Opinion ID: 528434
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: error affecting the entire proceeding

Text: 18
19 Bertolotti's defense was undertaken by attorneys Joseph DuRocher, Clyde Wolfe, and Peter Kenny. DuRocher, the elected public defender for the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Florida, initially interviewed Bertolotti and assigned the case to his assistants Wolfe and Kenny. Wolfe was responsible for the guilt phase of the trial and Kenny for the penalty phase. Bertolotti argues that counsel's performance was constitutionally defective for four reasons: (1) counsel overlooked substantial evidence of Bertolotti's psychological problems; (2) counsel overlooked evidence of Bertolotti's traumatic childhood; (3) counsel overlooked evidence of voluntary intoxication; and (4) counsel failed to present a defense to felony murder. Bertolotti claims that counsel's errors prevented the presentation of an effective defense, compromising the integrity of both the guilt and penalty phases of his trial. 20 Our resolution of Bertolotti's ineffectiveness claims is guided by the familiar two-prong test announced by the Supreme Court in Strickland v. Washington: to prevail, Bertolotti must first show that counsel's performance was so deficient that counsel was not functioning as the 'counsel' guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment; second, Bertolotti must show that counsel's errors were so serious as to deprive [him] of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable. 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). To meet the second prong, Bertolotti must demonstrate prejudice: a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Id., 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068. The Strickland standard is applicable to Bertolotti's claims of ineffectiveness both at the guilt stage and the penalty stage of his trial. Id., 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. at 2064. 21 a. Insanity and diminished capacity.--Bertolotti asserts that his trial counsel overlooked clues of mental incapacity that would have caused a reasonably competent lawyer to secure a psychiatric examination of his client. With the results that such an examination would have yielded, reasonably competent counsel could have presented insanity and diminished-capacity defenses at the guilt stage of the trial, and could have offered compelling mitigating evidence at the penalty phase of the trial. Although we conclude that Bertolotti cannot show prejudice, our resolution of the prejudice issue is determined substantially by our doubt about the strength of Bertolotti's evidence of psychological impairment. This doubt also colors our conclusions in regard to the performance of Bertolotti's counsel. Because much of the evidence relevant to the prejudice component of the Strickland test is also relevant to the performance component on this issue, resolution of the performance component will not make our task appreciably more difficult, and we voluntarily address both prongs of the Strickland test. 4 22 (1) Attorney performance.--Nine judges already have reviewed the performance of Bertolotti's attorneys. The unanimous Florida Supreme Court decided that counsel's performance was deficient; the state trial judge and the district judge both concluded that counsel's performance was adequate. Federal courts are not bound by the state determination of ineffectiveness, however (Strickland, 466 U.S. at 698, 104 S.Ct. at 2070), and it is crucial to recognize that the role of the Florida Supreme Court in deciding questions of ineffective assistance differs fundamentally from the role of the federal court. Article Five, section fifteen of the Florida Constitution provides that The supreme court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to regulate the admission of persons to the practice of law and the discipline of persons admitted. West's F.S.A. Const. Art. 5, Sec. 15 (Supp.1989). We have no such authority: as our Supreme Court has admonished, the duty of the federal court sitting in review of a state-court proceeding is not to grade counsel's performance. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 697, 104 S.Ct. at 2069. Rather, the ultimate focus of our inquiry must be on the fundamental fairness of the proceeding whose result is being challenged. Id., 466 U.S. at 696, 104 S.Ct. at 2069. 23 The Florida Supreme Court analyzed the performance of Bertolotti's counsel under a state-law standard: where there is evidence calling into question a defendant's sanity, defense counsel is bound to seek the assistance of a mental health expert. Bertolotti v. State, 534 So.2d at 388. Because some evidence called Bertolotti's sanity into question and counsel failed to seek the assistance of a mental health expert until the morning of the sentencing hearing, the Florida court adjudged counsel's performance deficient. 