Opinion ID: 3052221
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Call Schick

Text: Schick is an experienced professional counselor who is licensed to make psychological diagnoses and who observed and treated Brown at the Oregon state prison for over two years. Of all the potential witnesses who were available to the defense at the time of trial, she was the only one who had witnessed the impact of lithium treatment on Brown. Nevertheless, none of Brown’s attorneys—only an investigator— interviewed Schick and Schick was never asked to testify at the penalty phase. At the evidentiary hearing, Schick testified that she had initially diagnosed Brown with bipolar disorder, but upon further observation revised her diagnosis to unipolar disorder because Brown did not appear to experience the severe depressive episodes that are characteristic of bipolar disorder. She requested a lithium trial to stabilize Brown’s mood disorder and noticed an improvement in the month that she observed him on the drug. According to Schick, Brown “was able to focus longer and less likely to preoccupy himself with some of those grandiose thoughts.” In her declaration, Schick stated that she “believe[s] that this tragedy might have been averted if Brown’s mental health treatment had been started sooner and his medication monitored more carefully.” 7628 BROWN v. UTTECHT The majority claims that counsel made a reasoned decision not to call Schick because her qualifications were not as impressive as those of Dr. Maiuro, and because she, like Dr. Maiuro, could not prescribe lithium. Maj. Op. at 7611-12. Again, the majority’s rationalizations for defense counsel’s failings are not supported by the record. In fact, the failure to call Schick was a result of inattention, not strategy. Lauren Sonik, a defense investigator, spoke with Schick a few months before trial began. None of Brown’s attorneys, however, ever spoke with her. Mulligan did not remember making a “specific tactical decision not to call Ms. Schick as a witness at the penalty phase.” Cleven testified that he and his colleagues never “interviewed her closely as a potential witness” and could not “recall what considerations there were in deciding not to call her as a witness.” Hupp remembers “positive things” about Schick and remembers that she was exactly the sort of witness with the kind of information the defense was looking for. Hupp, like the others, did not remember why they did not call her. Thus, the majority’s speculative explanation for defense counsel’s failure to call Schick to testify has no basis in fact and is not supported by the record or the recollections of the attorneys. Moreover, the majority’s post-hoc rationalizations are unreasonable. First, the argument that Dr. Maiuro was better suited to testify because he has more degrees and professional accomplishments misses the point. Schick should have been called also, not because of her long curriculum vitae, but rather because of her unique experience with Brown. She was the only counselor who frequently observed and treated Brown over a period of time, observed his progress on lithium, and the only witness who could have projected the effect of further treatment. Thus, she was the best person to testify about Brown’s responsiveness to medical treatment. Despite the fact that Schick’s notes were read to the jury by Dr. Maiuro, the scant observations contained in them were no substiBROWN v. UTTECHT 7629 tute for the detailed testimony that Schick could have given about her personal experience with Brown. The majority’s second explanation—that Schick was not a medical doctor and thus not qualified to prescribe lithium—is also contrary to reason and logic. First, that was clearly not counsel’s actual reason for not calling Schick, given that it did not deter them from calling Dr. Maiuro. More important, however, Schick would not have been called to testify about whether Brown should have been prescribed lithium. As explained above, she would have been asked about the change in Brown’s behavior once he began taking the drug. Her ability to prescribe medication has nothing to do with her ability to observe and evaluate a patient who is on medication. Brown’s counsel’s failure to call Schick was not the result of a reasoned tactical decision; it was, rather, another failure properly to prepare the case for trial. Although Schick could have been a critical witness, no lawyer followed up on the investigation and interviewed her to determine how valuable her testimony might be. Thus, it would have been impossible for counsel to make an informed strategic decision not to call her. Counsel’s representation fell below professional standards when they decided not to call Schick to testify at the penalty phase without interviewing her and without sufficient information to make an informed decision. Accordingly, I would hold that this decision also constituted deficient performance. Schick’s testimony would have corroborated Dr. Maiuro’s testimony and directly rebutted Dr. Brinkley’s claim that there was nothing in Brown’s record that suggested he suffered from a mental disorder that could be treated with lithium. Unlike Dr. Maiuro or Dr. Brinkley, Schick could have provided first-hand testimony about the effect of lithium on Brown. Because she did not testify, the jury heard about Schick only through the testimony of Dr. Maiuro and Dr. Brinkley. 7630 BROWN v. UTTECHT Dr. Maiuro testified that, according to the prison records, Schick concluded that the treatment program resulted in “no change” in Brown. Dr. Brinkley also testified that Schick “said in her summary statement of [Brown’s] course of treatment with her that she saw no change.” The record reveals, however, that had the defense called her to testify, Schick would have told the jury that Brown improved on lithium. In her declaration, filed in the habeas proceeding, Schick stated that she had “noticed a marked improvement in Brown’s symptoms” once his lithium treatment began in Oregon state prison. She noted that Brown’s “internal energy was immediately decreased” and that he “was able to think and plan better.” Schick also declared that, had she been called to testify, she would have stated that it was her “firm professional belief that Brown had a major psychiatric disorder that was never effectively treated” and that “this tragedy might have been averted” if Brown’s medication had been properly administered and monitored. At the evidentiary hearing, Schick testified that during the month Brown was on lithium she observed “a gradual change” as Brown was “less likely to preoccupy himself with some of those grandiose thoughts.” She also testified that she saw some indication of the remission of Brown’s symptoms after he was placed on the lithium trial. Thus, her testimony could have impeached Dr. Brinkley’s conclusion that Schick had observed no change in Brown as a result of his lithium treatment.4 I would hold that, standing alone, counsel’s failure to 4 It appears that the basis for Dr. Maiuro and Dr. Brinkley’s testimony that Schick did not notice any change in Brown on lithium was a single checked box on a case summary report dated June, 1993. This was three years after Schick stopped seeing Brown. According to the defense investigator’s notes, Schick was leaving the prison at that time but before she left she had to go through all of her old files and close all of her cases. This is probably why she completed the report about Brown at such a late date. Although she did check the box that read “no change,” her notes in the report indicate that the lithium was working, which is consistent with Schick’s declaration and testimony at the evidentiary hearing. Schick’s testimony would have dispelled any doubts that might have been raised by the hastily checked “no change” box in the report. BROWN v. UTTECHT 7631 call Schick prejudiced Brown, or, at the very least, that he was prejudiced when that failure is considered in conjunction with counsel’s failure to call a psychiatrist as an expert witness.