Opinion ID: 76484
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Testimony Presented During Carr's Habeas Proceedings

Text: 72 At the state habeas corpus proceedings, Martin testified that, when preparing for trial, he developed a strategy for the mitigation phase and conducted an investigation for mitigating evidence. R2-10, Ex. Vol. 10, Ex. 42 at 330, 333, 343. He acknowledged that he had asked the state's psychologist, Dr. Storms, about testifying about Carr's future dangerousness but that Storms had no comment on that. 8 Id. at 356-57. Martin requested and was granted a court-appointed psychiatrist, Dr. Cheatham, and said that both an MRI and a CT scan were performed on Carr. He said that he also reviewed Carr's school and medical records, and then sent these records and the names of all known relevant individuals to Dr. Cheatham and his colleagues, Bogenholm and Franco, for review. 73 During interviews with Carr, Martin learned that Carr had been subjected to his family's alcohol and sexual abuse, and that there were family members who suffered from mental illness. 9 He said that he elected not to call some of the individuals listed by Carr as potential witnesses because he did not believe they could help Carr and could actually have had a negative impact on the jury. 10 Id. at 335, 371. He stated that he did not go into character evidence because the prosecution had Carr's record available, and he didn't have any characters to put in. Id. at 477. Martin explained that he had requested and received a narrative and letters from Carr's mother and family members, and had used it in preparation for trial. 11 He said that he did not call some of the letter-writing individuals because they had some problem in answering [Martin's] questions or had made inconsistent statements to Martin. Id. at 339-40, 486. 74 Martin said he met with Carr's family on a regular basis and had talked to anyone that had something [to] contribute[] to Mr. Carr's defense. Id. at 340-41. He also talked to potential witnesses about Burgeson's manipulative nature, but the people that [he] talked to were not ... consistent in their ... statements. Id. at 388-89. He explained that he was unable to tell whether some of the individuals were telling the truth because their stories changed from day to day, and did not feel they had any probative value in [Carr's] case. Id. at 372, 380. Martin said that, in deciding whom to call as mitigation witnesses, he looked at whether they could help Carr. Id. at 380. 75 During the state habeas proceedings, Carr submitted testimony regarding Burgeson's history of violent, dominating behavior, 12 Carr's intoxication and behavior on the days leading up to the crime, 13 Burgeson's abusive behavior toward Carr during that same period of time, 14 and his relationships with his family and in the community. 15 Symonds' sister, Marni Robinson; Symonds' friend, Angela Beaver; Young's cousin, Richard Hambrick; Scott Hubbard; Carr's ex-wife, Tammy D. Leone; Carr's cousins, Brenda Barnes, Debbie Harris, and Rhonda Simmons; and Carr's former neighbor, Frankie Hollis, stated that they were not contacted by Carr's trial attorneys but would have testified for Carr. Carr's aunt, Claudia Smith, also said that she never talked to Carr's trial attorneys, but was subpoenaed for the trial. Nonetheless, she attended the trial, but was never called to testify. Carr's attorney's billing records and trial record showed no evidence of any contact with any of the potential witnesses who had written testimonials on his behalf. 76