Opinion ID: 2806518
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Trial-Penalty Phase

Text: The trial then proceeded to a penalty phase before the same jury. The prosecution’s penalty phase case centered on testimony that Bemore had committed two prior, unadjudicated offenses. Zelda C., who formerly lived on Bates Street, testified that one night, after she hosted a group of people in her apartment to smoke cocaine, Bemore raped her. Zelda did not tell the police about the rape at the time, but two of her sisters testified that she called them the morning after the incident and told them about the rape. (The judge admitted Zelda’s statements to her sisters, over the defense’s objection, as excited utterances.) Lloyd Howard, who sold drugs to Bemore and many other Bates Street residents, and who had invited Bemore to Zelda’s house the night of the rape, testified that Zelda also told him about the rape the following morning. As to the second prior unadjudicated offense, Kevin Oliver (“Oliver”) and his wife, Jacqueline Oliver, testified about an altercation with Bemore in which Bemore pointed a gun at Oliver and hit him over the head with a wine bottle. Bemore and Oliver were both taken to the hospital. Oliver testified that he overheard Bemore, who was being treated next to him, say aloud that he planned to kill Oliver’s children. McKechnie’s co-counsel, Elizabeth Barranco, led the penalty phase presentation for the defense. In preparation, Barranco had hired forensic psychologist Dr. Kenneth Fineman to evaluate Bemore. Barranco had recently read an article of Dr. Fineman’s describing his theory regarding “sun children”—minority children from poor homes who, because of their talents, become immersed in affluent white society, BEMORE V. CHAPPELL 13 but then subsequently act out and, due to the psychological stress of having to live in two different worlds, begin using drugs. Barranco hoped that Bemore, an African-American and former star basketball player recruited to play at several colleges, might fit this diagnosis. Her mitigation strategy was to present Bemore as “a good guy with a drug problem.” Barranco sent Bemore for four days of psychological testing with Dr. Fineman. When Dr. Fineman’s report came back, Barranco was surprised and “angry” that the report made no mention at all of the “sun children” theory. Instead, Dr. Fineman reported that Bemore suffered from a number of psychological conditions, including “mild, diffuse organic brain impairment”; attention-deficit disorder; and poor impulse control resulting in “a fundamental inability to control his behavior” when his “needs press upon him.” He also stated that Bemore “can be quite hostile, explosive and aggressive[,] . . . [and] seldom takes into account the impact his actions are likely to have on others.” Based on his findings, Dr. Fineman named several “diagnostic considerations,” including “bi-polar affective disorder,” “intermittent explosive disorder,” and “anti-social personality disorder.” Dr. Fineman approached Barranco and recommended further testing to complete a mental health diagnosis. Barranco did not have Dr. Fineman or any other mental health professional follow up. Instead, convinced that Dr. Fineman’s report conflicted with her “good guy” defense strategy, she placed the report “in the back of a file drawer.” She did not show it to or discuss it with Bemore, and there is no evidence in the record before us that she showed it to her co-counsel. Rather than further investigating a mental health mitigation strategy, Barranco went forward with her 14 BEMORE V. CHAPPELL previously chosen “good guy” mitigation plan. She called over 40 witnesses to testify to Bemore’s personal history and good character. Many of the witnesses knew him through high-school and college basketball and described him as a good player and kind person. Some did not believe Bemore used drugs; others said he became addicted to drugs and alcohol after his mother died. Several witnesses described him as a deeply religious person and related that he had at one time attended ministry school. Bemore’s wife testified that Bemore had expressed remorse for putting his family through the ordeal of the trial. And a number of inmates, correctional officials, and other jail personnel described Bemore as obedient, religious, and a role model for other inmates. On a different topic, Bemore’s childhood family life, Bemore’s half-brother Kenneth Daugherty testified that he and Bemore, along with two other half-brothers, were raised by a drug-abusing caretaker while their mother was ill with severe rheumatoid arthritis. The caretaker physically abused the children by hitting them with a cane and with an extension cord. One of Bemore’s other brothers testified that as a child, Bemore, the youngest of the four brothers, was sometimes recruited to act as lookout while his brothers committed burglaries. Dr. Bucky, a clinical psychologist, testified that children like Bemore who grow up with substance-abuse problems in the home are likely to develop their own chemical dependancies in the future. On rebuttal, the prosecution concentrated on Bemore’s behavior in jail. Several witnesses, painting a different picture than Barranco had presented, testified that Bemore used threats and intimidation to obtain drugs, cigarettes, and other scarce commodities while incarcerated. Some of these witnesses, and others, maintained that his religiosity was a pretense, contrived to obtain favorable testimony at trial. A few said Bemore was physically violent. On surrebuttal, a BEMORE V. CHAPPELL 15 group of inmates testified that the inmates who had testified against Bemore regarding his behavior in jail did so to retaliate against him because he did not tolerate their disciplinary infractions, but, instead, disposed of their drugs and intervened in their fights. Inmates and officials also described a “food-tampering” incident they said Bemore had masterminded. Bemore, they said, intentionally contaminated one evening’s dinners, expecting that a large group of inmates would be taken to the hospital and some might be able to escape. The plan succeeded in sending many inmates to the hospital. None escaped. After considering all the penalty phase evidence, the jury sentenced Bemore to death.