534 So.2d at 389. The sixth-amendment standard for deciding a claim of defective performance is not nearly this formulaic; the federal standard asks whether counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, and [m]ore specific guidelines are not appropriate. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688, 104 S.Ct. at 2064. Our role in collaterally reviewing state judicial proceedings is not to point out counsel's errors, but only to determine whether counsel's performance in a given proceeding was so beneath prevailing professional norms 5 that the attorney was not performing as counsel guaranteed by the sixth amendment. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. at 2064. Because the question asked by the state court is not the question asked by the federal court, the fact that the two courts apparently diverge does not necessarily signal a conflict. 24 That counsel's behavior transgressed a state-law duty is a factor we should consider in determining whether counsel was ineffective for the purposes of the sixth amendment, but because the sixth amendment does not guarantee perfect representation, an attorney error is not dispositive of the question of sixth-amendment ineffective assistance. Adams v. Wainwright, 709 F.2d 1443, 1446 (11th Cir.), reh. in banc den., 716 F.2d 914 (11th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 1063, 104 S.Ct. 745, 79 L.Ed.2d 203 (1984). Significantly, as the state-law duty violated by Bertolotti's counsel is not constitutionally compelled, it is less likely that Bertolotti's representation was fundamentally flawed. The Florida court cited the United States Supreme Court's decision in Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 84 L.Ed.2d 53 (1985), as persuasive authority for its decision, but Ake does not require the Florida rule. 25 The defendant in Ake behaved so strangely at arraignment and prior thereto that the trial judge, on his own motion, ordered the defendant to be examined by a psychiatrist 'for the purpose of advising with the Court as to his impressions of whether the Defendant may need an extended period of mental observation.'  470 U.S. at 71, 105 S.Ct. at 1090. The subsequent psychiatric report revealed that the defendant appeared to be  'frankly delusional.... He claims to be the sword of vengeance of the Lord and that he will sit at the left hand of God in heaven.'  Id. The psychiatrist diagnosed the defendant as a probable paranoid schizophrenic and recommended prolonged psychiatric evaluation to determine the defendant's competency to stand trial. The defendant was committed for observation; the chief forensic psychiatrist informed the trial judge that the defendant was psychotic, schizophrenic, suffering from delusions, rage, and poor control; the trial court held the defendant incompetent to stand trial. Six weeks later, the forensic psychiatrist recommended that the defendant (by then under medication) was competent to stand trial; the state resumed proceedings. Defense counsel told the court that he planned to raise the insanity defense on behalf of his client, and he requested state funds to hire a psychiatrist for the purpose of determining whether his client was insane at the time of the offense. The trial judge refused to appropriate funds; the United States Supreme Court subsequently held that the defendant's fourteenth-amendment rights had been violated: We hold that when a defendant has made a preliminary showing that his sanity at the time of the offense is likely to be a significant factor at trial, the Constitution requires that a State provide access to a psychiatrist's assistance on this issue if the defendant cannot otherwise afford one. 470 U.S. at 74, 105 S.Ct. at 1091-92. 26 Ake thus speaks to the responsibility of the state when the defendant exhibits compelling evidence of incompetency or insanity, the defendant's sanity is in issue, and the defendant is unable to afford the services of a mental-health expert. Because implicit in Ake is an assumption that counsel will recognize the applicability of the insanity defense to the facts of his particular case, counsel faced with facts comparable to those in Ake might be deficient as a matter of sixth-amendment law if he did not conduct a reasonable investigation into the possibility of raising an insanity defense. Cf. