Opinion ID: 1988657
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Garden's Mitigating Circumstances

Text: The Superior Court judge carefully considered the mitigating circumstances presented by Garden and determined that each of those claims of mitigation by Garden were entitled to little or no weight. (1) Planning  Both of Garden's original co-defendants, who testified against Garden, stated there was no prior plan to shoot or kill anyone. Garden contends that the absence of premeditated intent to kill anyone is a mitigating factor. The jury convicted Garden of both Intentional Murder in the First Degree and Felony Murder in the First Degree. The record is undisputed that Garden armed himself with a loaded weapon and planned to rob an innocent victim at gun point simply because he wanted money that night. When a plan to commit armed robbery at gun point results in death, it becomes felony murder. Rather than a mitigating circumstance, the General Assembly has classified felony murder as the statutory circumstance that made Garden eligible for the death sentence. (2) Employment History  Garden asserts that his work history is a mitigating factor. The record provides facts on this subject only from June 1998 to the date of his arrest in December 1999. From June 1998 to July 1999, Garden was employed by a temporary agency and worked on assignment to various employees. Although the office manager described him as dependable, the agency's records show that Garden worked intermittently for only about four months during the thirteen-month period. In August of 1999, Garden began working for a warehouse company, initially on assignment through a different temporary agency and then as a direct employee. A manager described him as a good worker, but company records show that during his fourteen weeks of work, Garden was late 23 times and was reprimanded for insubordination. The Superior Court judge found no reasonable basis for the jury to conclude that Garden's work history was anything other than a minor mitigating factor. Moreover, Garden's ability to work aggravates his decision to support himself through a life of crime. (3) Relationship with Girlfriend  Garden contended that his relationship with his girlfriend was a substantial mitigating factor. Garden became involved with Constance Webster in September 1997 and moved into her apartment in December. He moved out in April 1999 at her suggestion, but the relationship continued. Webster had four children when she began dating Garden and testified that he was a father figure to them and took care of them while she was working. She said he provided substantial financial support. The Superior Court judge determined that the record casts some doubt on Webster's testimony. For example, Garden's work history reflects that he could not have made any substantial financial contribution to the household. The record also demonstrates that Garden gave Webster items purchased with the credit cards stolen in the robbery the night before Denise Rhudy's murder. Accordingly, the Superior Court judge concluded that there was no reasonable basis for the jury to consider this relationship a mitigating circumstance of substantial weight. (4) Age  Garden was 24 years old when he murdered Denise Rhudy. Garden asserted that this age was a mitigating factor. The Superior Court judge concluded that, even if a juror found some mitigating value in Garden's age, it is not reasonable for the jury to conclude that this factor could have been given substantial weight. (5) Psychological Evidence  Garden's psychological makeup is another factor that the Superior Court was asked to consider in mitigation. At the age of 23 months, Garden was afflicted with a serious and life-threatening illness, Histiocytosis-X. This illness required several months of hospitalization followed by a lengthy period of chemotherapy. It was resolved by the time Garden was age six or eight, but periodic follow-up examinations were necessary as a precaution against recurrence. This history was used as the basis for opinions offered by Dr. Charles Bean, a neurologist with special competence in children, and Dr. Alvin Turner, a licensed psychologist. Dr. Bean saw Garden on two occasions, at a medical examination when Garden was eleven and in again August of 2000 while he was in prison awaiting trial. Dr. Bean testified that Garden was in good health and showed no after-effects of his childhood disease. He also testified that Garden had a performance IQ of 100, which is average, and a verbal IQ of 91, which is only slightly below average. Drawing on Garden's medical and social history, Dr. Bean concluded: Childhood experiences have shaped a gentleman with a personality of significant weakness and vulnerability, and he used significant denial to protect himself from self realization. Dr. Turner saw Garden on two occasions, once shortly after his arrest and once again shortly before trial. Dr. Turner, who conducted various psychological tests in addition to his clinical interviews, concluded that Garden is best classified as a person with a personality disorder not otherwise specified. He went on to say: It is my belief that his childhood experiences are crucially involved in shaping a life-long pattern of behavior which are responsible for the characteristics which I have outlined above. These include utter helplessness, a pervasive sense of guilt, and a deep and pervasive sense of personal incompetence. Neither expert witness testified that Garden's mental state impinged on his ability to recognize the wrongfulness of murder or to resist the urge to commit the crime. Certain testimony of Dr. Turner suggests that Garden acted with a cruel and brutal rationality. In fact, after killing Denise Rhudy, Garden later callously told his co-defendants that he had shot the bitch because she wouldn't give it up. [62] The Superior Court judge found that the psychological evidence did not provide a rational basis for concluding that Garden's mental status was a mitigating factor, and a contrary conclusion by a juror would have been unreasonable. (6) Disparate Treatment of Garden Accomplice  Garden argued that another mitigating circumstance is the fact that his co-defendant, Johnson, was allowed to plead guilty to non-capital murder. Jury recommendations against the death penalty, which may have been based on a desire to provide equality in sentencing, were considered by the Florida Supreme Court in Eutzy v. State. [63] In that case, the Florida Supreme Court acknowledged that it has upheld the reasonableness of jury recommendations of life which could have been based, to some degree, on the treatment accorded one equally culpable of the murder. [64] In summarizing its cases that had reversed the judge's decision to override the jury recommendation, the Florida Supreme Court found: the accomplice was a principal in the first degree; [65] the accomplice was the actual triggerman; [66] the evidence was equivocal as to whether defendant or the accomplice committed the actual murder; [67] or the accomplice was the controlling force instigating the murder. [68] In each of those Florida cases, the jury had before it, in either the guilt or the sentencing phase, direct evidence of the accomplice's equal culpability for the murder itself. The Superior Court judge concluded that the evidence in Garden's case provided no basis upon which the jury could have recommended life imprisonment in order to prevent disparity in sentencing. The record reflects that it was Garden, rather than his accomplices, who inflicted the fatal shot. In Mills, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the jury override death sentence when the less culpable defendant was given immunity.