Opinion ID: 213950
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Procedural History and Trial

Text: Montgomery was charged with kidnapping resulting in death, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1). The superseding indictment alleged: [Montgomery] willfully and unlawfully kidnapped, abducted, carried away, and held Victoria Jo Stinnett, for the purpose and benefit of claiming Victoria Jo Stinnett as her child, and willfully transported Victoria Jo Stinnett in interstate commerce from Skidmore, Missouri, across the state line to Melvern, Kansas, the actions of the defendant resulting in the death of Bobbie Jo Stinnett. The superseding indictment further alleged statutory aggravating factors, including that Montgomery killed Stinnett in an especially heinous, cruel, and depraved manner, in that it involved serious physical abuse to Stinnett. See § 3592(c)(6). [2] Thereafter, the government filed its notice of intent to seek the death penalty. See § 3593. Montgomery moved to prohibit the government from seeking the death penalty, contending that the government could not prove that the kidnapping of a person resulted in Stinnett's death. A magistrate judge [3] recommended that Montgomery's motion be denied. The district court adopted the report and denied the motion. Montgomery filed her notice of intent to assert the defense of insanity and to present expert evidence relating to mental disease or defect. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 12.2. Defense counsel engaged Vilayanur Ramachandran, M.D., and William Logan, M.D., to evaluate Montgomery. Both Drs. Ramachandran and Logan diagnosed Montgomery with depression, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and pseudocyesis. The government's expert, Park Dietz, M.D., agreed that Montgomery suffered from depression, borderline personality disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder but did not diagnose her as suffering from pseudocyesis. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) defines pseudocyesis as a false belief of being pregnant that is associated with objective signs of pregnancy, which may include abdominal enlargement, . . . reduced menstrual flow, amenorrhea, subjective sensation of fetal movement, nausea, breast engorgement and secretions, and labor pains at the expected date of delivery. Am. Psychiatric Ass'n, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 511 (4th ed. text revision 2000). The DSM-IV classifies pseudocyesis as a somatoform disorder. Id. The common feature of Somatoform Disorders is the presence of physical symptoms that suggest a general medical condition, . . . and are not fully explained by a general medical condition, by the direct effects of a substance, or by another mental disorder. Id. at 485. Before trial, defense counsel asked Ruben Gur, Ph.D., to opine whether Montgomery suffered from any mental abnormality, injury, or illness. Dr. Gur was prepared to testify that Montgomery's brain had structural and functional abnormalities consistent with the diagnosis of pseudocyesis. To reach this conclusion, Dr. Gur relied upon neuropsychological testing, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET). [4] The government challenged Dr. Gur's proffered testimony in a pretrial motion pursuant to Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993), and Federal Rules of Evidence 702 and 403, arguing that Dr. Gur's principles and methods were unreliable. The government sought to exclude Dr. Gur's analysis of Montgomery's MRI and PET scan. The government also asserted that its experts could not properly examine the underlying data because Dr. Gur had failed to produce the data from which his conclusions were drawn. After hearing two days of expert testimony, the district court concluded that Montgomery's MRI results were not abnormal and thus did not show any mental condition or circumstance that would be relevant to matters at issue in this case. The court indicated that it would allow some PET evidence. Although concerned about the reliability of Dr. Gur's PET analysis, the court determined that it would permit Dr. Gur to testify (1) that Montgomery's PET scan showed abnormalities in the somatomotor region of the brain and (2) that abnormalities in the somatomotor region are consistent with a diagnosis of pseudocyesis. The government requested that certain data be produced so that its experts could reproduce Dr. Gur's analysis, and the district court ordered that Montgomery produce the data. During Montgomery's interviews with defense and government experts, she claimed that her brother, Tommy Kleiner, had accompanied her to Stinnett's home on December 16, 2004. Defense counsel arranged for Montgomery to undergo a polygraph examination. The polygraph examiner opined that Montgomery's statements that Kleiner had been with her at Stinnett's home were not indicative of deception. The district court granted the government's motion to exclude any evidence regarding the polygraph examination. After the jury had been selected and before opening statements, the district court ruled that Dr. Gur's testimony regarding his PET scan analysis would be excluded, finding that the evidence had minimal probative value because the abnormalities were consistent with many disorders, including pseudocyesis. The district court noted that the government's experts were unable to replicate Dr. Gur's calculations and that although Dr. Gur had produced the data that formed the basis of his opinion, he had failed to produce the original data from the PET scan centers. The district court concluded that the dispute over Dr. Gur's calculations would confuse the jury and distract it from the relevant and significant issues. The jury heard eleven days of testimony related to the offense charged in the indictment and Montgomery's insanity plea. Dr. Ramachandran testified that pseudocyesis is a somatoform disorder in which the patient develops the delusion that she is pregnant. To be diagnosed with pseudocyesis, an individual must have an intense desire to become pregnant. Dr. Ramachandran explained that the desire gives rise to hormonal changes that result in physical changes consistent with pregnancy, including abdominal enlargement, breast enlargement, nipple pigmentation, and the cessation of menstruation. A person suffering from pseudocyesis might also crave strange foods, have nausea, feel fetal quickening, and have contractions. Dr. Ramachandran testified that Montgomery suffered from severe pseudocyesis delusion and that she was in a dissociative state when she murdered Stinnett and delivered the baby. According to Dr. Ramachandran, Montgomery's childhood sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder predisposed her to pseudocyesis. He testified that Montgomery sustained her pregnancy delusion with Internet research on cesarean sections, home birth, and hormones to assist in delivery. Montgomery's purchases of maternity clothes, a home birthing kit, and items for a baby nursery were consistent with pseudocyesis. Dr. Ramachandran further testified that inconsistent stories were not evidence of malingering, [5] but of Montgomery's delusional state. He explained that