Opinion ID: 1753481
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Dr Scherr Glass' Treating Physician

Text: The motion court found counsel ineffective for failing to elicit testimony from Dr. Barry Scherr, M.D. Dr. Scherr admitted Glass to the hospital for bacterial meningitis when Glass was 23 months old. The motion court found counsel's failure to interview and call Scherr especially prejudicial because the trial court had excluded Glass' medical records. It is not unreasonable to conclude that testimony regarding the long-term effects of meningitis would have provided mitigating evidence of Glass' impaired mental functioning. The state contends that this information was before the jury through Glass' aunt. However, as the motion court explained, Glass' aunt admitted that she was not a doctor and didn't know if meningitis had any effect on Glass. The motion court did not clearly err in determining that counsel was ineffective for failing to elicit Dr. Scherr's testimony. The failure to call a treating physician who would have testified about Glass' impaired intellectual functioning can be prejudicial as such evidence can be inherently mitigating and critical to the jury's assessment of whether to impose the death penalty. Hutchison v. State, 150 S.W.3d 292, 297 (Mo. banc 2004).