Opinion ID: 760987
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Severity of Brown's Condition.

Text: 27 The state next contends the trial court's failure to provide Brown with a psychiatric defense expert was harmless error because Brown's mental condition, paranoia, was not a complex condition beyond the jury's understanding. Relying on portions of Dr. Robison's testimony, the state argues Brown's paranoia was mild and characteristic of his shy, suspicious personality, which, the state contends, are common feelings within the jury's everyday experience. Further, the state contends that because Brown testified at trial, the jury was able to evaluate for itself the severity of Brown's mental condition at the time of the offense by observing his demeanor at trial and his recitation of the facts of the crime. The state also argues that Brown's paranoia could not have affected his judgment at the time of the offense because Brown testified he wasn't hearing any voices or experiencing any visual hallucinations at the time of the offense. 28 The state's assertion that Brown's paranoia was mild begs the question of whether Brown was sane at the time of the offense. The only statement that Brown's paranoia was mild comes from the state's expert, whose opinion was not challenged by an independent defense expert. Further, we are not satisfied from our review of the record that the state's characterization of Brown's paranoia as mild is a fair characterization of the evidence of Brown's mental illness. Dr. Robison, the state's expert, testified that Brown was of borderline intellectual functioning, that he had a major mental illness and could be characterized as a psychotic paranoid and that Brown's competency to stand trial was only marginal. See R., Comp. Tr. at 285-86, 289, 284. Dr. Ruedi testified for the defense that Brown was mentally ill, in need of treatment and not competent to stand trial. See id. at 135-36. Dr. Ruedi and Dr. Robison both testified that Brown had a low IQ, experienced auditory hallucinations and believed that state agencies were able to read his mind with machines and to communicate to him through the air. Dr. Ruedi testified that Brown believed there had been efforts by governmental bodies, including the police, to persecute him and prevent him from achieving economic gain. Dr. Ruedi testified at trial that Brown's paranoid beliefs about governmental bodies might interfere with his conception of reality and his perception of right and wrong. See R., Trial Tr., Vol. 7 at 1229-30. 29 We cannot accept the state's assertion that Brown's paranoid and delusional beliefs are common feelings within a jury's everyday experiences. Given the clear evidence in the record that Brown suffered some degree of significant mental impairment, we are not persuaded that a lay jury could evaluate the severity of Brown's mental condition and make a determination of whether he was sane at the time of the offense without assistance from expert psychiatrists. Nor can we accept the state's assumption that Brown's own recollection of not having any visual or auditory hallucinations at the time of the offense is dispositive of whether he was sane at the time of the offense. 30 Moreover, the state's contention that the jury could fairly evaluate Brown's mental status without testimony from an independent psychiatrist for the defense evinces a fundamental misunderstanding of the Supreme Court's statement that psychiatric assistance can be crucial and a virtual necessity if an insanity plea is to have any chance of success. Ake, 470 U.S. at 81 (quotation omitted). The Court explained: 31 [P]sychiatrists gather facts, through professional examination ... that they will share with the judge or jury; they analyze the information gathered and from it draw plausible conclusions about the defendant's mental condition, and about the effects of any disorder on behavior; and they offer opinions about how the defendant's mental condition might have affected his behavior at the time in question.... Through this process of investigation, interpretation, and testimony, psychiatrists ideally assist lay jurors, who generally have no training in psychiatric matters, to make a sensible and educated determination about the mental condition of the defendant at the time of the offense. 32 Id., at 80-81 (emphasis added). 33