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 691, 104 S.Ct. at 2066. Ake, however, does not require that counsel faced with significantly less compelling evidence of mental instability--which evidence, as in the instant case, nonetheless could call his client's sanity into question--must move beyond a preliminary inquiry into an insanity defense and actually seek the assistance of a mental health expert. Cf. Bertolotti v. State, 534 So.2d at 388. As the state would not be required by the federal constitution to fund an examination under such circumstances, Moore v. Kemp, 809 F.2d 702, 712 n. 8 (11th Cir.) (in banc), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1054, 107 S.Ct. 2192, 95 L.Ed.2d 847 (1987), counsel cannot be per se deficient for not requesting an examination. When fundamental fairness does not require that a defendant be given a benefit, fundamental fairness is not threatened by the defendant's failure to receive that benefit if the failure is due to counsel's reasonable decision not to request it or the court's reasonable decision not to grant it. See generally Clark v. Dugger, 834 F.2d 1561, 1563-65 (11th Cir.1987), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 1282, 99 L.Ed.2d 493 (1988); Bowden v. Kemp, 767 F.2d 761, 765 (11th Cir.1985). 27 This is not to say that vigorous counsel could never move for the appointment of an expert if he doubts that his client can make out an Ake showing; nor do we in any sense question Florida's decision to hold its practitioners to a higher standard. Rather, the federal standard by which we measure counsel's decision not to go forward with a full-fledged inquiry into his client's mental health remains that announced by the Supreme Court in Strickland: In any ineffectiveness case, a particular decision not to investigate must be directly assessed for reasonableness in all the circumstances, applying a heavy measure of deference to counsel's judgments. Id., 466 U.S. at 691, 104 S.Ct. at 2066. In Strickland as in the instant case, the petitioner argued that his counsel was ineffective for failing to secure a psychiatric examination. Id., 466 U.S. at 675, 104 S.Ct. at 2058. Evaluating the claim, the Supreme Court held that [t]he reasonableness of counsel's actions may be determined or substantially influenced by the defendant's own statements or actions. Id., 466 U.S. at 691, 104 S.Ct. at 2066. Specifically, when a defendant has given counsel reason to believe that pursuing certain investigations would be fruitless or even harmful, counsel's failure to pursue those investigations may not later be challenged as unreasonable. Id. 28 Turning to appraise the reasonableness of counsel's decision not to secure a psychiatric examination until the morning of Bertolotti's sentencing hearing, 6 we view the facts as of the time of counsel's conduct, recognizing that counsel is strongly presumed to have rendered adequate assistance and made all significant decisions in the exercise of reasonable professional judgment. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690, 104 S.Ct. at 2066. Bertolotti's burden is to overcome the presumption that, under the circumstances, the challenged action 'might be considered sound trial strategy.'  Id., 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. at 2065 (quoting Michel v. Louisiana, 350 U.S. 91, 101, 76 S.Ct. 158, 164, 100 L.Ed. 83 (1955)). 29 Bertolotti has identified several signals that he argues should have led Kenny and Wolfe to secure a psychiatric examination prior to trial. 7 A brief review of the facts surrounding the murder is needed to place the signals in context. The victim, found in her house by her husband, had been repeatedly stabbed with two knives; one broke and the other was left in the body. She was naked from the waist down and forensic tests revealed that intercourse had taken place, although there was no evidence of physical trauma. The victim had also been strangled and beaten, and bore bruises that indicated she had fought back during the attack. She had been robbed of thirty dollars, and her car had been stolen. A few days later, Bertolotti was arrested after his girlfriend informed police that she suspected his involvement in the murder. He gave the police two voluntary confessions which were preserved on audio tape; in the first confession, he admitted murdering the victim, in the second, he admitted the murder and also attempted to implicate his girlfriend. See Bertolotti v. State, 476 So.2d at 131-32. 