Opinion ID: 2044555
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Aggravation-Mitigation Hearing

Text: Petitioner next argues that he was denied effective assistance of counsel during the aggravation-mitigation phase of his death penalty hearing because his attorneys failed to develop or present accurate mitigation evidence, and instead presented nonmitigating and erroneous evidence which actually caused him harm. At sentencing, the defense presented evidence in mitigation attempting to show that petitioner's offenses were the result of his polysubstance abuse and antisocial and narcissistic personality disorders. Dr. Lawrence Heinrich, a psychologist, testified for the defense that he believed petitioner was suffering from an extreme mental or emotional disturbance at the time he committed the Cogler and Cooney murders. The defense also presented testimony from Alvin Hill, a mitigation specialist employed by the Cook County public defender's office, who opined that petitioner committed the murders because he was drugging. Petitioner contends, however, that a neuropsychological evaluation conducted after his sentencing hearing revealed that he suffers from an organic brain dysfunction. Petitioner further claims that subsequent post-conviction investigation revealed that petitioner's low birth weight and head trauma as a child could also account for his psychological dysfunctions and behavior problems, information which was not presented at the sentencing hearing. Petitioner claims that his criminal activity was not the result of drug abuse, as the jury heard at his sentencing, but rather was the product of a traumatic and violent childhood. According to petitioner, the failure by defense counsel to properly investigate and present this information in mitigation places the reliability of his death sentence in serious doubt. We disagree. Defense counsel's performance at the penalty phase of a sentencing hearing is measured by the two-part standard of Strickland. Under Strickland, a defendant must show that counsel's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that, absent the errors, the judge would have concluded 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. Counsel's failure to order neuropsychological testing of petitioner prior to his sentencing was not unreasonable. Each of the three psychologists who examined petitioner concluded that he suffered from personality disorders. None of the experts found anything to indicate that petitioner suffered from an organic brain disorder, and there was nothing to indicate that further testing would be beneficial in any way. Counsel's decisions to investigate must be assessed in light of the information known at the time the decisions are made. In the instant case, defense counsel's decision not to investigate further into organic brain disorders, electing instead to present mitigation evidence of petitioner's personality disorders, was trial strategy and was not unreasonable under the circumstances. We further find no error with regard to the allegedly inaccurate evidence presented in mitigation. In his post-conviction petition, petitioner relies on a report prepared by Marylynne Kaplan, a social worker, which cites scientific evidence allegedly showing that petitioner's criminal history was not the result of his drugging, but rather was the product of his dysfunctional family history, a childhood plagued by violence and a mother who was emotionally distant and depressed. A review of the record, however, reveals that, while the primary theory advanced by the defense was that petitioner's actions were the product of his impaired judgment due to drug and alcohol abuse and personality disorders, the jury also heard testimony of petitioner's failure to find a place within his family, his rejection by his mother, his inability to relate to female members of his family including his four sisters, and his lack of a male role model while growing up. Alvin Hill also testified in mitigation regarding petitioner's drug use since the age of 12, his constant truancy throughout adolescence, his running away from home, his mother's abandonment of him, and his placement with juvenile authorities on several occasions. Given the extent of the testimony heard by the jury regarding petitioner's troubled childhood and family dysfunction, we believe that the additional information contained in Kaplan's report is merely cumulative of that already presented and would not have changed the outcome of petitioner's sentencing. Thus, petitioner has failed to demonstrate that he suffered prejudice from defense counsel's failure to present the information found in Kaplan's report at sentencing. Petitioner further contends that defense counsel made a manifestly incompetent decision to present the dubious expert testimony of Dr. Heinrich at the aggravation-mitigation hearing. A review of the record, however, belies petitioner's claims that Dr. Heinrich, the defense expert, was ill-prepared and did not have adequate notice from which to prepare his mitigation evidence. Dr. Heinrich was first contacted by defense counsel in August 1994, several months prior to petitioner's resentencing hearing. Dr. Heinrich interviewed petitioner on two separate occasions and conducted several personality tests. In addition, Dr. Heinrich reviewed police reports, investigative reports and trial transcripts, as well as reports of psychological evaluations conducted by two previous experts, Dr. Schwarz and Dr. Cavanaugh. The record also reveals that petitioner himself was responsible for any lack of preparation by Dr. Heinrich because he specifically instructed Dr. Heinrich not to speak with his mother or with his four sisters because he did not want them involved in the instant proceedings.