured, he had several teeth missing, and the bone beneath his forehead was broken and pushed back into his brain. Dr. Koponen testified that the victim was only possibly conscious during the beating, but that he was definitely alive. Terrell presented testimony in the habeas court from Dr. Jonathan Arden contradicting the conclusions of Dr. Koponen. Dr. Arden generally criticized Dr. Koponen's autopsy of the victim. More specifically, he contradicted Dr. Koponen's conclusion that the victim was alive during the beating and stated that it was possible that the victim had been struck fewer times than the five or six blow minimum asserted by Dr. Koponen, particularly in light of the possibility that the wounds were inflicted by some mechanism other than the pistol, such as by stomping. Dr. Arden testified that photographic evidence of the minimal bleeding from the victim's facial wounds, the lack of aspirated blood, and the presence of only minute contusions in the brain tissue all indicated that the victim was deceased before being beaten. He also testified that Dr. Koponen's finding that the victim had bleeding in the subarachnoid space, which is the area underneath the membrane covering the brain, and his finding of bleeding in lacerated brain tissue were inconsistent with his finding that the victim had no bleeding above and below the dura, which is a membrane just below the skull and which was torn as the victim's skull was crushed. Although he did not note this fact in his trial testimony, Dr. Koponen responded to the criticism of his autopsy findings in the habeas court with the added statement that he found clotted blood in the ventricles of the interior of the victim's brain, which he believed was further evidence that the victim was alive during the beating. He also explained that his findings of only minimal bleeding from the wounds was consistent with the victim having lost much of his blood pressure while still alive. The habeas court emphasized that Dr. Koponen was young and relatively inexperienced when he conducted his autopsy of the victim. However, by the time of his habeas testimony, Dr. Koponen was highly experienced and maintained that his initial findings were correct. Dr. Arden, who could merely review the record for his habeas testimony, stood in no better position to second guess Dr. Koponen's original findings than Dr. Koponen did himself. Dr. Koponen's testimony that the victim was alive but possibly unconscious supported the following two statutory aggravating circumstances: (1) that the murder was committed while Terrell was engaged in an aggravated battery and (2) that the murder was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman in that it involved torture, depravity of mind, and an aggravated battery [1] to the victim. OCGA § 17-10-30(b)(2), (7). Had the jury heard testimony like Dr. Arden's, it would have been forced to weigh the credibility of the two experts' testimony and determine whether the victim was alive while beaten. However, as the trial court correctly charged the jury, depravity of mind may be proven by showing that the deceased body of the victim was subjected to mutilation or serious disfigurement. West v. State, 252 Ga. 156, 161-162, 313 S.E.2d 67 (1984). A defendant cannot insulate himself from imposition of the death penalty on the basis of [OCGA § 17-10-30] by beating his victim to death in such a manner that it cannot be determined when the fatal blow was struck. Patrick v. State, 247 Ga. 168, 170, 274 S.E.2d 570 (1981). Thus, even under Terrell's new theory of the case and even in light of uncertainty as to the exact number of blows inflicted, the brutal beating in this case would have supported the statutory aggravating circumstance that the murder was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman in that it involved depravity of mind. [2] Accordingly, this Court concludes that, even assuming trial counsel performed deficiently by failing to present testimony from another forensic pathologist, Terrell has failed to show any reasonable probability that the jury would have failed to find beyond a reasonable doubt the statutory aggravating circumstance that is based on depravity of mind. Furthermore, only one statutory aggravating circumstance must be found before the jury becomes free to exercise discretion in selecting a sentence. See Zant v. Stephens, 250 Ga. 97, 99-100(2), 297 S.E.2d 1 (1982). As noted above, Terrell has failed to show a reasonable probability that the jury would have declined to find the existence of an armed robbery, which means that Terrell would have been eligible for a death sentence regardless of whether the jury would have also found the statutory aggravating circumstance based on depravity of mind. In exercising its discretion once Terrell became eligible for a death sentence, the jury would not have been significantly swayed by testimony that the victim had already expired when beaten. In fact, evidence that the victim had passed away before he was so severely mutilated would have undercut defense counsel's argument that whoever committed the gruesome murder and mutilation did so in a panic. Terrell's new expert's testimony would have suggested that the brutal mutilation of the victim's body was completely senseless and depraved because the victim was no longer able to resist or flee. Certainly the jury would have taken note that the victim, who was possibly unconscious by all accounts, could not have suffered pain if he were dead during the beating, but any benefit from that would have been offset by a revulsion at a mutilation of the victim for no purpose whatsoever. Furthermore, seeming to quibble over the timing of the victim's death would have undercut defense counsel's core theory, which was that Terrell was not even present during the murder. Accordingly, this Court concludes that trial counsel's failure to present testimony at trial like that from Terrell's new expert, Dr. Arden, and trial counsel's failure to cross-examine Dr. Koponen differently did not result in prejudice sufficient to support the success of Terrell's overall ineffective assistance of trial counsel claim.