Opinion ID: 2718100
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Dr. Iraj Mansoori

Text: Dr. Iraj Mansoori, a psychologist with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, testified that in 1991 he counseled defendant for approximately 12 to 15 hours over the course of six months while defendant was a ward at the CYA. Dr. Mansoori got along well with the defendant. On May 14, 1991, Dr. Mansoori wrote a parole evaluation report on defendant. Defendant was found not suitable for parole. In response to being informed by Dr. Mansoori that he would not be paroled, defendant stated simply, ―That‘s okay.‖ Dr. Mansoori interpreted defendant‘s response as indicating a preference for the CYA over what defendant was offered at home. b) Defendant’s Childhood (1) Mary Goldie Mary Goldie testified that on January 21, 1977, she was a detective with the Pasadena Police Department assigned to the juvenile section. On that day, a woman by the name of Mrs. Berkins came in with defendant, who was three years old at the time. Berkins was not a relative, and no relative could be located. Goldie took defendant into protective custody and transported him to a shelter care 22 home arranged through McClaron Hall, a facility for abused and neglected children. (2) Juanita Terry Juanita Terry testified that in 1978 she was working as a protective services employee in the ―Metro Office‖ of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services. Terry was assigned to defendant‘s case on March 31, 1978. By that time, defendant had been placed with his aunt, Barbara Mitchell. He had been removed from his mother‘s care because she was mentally unstable, had been beating him, and had not provided him consistent care and supervision. Terry‘s notes indicated that on several occasions, defendant‘s mother had attempted to remove him from nursery school or had interfered with his care in Mitchell‘s home. In October 1978, defendant‘s mother regained custody of defendant against Terry‘s recommendation. (3) Ms. Emery The parties stipulated to the testimony that would have been provided by a certain Ms. Emery, who was defendant‘s and his mother‘s neighbor in 1978. Emery would have testified that during January and February of 1978, she witnessed defendant‘s mother speaking to people who were not there and ―scream[ing] and yell[ing] and act[ing] strange.‖ Emery also witnessed defendant‘s mother striking him. As a result of these observations, Emery called the Department of Public Social Services. c) Defendant’s Family (1) Linda Allen Linda Allen is defendant‘s maternal aunt; defendant‘s mother, Carole Sparks, is her older sister. Allen testified that Sparks was a heavy drug user and stripper. Sparks discovered she was three months pregnant with defendant after 23 she was hit by an automobile while exiting a nightclub. She sustained serious injuries and was in a full body cast for a ―long time.‖ Allen took care of Sparks while she was injured, and Sparks told her that she did not want to keep the baby. While pregnant, Sparks took prescribed medication and illegal drugs. She gave birth to defendant while her pelvis and legs were still in casts. Allen testified that defendant‘s father, Melvyn Banks (Melvyn), was very abusive. Melvyn burned Sparks with cigarettes and beat her with golf clubs. Allen recalled one time when she went in an ambulance with Sparks after finding Sparks on the floor of her apartment with burns to her chest. Allen could not remember whether this incident occurred before or after defendant was born because there were so many similar incidents. Melvyn died two or three years before defendant‘s trial. Sparks attempted suicide many times. Once she drank Drano. Allen could not recall if that incident occurred before or after defendant‘s birth. After she got married in 1975, Allen did not see defendant for a long period of time. Allen renewed contact with defendant in 1978 when he was three or four years old and living with Allen‘s and Sparks‘s sister, Barbara Mitchell. When defendant was returned to his mother‘s custody, Allen again lost contact with him. Sparks prohibited Allen from having contact with defendant and, at one point, attempted to attack Allen and threatened to kill her and burn down her house because she thought Allen had picked up defendant from a foster home where he was living. Although defendant was affectionate towards Sparks, Sparks never reciprocated his affection. Allen saw defendant at a grocery store when he was six or seven years old. Defendant was trying to make money for his mother by taking