Opinion ID: 1476684
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Interactions with defense experts

Text: In the last of this series of issues raised, defendant alleges various deficiencies in Call's interactions with defense experts that limited the usefulness of those experts.
Defendant complains that Call did not meet with his experts in person and, moreover, that he did not permit the mitigation expert, Sheila Fairchild, to meet alone with Harris because he feared defendant's dangerousness. The State responds that Call did meet with the penalty phase experts prior to their testimony and that he recorded the dates on which he spoke with Dr. Greenfield. Scully testified about Fairchild attending meetings that occurred with counsel. Indeed, that Fairchild interviewed Harris only with counsel present is further evidence of counsels' meetings with Fairchild. Finally, the State contends that there was good reason for counsels' decision not to allow a one-on-one meeting between Fairchild and Harris: defendant is a violent, unpredictable person, even when incarcerated. During one meeting with Fairchild (with Call present), defendant pulled his pants down to show her a scar, allegedly because he wanted to see if Fairchild was cool.
PCR counsel emphasized at the PCR hearing that trial counsel did not meet in person with their retained experts, citing Dr. Greenfield as an example. The record reflects that Call documented his numerous communications with experts, which include conference calls and written correspondence. Defendant never explains why we should conclude that trial counsels' method of communication with the experts rendered counsels' performance deficient. Moreover, defendant does not show how the jury's deliberations would have been substantially affected had Call and Scully met in person with Dr. Greenfield and Dr. Gruen, thus falling short also on the prejudice prong of Strickland. Furthermore, trial counsels' performance was not deficient because they did not have Fairchild meet alone with Harris. Call testified that he found Harris especially dangerous to women. Defendant had a significant criminal history, and only ten days after the Huggins murder, he was arrested for four separate incidents of aggravated sexual assault and kidnapping. Given his violent character and the incident in which he tested Fairchild, counsels' decision does not render their defense unreasonable.