30 In conjunction with these facts, Bertolotti argues that counsel unreasonably disregarded the following signals: first, the audio tapes of his confession reveal that he was in an extremely emotional state while recounting the murder. Second, Bertolotti stated during the first taped confession that I just, I don't know what was happening to me. Third, his explanation of the facts of the crime was inherently unbelievable. Fourth, Bertolotti's girlfriend told Wolfe that she believed Bertolotti needed psychiatric help, and had a split personality. Fifth, Bertolotti was placed under psychiatric observation while being held for the murder. Sixth, the number of stab wounds in the victim should have indicated mental instability. 31 The audio tapes do indeed reveal that Bertolotti cried and moaned while explaining his crime to the police interrogators. Bertolotti's voice is low and trembling, and as the narrative proceeds to the actual murder, Bertolotti perceptibly becomes more distraught. Throughout the entire interrogation, however, Bertolotti plainly appears to understand what he is doing, who he is talking to, and what he is talking about. His responses to the interrogator's questions are consistently coherent. In the second taped confession, during which Bertolotti explains why he did not tell the full story in his first confession and also implicates his girlfriend in the wrongdoing, his tone is calm and rational. The tapes are at least as consistent with the proposition that Bertolotti was remorseful or frightened as they are with the proposition that Bertolotti had mental problems. 32 His statement that he did not know what was happening to him raises the possibility of mental illness, but in light of Bertolotti's confession admitting that he knew he had killed the victim when he left the house, the statement is hardly a sure-fire sign of legal insanity and could simply be an effort to shirk responsibility for the crime. In the same way, the fact that a defendant offers an unbelievable explanation for his actions is hardly unusual in itself--Bertolotti first told the police interrogators that the victim invited Bertolotti into her house to use the telephone and get a drink, whereupon he attacked her with a kitchen knife; in an effort to satisfy Bertolotti, the victim offered him jewelry and began to undress. The victim began to talk with Bertolotti and encouraged him to pray with her, but then tried to wrest the knife from him. He resisted, she screamed, and he began to stab. The first knife broke, but the victim continued to make noise and began to get up from the floor. Bertolotti found another knife and continued to stab. He then hit the victim in the head with a beer stein. In Bertolotti's second confession, he told the police that he and his girlfriend entered the victim's house in order to steal some money. The victim, who was at home, offered to have intercourse with Bertolotti in order to appease him, at which point the girlfriend became enraged. As Bertolotti and his girlfriend prepared to leave the house, the victim grabbed the girlfriend by the legs and the girlfriend ordered Bertolotti to stab the victim. Bertolotti's stories, while incredible, are not so bizarre that counsel should immediately suspect that his client is mentally ill, unless one were to adopt the dubious doctrine that no one in his right mind would commit a murder. Ake, 470 U.S. at 90, 105 S.Ct. at 1100 (Rehnquist, J., dissenting). 33 Reasonable counsel could have discounted much of what Bertolotti's girlfriend had to say; Bertolotti attempted to implicate her in the murder, and she herself turned in Bertolotti to the police, collecting a thousand-dollar reward for her trouble. She was probably not too sympathetic to Bertolotti's plight, and she had her own reasons for wanting Bertolotti to appear factually responsible for the crime. 34 Bertolotti was placed under psychiatric observation following his arrest, but the psychologist on the sheriff's staff who ordered the observation testified that he did so as a matter of routine, in order to follow up on anything that [he] may have missed when [he] saw Bertolotti. Bertolotti now states that he was placed under suicide watch on the day of his arrest. The staff psychologist did not recall placing Bertolotti under a suicide watch; instead, the psychologist was asked to interview Bertolotti after Bertolotti told a nurse questioning him about his background that on a previous occasion he had contemplated suicide. The fact that Bertolotti was placed under any type of psychological observation should have been a signal to inquire into Bertolotti's mental state, but it does not amount to much more. Similarly, the number of stab wounds in the victim could have raised the possibility that Bertolotti committed the murder in a frenzied rage, but in light of Bertolotti's statement to the police that he stabbed the victim so many times because of the difficulty in accomplishing the murder, reasonable counsel need not have seized upon this evidence as a definite indicator of mental problems. 