customers‘ grocery bags to their cars. Allen prepaid a grocery store to provide defendant food 24 because he complained that he was hungry. She did not give defendant money directly because he would give it to his mother. During the period when defendant was not in custody from November 30, 1993 through February 21, 1994, Allen saw defendant frequently at family gatherings. She was ―setting him up on programs, taking him [to job] interviews, getting his I.D. and birth certificate‖ in an attempt to help him become a better person. Defendant was always respectful in Allen‘s presence and never exhibited any violence towards her or others. Allen loved defendant and wanted him to live. (2) Barbara Mitchell Barbara Mitchell is defendant‘s maternal aunt; Carole Sparks is her younger sister. Mitchell testified that she took care of Sparks after Sparks was injured in a car accident. Sparks took prescribed pain medication while she was pregnant with defendant but, to Mitchell‘s knowledge, did not take any illegal drugs. At some point after defendant was born, Sparks and defendant went to live with defendant‘s father Melvyn. Melvyn beat Sparks, choked her, pushed her down stairs, slammed car doors on her, and pulled her hair. Mitchell sporadically cared for defendant during this time. When defendant was two years old, Sparks dropped him off at the daycare attended by Mitchell‘s children with a note pinned to his jacket stating, ―Take him. I don‘t want him.‖ Mitchell took defendant and obtained legal custody of him. Defendant lived with Mitchell for about three years, during which time Mitchell cared for defendant as her own. Defendant was an affectionate child. Mitchell believed that defendant loved Sparks, but that he was afraid of Sparks at the same 25 time. Sparks would tell defendant: ― ‗You‘re a man child. [¶] You have to fend for yourself.‘ ‖ Mitchell testified that Sparks was a drug addict who had used PCP, marijuana, and cocaine. She swallowed Drano one time. Mitchell believed Sparks was crazy. Sparks eventually told Mitchell she wanted to take defendant back because she was getting child assistance money from the county, and the county had discovered that defendant was not living with Sparks. After a hearing, a court returned custody of defendant to Sparks. Mitchell had no further contact with defendant until he was about nine years old. At that time, defendant was living in a halfway house because he had been ―bad.‖ Mitchell visited him there, and defendant cried during her visits. Defendant was moved from one foster home to another. Mitchell had never seen defendant act in a violent manner. She loved defendant and did not want him to die. (3) Carole Sparks Carole Sparks, defendant‘s mother, testified. She admitted that she had refused to speak with defense counsel and the defense investigator when they contacted her. The two penalty phase trials were the only times she had been willing to speak with defense counsel. Sparks testified that the accident in which she was seriously injured occurred before she knew she was pregnant with defendant. Sparks admitted to smoking marijuana before the accident but denied ever using heroin, cocaine, or PCP. However, she was on pain medication during her pregnancy. According to Sparks, defendant was born in 1972. But the parties stipulated that defendant was born on April 3, 1973. Sparks denied that Mitchell and Allen took care of her 26 after her accident or that they cared for defendant when he was an infant. She denied that defendant ever lived with Mitchell. She did not get along with either Allen or Mitchell, and referred to them as her mother‘s daughters, not her sisters. Sparks denied having been a stripper. She claimed she had been a beauty school student, a bartender, and a waitress. Sparks denied drinking Drano but acknowledged drinking a mixture of peroxide, sugar, water, and a few other ingredients to clear out her system from suspected PCP in her home‘s ventilation system. She testified that defendant‘s father lived with her from 1969 through 1971 but denied that defendant‘s father beat her or that she was accompanied by her sisters to the hospital after any such beatings. Sparks denied that she dropped defendant off at a daycare center with a note stating she did not want him. Although defendant was in foster homes and a group home for some time, whenever he ran away his probation officer released him to live with her. Sparks recalled an incident when appellant was nine or 10 years old and he came home with stolen property (possibly a bicycle); she made him return it.