Opinion ID: 1133717
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Relevant Testimony Presented at the Evidentiary Hearing

Text: At the evidentiary hearing, Ponticelli's defense counsel, as well as numerous lay witnesses and four mental health experts, testified regarding defense counsel's penalty phase preparation and the potential mitigation evidence available. Defense counsel testified that Ponticelli's trial was his first capital trial, that he did not know how to conduct a penalty phase, that his only assistance came from a former deputy who was familiar with Freeman, and that the majority (80-85%) of his preparation was devoted to the guilt phase. His penalty phase investigation consisted largely of talking with Ponticelli's parents and asking them for names of persons who knew Ponticelli as a child in New York. Ponticelli's parents provided him with the names of some of Ponticelli's teachers, prior employers, and family members, but it does not appear that counsel contacted any of them. Counsel did not attempt to gather Ponticelli's school or medical records, and he testified at the evidentiary hearing that he had only a partial view of Ponticelli's drug use and background at the time of trial. During the penalty phase, defense counsel called one witness, Dr. Robin Mills. Dr. Mills was one of the three court-appointed mental health experts who evaluated Ponticelli before trial and testified at the August 2, 1988, competency hearing. Mills was the only mental health expert who testified that Ponticelli was not competent to stand trial. At the penalty phase, Dr. Mills testified that he had twenty-five years' experience as a psychiatrist, much of which involved studying and treating patients addicted to cocaine and other mind-altering substances, and that he had presented expert testimony on this subject many times. Based on a hypothetical that defense counsel produced from the trial and deposition transcripts, Dr. Mills testified that both statutory mental health mitigators were present. He also testified that the personality change Ponticelli reportedly underwent when he was using cocaine was consistent with extreme cocaine addiction and warranted both statutory mental health mitigators. During defense counsel's penalty phase closing arguments, counsel connected Dr. Mills' testimony to the testimony the jury had heard less than two weeks earlier at the guilt phase. Ultimately, when imposing its sentence, the trial court did not find either statutory mental health mitigator because it found that, given the lack of evidence supporting Ponticelli's cocaine use within twenty-four hours of the crime, Mills' testimony was speculative. In addition, a number of lay witnesses testified at the evidentiary hearing to Ponticelli's positive characteristics and the severe, adverse effect cocaine had on him. Family and friends described Ponticelli as a loving, docile child who had a difficult time fitting in during adolescence and whose personality changed during high school when he became involved in significant cocaine use. Approximately three years before the homicides, Ponticelli moved to Florida with his parents, and friends testified that he did not abuse cocaine at this time. Three or four weeks before the homicides, Ponticelli's cocaine use began again after he attended a cousin's wedding in New York. A cousin who attended this wedding described the cocaine use there as a binge, and friends who knew Ponticelli both before and after this visit testified that he changed from a calm, easy-going person with productive hobbies and steady employment to a paranoid person who did little else but use cocaine. A number of witnesses testified that when on cocaine, Ponticelli frequently displayed episodes of extreme, irrational paranoia. A number of witnesses also testified that they saw Ponticelli acting paranoid around the time of the homicides. In addition to these lay witnesses, four clinical mental health experts testified at the evidentiary hearing. Three of them testified on Ponticelli's behalf. One of these, Dr. Harry Krop, was also one of the court-appointed mental health experts who evaluated Ponticelli in preparation for the August 2, 1988, competency hearing. At the competency hearing, Krop testified that he believed Ponticelli was competent. More than twelve years later, at the evidentiary hearing, Krop testified that this evaluation enabled him to testify that both statutory mental health mitigators applied in Ponticelli's case. Krop testified that the report he issued following this first evaluation indicated that Ponticelli was voluntarily intoxicated at the time of the homicides, but Krop never spoke with defense counsel about this. In preparation for the evidentiary hearing, Dr. Krop evaluated Ponticelli a second time. He then testified at the evidentiary hearing that both statutory mental health mitigators applied in Ponticelli's case. Ponticelli's two other mental health experts agreed. Dr. Barry Crown testified that neurological tests he conducted on Ponticelli in 1995 (seven years after trial) showed evidence of brain damage, primarily in the parts of the brain that control executive functions. [22] Crown neither interviewed witnesses nor considered Ponticelli's behavior at trial or around the time of the homicides, and he also acknowledged at the evidentiary hearing that this behavior exhibited significant mental functioning. Dr. Michael Herkov also testified at the evidentiary hearing on Ponticelli's behalf. Based on a September 1999 evaluation, Herkov testified that it was likely Ponticelli suffered brain damage at birth and that his significant cocaine use qualified him for both statutory mental health mitigators. Herkov also testified to the effects of cocaine, the fact that cocaine dissipates quickly, and that Ponticelli exhibited signs of severe cocaine addiction at the time of the crimes. In rebuttal, the State presented a mental health expert, Dr. Wayne Conger, at the evidentiary hearing. Conger evaluated Ponticelli in July 2000 and testified that while he could not deny the fact that Ponticelli's brain may have been damaged by his cocaine use, he did not believe the damage was extensive enough to find incompetence or insanity. Conger also testified that Ponticelli was a normal functioning individual, both intellectually and cognitively. The facts surrounding the crimes demonstrated significant, goal-oriented behavior that was inconsistent with significant cognitive dysfunction and with the allegation that Ponticelli's cocaine use prevented him from reasoning effectively. Conger conducted many of the same tests as Crown and testified that the differences between his results and Crown's indicated that Ponticelli malingered when taking the tests. Even if he were to assume that Crown's tests were accurate, Conger testified that he did not believe the results supported Crown's hypothesis because the results revealed that Ponticelli had an antisocial personality disorder and a pattern of not complying with the lawnot a significant cognitive dysfunction. He did not believe either statutory mental health mitigator was present. In addition to the clinical mental health experts, Ponticelli presented Dr. Marc Branch, a professor at the University of Florida who studies the effects of cocaine through animal research. Defense counsel had contacted Branch in 1988. In fact, counsel proffered Branch's testimony at trial, but the trial court ultimately excluded Branch's testimony because of the lack of evidence supporting Ponticelli's cocaine use at the time of the homicides. At the evidentiary hearing, Branch testified that even though he was not qualified to diagnose Ponticelli as having a cocaine psychosis, the lay witness testimony at the evidentiary hearing revealed that Ponticelli had demonstrated the lynchpin evidence of it. [23] Branch testified at the evidentiary hearing that in 1988 he would have been able to testify that Ponticelli was likely under a cocaine psychosis when he committed the homicides. Post-1988 research has enabled Branch to testify to this with almost complete certainty.