Opinion ID: 2546714
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 18

Heading: Failure to Present Expert Testimony Utilizing Available CT Scans

Text: Baumruk claims the motion court clearly erred in overruling his claim that his counsel was ineffective for failing to call an expert to testify as to the precise areas of Baumruk's brain damage and how these injuries affected Baumruk's executive decision making and ability to control impulsivity by analyzing Baumruk's pre- and post-surgery 1992 CT scans. Baumruk claims that this evidence could have explained his post-shooting negative behaviors and been utilized as a mitigating factor. After evidentiary hearing, the motion court overruled this claim after finding that a number of medical experts testified during trial about the brain injuries that Baumruk suffered in his shoot-out with the police and that [t]he introduction of the CT scans would not have altered the outcome of the penalty phase. The court found that counsel had discussed presenting the evidence but decided that it would not mitigate punishment because Baumruk was shot in the head only after firing on a uniformed officer. The motion court did not clearly err in making these findings. As previously described, Dr. Harry testified that the CT and PET scans were insufficient to help the jury understand how Baumruk would be affected by his brain injuries. The record also supports the motion court's finding that it was a strategic decision by Baumruk's counsel not to present this evidence because it would open the door to more evidence of the shoot-out with police that caused the injuries. Baumruk's counsel testified that they thought the mitigating value of such evidence would be limited and that the evidence might, instead, be aggravating. The motion court also noted that this evidence had been presented in Baumruk's first trial to no avail and, therefore, it was a reasonable strategic decision for Baumruk's counsel to present different mitigating evidence during Baumruk's second trial. Baumruk's argument relies on Hutchison v. State for the proposition that evidence of impaired intellectual functions is inherently mitigating. . . . 150 S.W.3d 292, 308 (Mo. banc 2004). However, Hutchison is distinguishable in that Hutchison had had mental problems his entire life, including bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and alcoholism. Id. at 302. Such circumstances were mitigating because they showed that Hutchison was a follower and less culpable than the other participants in the killing in question. Id. at 303. In the current case, the CT scans that Baumruk claims his counsel should have presented would only demonstrate his mental problems after the shooting. Also, unlike Hutchison, Baumruk planned and executed the murder of his wife on his own.