Opinion ID: 2159715
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: DiFrisco's Petition for Post-Conviction Relief

Text: DiFrisco's PCR counsel carried out the kind of thorough, competent mitigation investigation that should have been conducted prior to the penalty-phase retrial. The experts they hired, whose testimony will be detailed below, rendered corporeal the evanescent mitigation case adduced by defense counsel. In brief, PCR counsel presented the expert report of Alan Goldstein, Ph.D., a forensic psychologist, who conducted twenty-six hours of interviews with DiFrisco, interviewed DiFrisco's family and friends, and administered a comprehensive battery of psychological tests. Goldstein concluded that DiFrisco was remorseful after his crime and continues to be remorseful today. Goldstein found that DiFrisco does not suffer from ASPD but from a learning disability, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which, combined with years of substance abuse, explained his poor judgment and excessive reliance on others to guide his social behavior. Goldstein's report also laid out the ways in which Silikovitz's evaluation of DiFrisco was incomplete and grossly inadequate, deviating dramatically from the standard of care of a competent psychologist. In addition, PCR counsel presented the expert report of Wilfred Van Gorp, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist. Van Gorp attested to Goldstein's conclusion that DiFrisco suffered from ADHD since childhood, which resulted in diminished cognitive abilities, exacerbated by years of substance abuse. Van Gorp opined that those impairments made it difficult for DiFrisco to make sense of social situations and resulted in his susceptibility to the influence of others, such as Franciotti, who Van Gorp characterized as a mentor figure. The report of Robert L. Smith, Ph.D., a psychologist with an expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of substance abuse, also was proffered. Smith evaluated the effects of DiFrisco's drug use on his cognitive functioning and concluded that, at the time of the offense, DiFrisco's ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions was diminished. PCR counsel offered the expert report of Jill Miller, MSW, a mitigation specialist who completed a comprehensive psycho-social history of DiFrisco. Miller found DiFrisco to be remorseful, a conclusion reinforced by her interviews with a nun who advised him in prison. By interviewing a number of individuals who knew DiFrisco throughout his life, Miller also discovered numerous incidents of kindness and generosity that indicated he was a person capable of rehabilitation. Miller also evaluated the mitigation investigation performed by trial counsel and concluded that it was deficient in many respects, falling well below established standards of practice for the development and presentation of mitigation evidence for penalty phases of capital trials. Finally, the expert report of David I. Bruck, Esq., an attorney with significant experience in capital cases was offered. Analyzing the record in this case, Bruck detailed the ways in which trial counsel's performance fell far below national standards for capital defense counsel. The court declined to allow the psychological experts to testify, although it received their reports in evidence; excluded Bruck's report altogether; and denied DiFrisco's motion. In so doing, the PCR Court opined that DiFrisco's defense team's performance met constitutional standards. This appeal ensued.