35 Against this evidence of mental impairment, reasonable counsel would have recognized that Bertolotti's own actions following the murder showed that he appreciated the criminality of his conduct: he stole the victim's car and abandoned it where it would be stolen; also, in his confession to the police, he explained how he attempted to cover up evidence of his participation in the murder. The day following the murder, moreover, Bertolotti visited a minister, telling the minister that he had problems and asking for the minister's prayers. This evidence is important for two reasons: first, reasonable counsel could have taken this information to mean that Bertolotti was aware of the criminality of his conduct, and second, reasonable counsel would have realized that the prosecution could have used this evidence to rebut an insanity defense. 36 The foregoing evidence, considered as a whole, is sufficiently equivocal that reasonable counsel would not have been under a duty to secure a psychiatric examination of Bertolotti for the purpose of introducing an insanity defense or negating Bertolotti's specific intent to commit any of the crimes with which he was charged. 8 Cf. Ake, 470 U.S. at 74, 105 S.Ct. at 1091-92. The foregoing, however, probably suggested the need for some further inquiry into Bertolotti's mental state. The record indicates that counsel did make preliminary inquiries into Bertolotti's mental condition, but then abandoned the effort. As this decision was made after less than complete investigation of Bertolotti's mental health, Strickland requires an assessment whether reasonable professional judgments support[ed] the limitations on investigation. Id., 466 U.S. at 691, 104 S.Ct. at 2066. 37 Recalling that [t]he reasonableness of counsel's actions may be determined or substantially influenced by the defendant's own statements or actions, 466 U.S. at 691, 104 S.Ct. at 2066, we find it dispositive that both Bertolotti and his parents informed counsel that Bertolotti had never experienced any previous mental problems; Bertolotti's parents also told counsel that Bertolotti was of above-average intelligence. See Daugherty v. Dugger, 839 F.2d 1426, 1431 (11th Cir.), reh. in banc den., 845 F.2d 1032 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 187, 102 L.Ed.2d 156 (1988); cf. Elledge v. Dugger, 823 F.2d 1439, 1445 (11th Cir.) (counsel defective for mounting psychiatric defense yet failing to interview relatives or seek expert assistance), mod. on other grounds and reh. in banc den., 833 F.2d 250 (11th Cir.1987), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 1487, 99 L.Ed.2d 715 (1988). Counsel did not have any reason to think that Bertolotti was less than forthcoming; counsel testified that he interviewed Bertolotti numerous times, found Bertolotti communicative and appropriately behaved, and was very comfortable with Mr. Bertolotti. Cf. Thompson v. Wainwright, 787 F.2d 1447, 1451 (11th Cir.) (counsel testified that he thought client was retarded), reh. in banc den., 792 F.2d 1126 (11th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1042, 107 S.Ct. 1986, 95 L.Ed.2d 825 (1987). Furthermore, counsel spoke with a staff psychologist at a facility where Bertolotti previously had been incarcerated, who indicated that Bertolotti had adjusted well to the prison setting, served as a peer-counselor, and was in fact so trusted by the prison authorities that he was allowed access to scissors and razors so he could work as a barber. Further inquiry would have revealed that this same psychologist had at one point thought that Bertolotti exhibited indications of the possibility of disorganization under stress, cyclic bizarre and/or aggressive behavior and sexual dysfunction, but the psychologist did not volunteer this information and counsel was not aware of it. Although it is difficult to recreate the circumstances of the interview, counsel's failure to ask this psychologist specifically whether he had noticed any mental problems in Bertolotti might be considered unreasonable. See Thompson, 787 F.2d at 1451 n. 2. The failure was likely harmless in any event: the psychologist concluded that [a]ll of these indications have now disappeared, and it is likely that [Bertolotti] will do well in a work release setting. However, it should be noted that persons with [sociopathic] profiles similar to [Bertolotti's] present one, have extremely high recidivism rates, usually for crimes of a property offense nature. Even this information would have been an equivocal indicator of insanity at the time of the murder of Carol Ward. 38 In short, counsel testified that [w]e had done a great deal of investigation and deposition work