malingering involves a consistent story because it's a planned volition and a lie and that a delusional state involves constantly chang[ing] the story to accommodate the delusion and then forgetting what you said earlier. Because Montgomery's delusional state fluctuated, her story also fluctuated. Dr. Ramachandran stated that Montgomery's symptoms of pregnancy, her extensive internet research on home birthing, and her minimal research on cesarean-section delivery supported his opinion that she was not malingering. Dr. Ramachandran opined that Montgomery was suffering from a severe mental disease or defect when she committed the crime and that she was unable to appreciate the nature and quality of her acts. The government's expert, Dr. Dietz, testified that there are two different phenomena that have been called pseudocyesis. The first is a condition in which a woman sincerely believes that she is pregnant, but she is not mentally ill and does not have delusions. The belief usually ends when the woman is confronted with evidence that she is not pregnant. The second involves mental illnessusually schizophreniaand the delusion of pregnancy. Dr. Dietz testified that the delusion is a firmly held conviction and that patients continue to believe they are pregnant, even after being confronted with evidence that they are not. Dr. Dietz explained that pseudocyesis is a psychosomatic condition that is classified as a somatoform disorder to reflect its historical origin as hysterical conversion,. . . in which conflicts in the mind are converted into a bodily symptom. Dr. Dietz opined that Montgomery did not suffer from pseudocyesis at the time of the offense because she did not hold a sincere belief that she was pregnant. When asked what evidence indicated that Montgomery did not believe she was pregnant, Dr. Dietz replied that Montgomery was well aware that she had undergone permanent sterilization, despite her statements that the procedure had been reversed. With her previous pregnancies, she sought prenatal care, had her husband attend the appointments, and gave birth in the hospital. But with this alleged pregnancy, Montgomery did not seek medical confirmation of the pregnancy or prenatal care. After Kevin made arrangements to attend an appointment with her, Montgomery told him that she had cancelled the appointment. She also reported that she had tested positive for pregnancy and had shown the test to Kevin, while Kevin maintained that he had not seen the test results. When she filled out an insurance application in September 2004, she indicated that she was not pregnant. Finally, Dr. Dietz took into account Montgomery's previous false claims of pregnancy, including one in which she said that she had donated a stillborn infant to science and forged a letter from the purported research institution. Dr. Dietz further opined that Montgomery was not delusional. He testified that [a] delusion of pregnancy would be consistent, she would tell the same story, she would happily reveal it. . . . No one could talk her out of it. Montgomery, however, gave contradictory accounts regarding the sex of the fetus, whether she was carrying twins or a single fetus, and the manner in which she would deliver. Before admitting that she had killed Stinnett and abducted the baby, Montgomery gave multiple narratives for the birth, first stating that she had given birth in a women's clinic, then at home with the help of two friends, and, finally, alone. After she had confessed and was in custody, she changed her story again, this time claiming that her brother was with her at Stinnett's home. And after it was determined that Kleiner could not have been with her at the time of the kidnapping, Montgomery claimed to have amnesia before and during Stinnett's murder. She also gave inconsistent reports on how many pregnancies she had experienced. In two Bureau of Prison medical forms, she claimed four, but during psychological exams she was vague, sometimes reporting three additional pregnancies. Dr. Dietz concluded that Montgomery malingered the 2004 pregnancy: In other words, . . . she knew she was not pregnant but told people that she was. Dr. Dietz ultimately testified that: [I]t's my opinion, with reasonable medical certainty, that at the time of the charged offenses the defendant did not suffer from any mental disease or defect, that affected her ability to appreciate the nature and quality of wrongfulness of her acts. . . . [I]t is my opinion with reasonable medical certainty that the defendant was entirely capable of appreciating that she was engaged in a lengthy and elaborate plan designed to kill Bobbie Jo Stinnett at a stage of advanced pregnancy, to successfully conduct a Cesarean section on her first attempt and to kidnap a healthy [i]nfant she could present to the world as her own. The jury found Montgomery guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of kidnapping resulting in death, and the case proceeded to the penalty phase. Over the course of two days, the jury heard testimony from Montgomery's friends, family, coworkers, Dr. Logan, and Ruth Kuncel, Ph.D. Montgomery asserted the following mitigating factors, among others, to support her case for life imprisonment: her capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of her conduct or to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law was significantly impaired; she committed the offense under severe mental and emotional disturbance; she had reared and supported four good children, to whom she had offered advice, nurturance, and emotional support and would continue to do so if she was sentenced to life imprisonment. Drs. Logan and Kuncel opined that, at the time of the offense, Montgomery's ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of her actions was substantially impaired and that she suffered from a severe mental or emotional disturbance. Throughout both phases of trial, various witnesses had testified that Montgomery was a good and loving mother, that she and her children got along well, and that they had a harmonious relationship. Over defense counsel's objections, the prosecutor asked Montgomery's daughter whether Montgomery had ever apologized for the suffering she caused the family. During closing arguments, the prosecutor expounded on the theme that Montgomery was not a good mother and that a good mother would not force her children to testify in this high profile trial. Montgomery requested that the jury be instructed that it is never required to return a sentence of death. As discussed more fully below, the district court rejected Montgomery's proposed language and instructed the jury that if it unanimously concluded that the death penalty was the appropriate sentence, it must record its determination that a sentence of death shall be imposed. The jury returned a death-penalty verdict. It unanimously found that the government had proved beyond a reasonable doubt all statutory and non-statutory aggravating factors, including that Montgomery committed the offense in an especially heinous or depraved manner in that the killing involved serious physical abuse to Bobbie Jo Stinnett. Thereafter, the district court sentenced Montgomery to death.