Opinion ID: 2307555
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Newly Discovered Evidence of Defendant's Diminished Capacity

Text: Finally, we conclude that the cumulative effect of the deficiencies of the defendant's trial counsel did not deprive him of a fair trial. Defendant claims that the expert testimony presented at the penalty-phase retrial that he suffers from organic personality syndrome constitutes newly discovered evidence of his diminished capacity at the time of the murder. He contends that this evidence could have provided the 1984 guilt-phase jury with a rational basis for finding that he acted with an intent to cause serious bodily injury rather than an intent to kill. Defendant therefore urges the Court to vacate his death-eligible murder conviction and remand the case for a new guilt-phase trial. Before reaching the merits of this issue, we first address the State's objection that the issue is procedurally barred under Rule 3:22-4 because defendant could have raised this claim on direct appeal. Rule 3:22-4 provides an exception where denial of relief would be contrary to the Constitution of the United States or the State of New Jersey. As the PCR court found, defendant's claim falls within that exception. If the newly discovered evidence demonstrates that defendant could not have formed the intent to kill, then defendant's conviction for death-eligible murder would be vacated in accordance with the State constitution as it existed at the time of the murder. See Gerald, supra, 113 N.J. at 69, 549 A. 2d 792. Thus, we will relax the procedural bar and turn to the merits of defendant's argument. At the 1990 penalty-phase proceeding, defendant's three experts testified that defendant suffers from organic personality syndrome caused by brain damage. This disorder interferes with the ability to control emotional responses and aggressive impulses. The condition, according to Dr. Young, causes defendant to forget his actions because his mind is not recording the way it normally does in day to day experience, during the time when the murder is actually happening. Dr. Young did not believe that at the time that the murders took place [defendant] was in command of his ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of murder or necessarily even to know that murder was about to happen or in the process of happening. He surmised that defendant most likely lost the ability to formulate any intent after he committed the sexual assault, but before committing the murder. According to Dr. Young, defendant probably already had lost control of his actions when he began to beat and strangle the victim. Dr. Pincus testified that defendant is a little brain damaged, ... and has a little bit of more trouble than you or I would have had in controlling the impulses. He concluded that defendant was out of control when he committed the murder. Dr. Kay described defendant's dysfunction as mild and explained that defendant does not exhibit symptoms of schizophrenia or any other severe psychotic disorder that would have impaired his ability to reason. Additionally, Dr. Kay stated that three medical tests performed on defendant did not show any structural abnormalities in defendant's brain. Newly discovered evidence warrants a new trial only if the evidence is (1) material to the issue and not merely cumulative or impeaching or contradictory; (2) discovered since the trial and not discoverable by reasonable diligence beforehand; and (3) of the sort that would probably change the jury's verdict if a new trial were granted. State v. Carter, 85 N.J. 300, 314, 426 A. 2d 501 (1981). Defendant maintains that two cases, Gerald, supra, and State v. Galloway, 133 N.J. 631, 628 A. 2d 735 (1993), both decided after defendant's guilt-phase trial, establish the relevance of defendant's organic personality disorder to re-evaluation of defendant's state of mind. According to defendant, Gerald provided him with a reason to develop evidence that, as a result of his diminished capacity, he had the ability to form only the intent to cause serious bodily harm, but not the intent to kill. Galloway, defendant contends, held that all mental deficiencies, including disorders that cause a loss of emotional control, can support a diminished-capacity defense. Before the guilt-phase trial, a psychiatrist, Dr. John P. Motley, examined defendant. Dr. Motley found that defendant, although not insane, suffered from an antisocial personality disorder. Defendant, however, maintains that before Galloway, defense counsel had no reason to ask Dr. Motley to consider whether defendant's mental disease precluded him from forming the requisite intent. The import of defendant's argument is that counsel, through the exercise of reasonable diligence, could not have discovered that defendant's organic personality syndrome impaired his ability to form the intent to kill. The PCR court determined that the subsequent developments in the law made it reasonable that evidence that defendant suffered from organic personality syndrome was not adduced before the guilt-phase trial. The court, however, found that the evidence provided by the three expert witnesses was cumulative and probably would not have changed the outcome of the guilt-phase trial. In 1984, before Gerald, counsel understandably did not present evidence supporting the distinction between the intent to cause serious bodily harm and the intent to kill. Therefore, we consider whether the newly discovered evidence, by providing a rational basis for convicting defendant of serious-bodily-injury murder, probably would have changed the jury's verdict. Our review of the expert testimony leads us to conclude that the new evidence of defendant's mental disorder does not provide such a basis. Viewed in the light most favorable to defendant, the testimony does not support a distinction between defendant's ability to form the intent to cause serious bodily injury and his ability to form the intent to kill. Dr. Kay and Dr. Pincus did not connect defendant's personality disorder to a loss of cognitive function. Mental conditions that cause a loss of control may satisfy the diminished-capacity defense only if the record shows that experts in the psychological field believe that that kind of mental deficiency can affect a person's cognitive faculties, and the record contains evidence that the claimed deficiency did affect the defendant's cognitive capacity to form the mental state necessary for the commission of the crime. Galloway, supra, 133 N.J. at 647, 628 A. 2d 735. Here, in contrast, Dr. Kay testified that defendant's ability to reason was not affected. Likewise, Dr. Pincus merely described defendant's impairment as a loss of control. Although Dr. Young testified that defendant's mental disorder affected his ability to form an intent to murder, Dr. Young also noted that defendant lost control over his cognitive capacity after the sexual assault, but before he began to beat and strangle his victim. If anything, defendant's diminished capacity would preclude a finding that he intended to inflict any violent injuries on Ms. Peniston. The testimony does not support a finding that he beat and strangled his victim with the intent to cause serious bodily harm as opposed to death. Defendant does not claim that the expert testimony would support a jury finding that defendant was unable to form any intent. Consequently, we need not determine whether Galloway articulated a novel rule of law that would excuse defense counsel's failure to present evidence of defendant's personality disorder. Nevertheless, even if defendant did raise this claim, he could not satisfy the requirement that the evidence probably would have changed the guilt-phase jury's verdict. Carter, supra, 85 N.J. at 314, 426 A. 2d 501. After hearing the testimony from defendant's experts, the 1990 penalty-phase jury unanimously rejected the diminished-capacity mitigating factor. It is unlikely that this evidence of defendant's organic personality syndrome would have persuaded a jury that he had satisfied the diminished-capacity defense.