as to the events prior to the offense and afterwards, and those matters did not trigger an insanity defense for me.... An insanity defense would have seemed to me inconsistent with the facts that would ... otherwise have been presented at trial. On the basis of counsel's inquiry and the evidence that Bertolotti appreciated the wrongfulness of his conduct, we cannot say that counsel behaved unreasonably in not securing a psychiatric examination for the purpose of introducing an insanity defense or for the purpose of negating premeditation. Stephens v. Kemp, 846 F.2d 642, 653 (11th Cir.) (no further duty of inquiry for purposes of guilt phase of trial when preliminary investigation of psychiatric evidence reveals that petitioner was hospitalized for psychiatric problem between four and six months prior to crime, but psychiatric report indicates no evidence of severe mental illness), reh. in banc den., 849 F.2d 1480 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 189, 102 L.Ed.2d 158 (1988). As the state judge orally concluded after the evidentiary hearing in the collateral proceedings, counsel attempted to save the life of their client by realistically arguing that this was a second-degree murder rather than a first-degree murder and opted not to take the unrealistic approach of not guilty by reason of insanity. Under the circumstances, the decision of Bertolotti's counsel can be considered sound trial strategy. 9 39 Even though the totality of the evidence discouraged counsel from mounting a psychologically based defense to the substantive crimes, evidence of mental impairment could still have been used during the sentencing phase of the trial. See Stephens, 846 F.2d at 653 (greater duty of inquiry into client's mental health imposed for penalty phase of trial). Because of the evidence that Bertolotti appreciated the wrongfulness of his acts, of course, counsel could still quite reasonably have entertained serious doubt about the efficacy of such evidence at the sentencing phase; nonetheless, counsel may have been able to evoke the jurors' sympathy or rebut some of the state's aggravating evidence with testimony that Bertolotti suffered psychological problems. Counsel attempted to have Bertolotti interviewed by a psychiatrist on the morning of the sentencing hearing, but Bertolotti refused to be seen. With a total lack of evidence that Bertolotti was not a competent decision-maker on the morning of the sentencing hearing, we cannot say that counsel behaved unreasonably by not taking further steps to encourage Bertolotti to undergo an examination. Cf. Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 820, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 2533, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975) (recognizing a right to pro se representation: the language and the spirit of the Sixth Amendment contemplate that counsel, like the other defense tools guaranteed by the Amendment, shall be an aid to a willing defendant--not an organ of the State interposed between an unwilling defendant and his right to defend himself personally); Foster v. Strickland, 707 F.2d 1339, 1343 (11th Cir.1983) (lawyer bound by client's decision against insanity defense), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 993, 104 S.Ct. 2375, 80 L.Ed.2d 847 (1984); American Bar Association Model Code of Professional Responsibility EC 7-7 & 7-8. 40 (2) Prejudice.--To demonstrate prejudice, Bertolotti relies largely on the testimony of Dr. James R. Merikangas, a psychiatrist who prior to the state evidentiary hearing interviewed Bertolotti for one hour and fifteen minutes, spoke with members of Bertolotti's family, and reviewed documents relating to Bertolotti's case. Dr. Merikangas testified that Bertolotti was insane at the time he murdered Carol Miller Ward. Bertolotti argues that had Dr. Merikangas's testimony been presented to the jury, there is a reasonable probability that the jury would have acquitted him on grounds of insanity. Even had the jury not acquitted him, there is a reasonable probability that Dr. Merikangas's testimony would have saved Bertolotti from the electric chair, because the jury may have found Bertolotti guilty only of second-degree murder, or may have found during the penalty phase of the trial that mitigating circumstances outweighed the aggravating circumstances. 