Opinion ID: 491574
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Effect of the psychiatric and family testimony on the ultimate sentence.

Text: 30 Even if Elledge's counsel had produced Dr. Lewis and Elledge's family members at the sentencing phase, we agree with the district court that Elledge was not prejudiced thereby: he nevertheless would have received the death penalty. 31 The value of Dr. Lewis's testimony was undercut in part by the revelation that her analysis largely relied on Elledge's recitations and had not been fully corroborated by independent follow-up investigation. In addition, the two court-appointed psychiatrists who examined Elledge each gave damaging evaluations that would have diluted Dr. Lewis's impact. 18 Moreover, much of the testimony elicited from Elledge's brother and sister could be used against him; e.g., their descriptions of his early violent temper, his sister's explanation of his alleged incestuous assault on her, his brother's description of Elledge as a mean guy, and their emergence as normal citizens even though they had been subjected to similar abuse and neglect. The family testimony also was cumulative to a degree since Elledge had testified to many of the particulars in question. 32 As a final point, the aggravating circumstances of the case were substantial. It cannot be gainsaid that the cruelty of the rape and the murder made it more difficult for Elledge to alter the final sentence by adducing mitigating circumstances. It is proper for a reviewing court, in deciding whether the additional evidence would have altered the eventual sentence, to consider the strength of the case presented against the defendant. 19 See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 696, 104 S.Ct. at 2069, 80 L.Ed.2d at 699 (a verdict or conclusion only weakly supported by the record is more likely to have been affected by errors than one with overwhelming record support.) 33 Elledge nevertheless maintains that if the psychiatric mitigating circumstances had been presented and if those circumstances had been credited by the judge and jury, the entire evidentiary picture would have been altered. See id. at 696, 104 S.Ct. at 2069, 80 L.Ed.2d at 699. Psychiatric mitigating evidence has this potential because it may impact the causal relationship that can exist between mental illness and homicidal behavior. Thus, psychiatric mitigating evidence not only can act in mitigation, it also could significantly weaken the aggravating factors. See Huckaby v. State, 343 So.2d 29, 33-34 (Fla.1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 920, 98 S.Ct. 393, 54 L.Ed.2d 276 (1977). 34 This argument fails, however, because a careful reading of the district court's order shows that the court--acting within its discretion as factfinder--gave little weight to the testimony of Dr. Lewis as well as that of Elledge's family members. The district court simply found that no significant mitigating evidence was adduced. Further, when the court weighed the value of Dr. Lewis's testimony, it found that the aggravating factors outweighed those presented in mitigation. See, e.g., Mann v. State, 453 So.2d 784, 785 (Fla.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1181, 105 S.Ct. 940, 83 L.Ed.2d 953 (1985); Adams v. State, 412 So.2d 850, 854, 857 (Fla.1982) (three mitigating factors, including that the capital offense was committed while defendant was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance, outweighed by three aggravating circumstances), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 1506, 89 L.Ed.2d 906 (1986). There is no indication that the district court applied anything other than the reasonable probability standard or failed to weigh the overall impact of the evidence on the total evidentiary picture. 35 The foregoing discussion illustrates that Elledge has not demonstrated a reasonable probability that, if adduced at trial, the psychiatric and background evidence presented in his habeas proceeding would have caused the sentencer to conclude that the balance of aggravating and mitigating circumstances did not warrant death. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 695, 104 S.Ct. at 2069, 80 L.Ed.2d at 698. 36