Opinion ID: 1907350
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel/Inadequate Assistance of Mental Health Experts

Text: Elledge further contends that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because trial counsel relied on mental health experts who were not board-certified, were improperly prepared, and who provided conflicting testimony. Elledge also claims that this ineffectiveness violated the rule established in Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 84 L.Ed.2d 53 (1985), which requires the State to assure a defendant who demonstrates that his sanity will be a significant factor at trial access to a competent psychiatrist who will conduct an appropriate examination and assist in evaluation, preparation, and presentation of the defense. As explained further below, even if it is assumed that Elledge's trial counsel was somehow deficient in the selection or presentation of these witnesses, the record does not support a determination that Elledge was prejudiced. Moreover, the record does not support the contention that Elledge was denied an adequate mental evaluation as required by Ake. The record of the 1993 penalty phase proceeding demonstrates that both Drs. Schwartz and Caddy testified on direct examination that at the time of the Strack murder, Elledge qualified under both of Florida's statutory mitigators pertaining to mental health, namely, that Elledge was operating under extreme mental or emotional disturbance and that his ability to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law was substantially impaired. Moreover, both experts testified with regard to the details of Elledge's background, including severe poverty, substantial physical and emotional abuse, the alcoholism of both of Elledge's parents, and Elledge's own alcoholism and drug addiction, and the impact such conditions had on Elledge's thought processes and behaviors. Although they used slightly different terminology, both experts also agreed that Elledge had characteristics of antisocial personality disorder. [17] There were also differences of opinion between the defense experts. As set forth in the trial court's 1993 sentencing order, Dr. Caddy did not concur with Dr. Schwartz's conclusions regarding the existence of organic brain damage or that Elledge suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome or post-traumatic stress disorder. The trial court noted these inconsistencies and that Dr. Caddy's testimony diminished Dr. Schwartz's credibility. However, the thrust of the trial court's deconstruction of these mental health experts was not that they provided inconsistent testimony, but that their diagnoses were contradicted by the facts of the case and other episodes in Elledge's history. For instance, the trial court found evidence that undermined Dr. Caddy's finding that the Strack murder was a result of a rage reaction during which Elledge was completely out of control with the doctor's admission that certain aspects of the murder  such as Elledge temporarily ceasing the strangulation when Strack momentarily conceded to have sex with him  exhibited Elledge's ability to control himself. The trial court further found facts which conflicted with Dr. Caddy's assessment of the details of two instances in Elledge's past during which he had exercised control over his violent impulses. The trial court determined that the impact of Dr. Schwartz's testimony was similarly diminished by the revelation of such facts. Ultimately, the trial court gave more weight to the testimony of Dr. Stock, the State's mental health expert, who concluded that Elledge has an antisocial personality disorder. Based on this record, Elledge cannot viably assert that trial counsel's presentation and preparation of the mental health experts prejudiced his defense. Indeed, on direct appeal, this Court rejected Elledge's argument that he was entitled to a new penalty phase proceeding because the trial court mischaracterized Dr. Caddy's testimony in the sentencing order by incorrectly stating that Dr. Caddy had not found the emotional disturbance statutory mitigator applicable. This Court determined that the trial court's misstatement of Dr. Caddy's finding constituted harmless error in light of the testimony of Dr. Stock, who concluded that Elledge did not suffer from any mental illness, impulse control disorder, or stress disorder, but instead had an antisocial personality. See Elledge IV, 706 So.2d at 1347. As demonstrated, it was the facts presented and Elledge's own history that countered the mental mitigating evidence offered by his defense. Elledge cannot establish that he was prejudiced by trial counsel's allegedly deficient selection or preparation of the mental health experts or that he received constitutionally infirm assistance of mental health professionals under Ake. Indeed, accepting Elledge's contention would have the consequence of discouraging trial counsel from presenting the testimony of multiple experts who agree with regard to the major overarching diagnosis, but not with regard to every underlying detail, or of encouraging the manufacture or presentation of expert testimony only to meet the precise facts of the case. [18] Neither outcome would be appropriate, and the law entrusts the finder of fact to properly weigh expert testimony  even that which may not be in perfect unison.