41 Dr. Merikangas opined that Bertolotti was a schizophrenic who had a catastrophic reaction to the stress he experienced while hearing the victim scream. He reacted by stabbing the victim repeatedly, and while he was in the process of killing her, he was unable to discern right from wrong. Dr. Merikangas relied upon several factors to conclude that Bertolotti was schizophrenic. Bertolotti's mother briefly had been committed to a psychiatric hospital for schizophrenia in the late nineteen-sixties. Bertolotti suffered from delusions, did not exhibit appropriate reactions, and was religiously confused. He had been reared in an overly strict and overly religious household, and was subjected to psychological abuse by his father; he would tell lies for self-aggrandizement or to accept the blame for wrongs he had not done, would cry easily, and did poorly in school despite possessing above-average intelligence. He never had a girlfriend, and he used several aliases. 42 Dr. Merikangas explained the basis of his opinion on the catastrophic-stress reaction as follows: 43 I believe my opinion is that [Bertolotti] is a schizophrenic who had a catastrophic reaction to stress, that people with this disorder are predisposed to break down under conditions of stress and go berserk, as this man apparently did; and that this is borne out not only by his recounting of the crime and the several different versions which he used, but by the facts that are documented in the autopsy and the police report of a berserk rage, stabbing multiple times with two different knives, for instance; his actions after the crime of leaving bloodstains all around and leaving the weapon there and going home and hiding these clothes; his girlfriend, who is not a trained psychologist, observing that there was something weird and strange about him; his blubbering and whining and decompensating while giving a voluntary confession to the police the first time, and then coming back with another different confession that tried to implicate his girlfriend after he had time to consider it and calm down; and his past history all point to the same conclusion. 44 Dr. Merikangas's testimony is vulnerable to well-considered attack on several fronts and we doubt that a jury would find it convincing. 45 All psychiatrists and psychologists who testified at the evidentiary hearing agreed that schizophrenia can be hereditary; therefore, that Bertolotti's mother was once hospitalized with the illness is probative of the proposition that Bertolotti possibly suffers from the same illness. Beyond this evidence of schizophrenia, however, the evidence Dr. Merikangas relied upon in formulating his views is extremely weak. Bertolotti's alleged delusions, for example, consist chiefly of his belief that he could control those around him and influence the outcome of the evidentiary hearing. Dr. Merikangas was not aware of these delusions when he was deposed by attorneys for the state shortly before the evidentiary hearing; Bertolotti's attorney informed someone in his office who in turn told Dr. Merikangas that Bertolotti had related the delusions to counsel sometime between the deposition and the hearing. Even though Dr. Merikangas's opinion is not necessarily inadmissible because he relies on rather questionable hearsay testimony in formulating his belief, see Fed.R.Evid. 703, the trustworthiness of the basis for Dr. Merikangas's opinion is certainly something for the court to consider in deciding whether a fact-finder would credit the testimony. Elledge v. Dugger, 823 F.2d 1439, 1447 (11th Cir.1987) (value of doctor's testimony undercut by doctor's reliance on uncorroborated facts). The remaining factors Dr. Merikangas relied upon in concluding that Bertolotti suffered from delusions are unexceptional; these involved Bertolotti's use of aliases and his lying, evidenced in various prison records, about his own employment history, his father's employment, his mother's educational background, and the size of his family. 46 Bertolotti's alleged inappropriate reactions are also the subject of some dispute. Although Dr. Merikangas's testimony indicates that Bertolotti was displaying inappropriate responses during the evidentiary hearing, this behavior seems contradictory to the behavior evidenced on the taped confession, and the behavior otherwise testified to by trial counsel, the interrogating police officer, and a psychiatrist who interviewed Bertolotti for the state. The sheriff's staff psychologist did make the notation flat affect while interviewing Bertolotti after his arrest, which would indicate that Bertolotti showed little or no emotion during the interview, but the psychologist testified that Bertolotti's reaction was not atypical. As to Bertolotti's religious confusion, he apparently could not decide whether he wanted to be Catholic or Jewish, but, as Dr. Merikangas agreed, it is not unusual for people placed in jail to reassess their basic religious beliefs. 47 Regarding the severity of the home in which Bertolotti was reared, there is no strong evidence that Bertolotti was physically abused, and Dr. Merikangas did not place much emphasis on such evidence in forming his opinion. Instead, Dr. Merikangas testified that spanking a child when he needs it can be considered psychological abuse. Dr. Merikangas's view that the home was overly strict is based on information that Bertolotti's father and ... mother would look under the bed to see if there [was] any dust before the children would be allowed to go out and play. Further, Dr. Merikangas was told that Bertolotti and his siblings were locked out of the house during the day so they could not sully the interior. As to Dr. Merikangas's charge that the household was overly religious, the testimony merely shows that the children were taken to long church services on Sundays, and the father subscribed to the maxim that spared rods spoil children. The remaining bases for Dr. Merikangas's diagnosis of schizophrenia--that Bertolotti was an underachiever and unpopular with girls--concededly are consistent with a wide variety of problems. 48 Dr. Merikangas opined that Bertolotti was unable to discern between right and wrong at the time of the murder because of his catastrophic reaction to stress. A forensic psychologist called by the state (who had not interviewed Bertolotti personally but who appears, upon the cold record, to be the least partisan witness at the hearing) had trouble with the notion that the victim's screaming could have precipitated Bertolotti's reaction: 49 It's also hard for me to put [the victim's screaming] into a [catastrophic-stress] model in view of the total situation that was going on. There was obviously an attack involved and normally when people are attacked, they make some kind of audible as well as physical response to it. So one would expect potentially, if you go after someone, they're probably going to scream. And to see that as a catastrophic stresser is very difficult because we would tend to see that as an expected event. 50 The factors identified by Dr. Merikangas as consistent with his belief that Bertolotti had suffered a catastrophic reaction to stress are likewise consistent with the proposition that Bertolotti stabbed the victim repeatedly because of the difficulty in killing her, tried to hide his blood-stained clothes so he would not be detected, experienced remorse while recounting the crime, and later, upon reflection (tempered by anger that his girlfriend had betrayed him) attempted to implicate the girlfriend in the murder. 10 51 Bertolotti's counsel put the same question to each of the state's three mental-health experts: counsel asked the experts whether their disagreement with Dr. Merikangas's testimony necessarily meant that Dr. Merikangas was wrong, and if not whether they agreed that because psychiatry and psychology are arts, not sciences, reasonable professionals could differ in their diagnoses. Each of the state's witnesses agreed with the latter proposition; indeed, it is unexceptional to anyone with a modest amount of trial experience. Partisan psychologists and psychiatrists will often disagree in courts of law. Before we are convinced of a reasonable probability that a jury's verdict would have been swayed by the testimony of a mental-health professional, we must look beyond the professional's opinion, rendered in the impressive language of the discipline, to the facts upon which the opinion is based. Elledge, 823 F.2d at 1447. 52 In the instant case, we are not convinced that there is a reasonable probability that Dr. Merikangas's testimony would have had an effect on the jury's verdict of first-degree murder. 11 The testimony itself is internally weak, and it would have been directly rebutted by similarly qualified experts. Elledge, 823 F.2d at 1447. We doubt that a jury would have acquitted Bertolotti on grounds of insanity. Bundy v. Dugger, 850 F.2d 1402, 1412 (11th Cir.), reh. in banc den., 859 F.2d 928 (11th Cir.1988), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 849, 102 L.Ed.2d 980 (1989). We also doubt the existence of a reasonable probability that the jury would have convicted Bertolotti of a lesser-included, non-capital offense on the basis of Dr. Merikangas's testimony. Dr. Merikangas did testify that Bertolotti was capable of forming the intent to rob the victim, and in fact he had no question that [Bertolotti] had the desire to rob Carol Ward. Therefore, even if the psychiatrist's testimony would have supported the inference of diminished capacity, precluding a probable conviction of premeditated murder, Dr. Merikangas's testimony would not have changed a verdict of felony murder, which is also death-eligible under Florida law. 53 Turning to the sentencing phase of Bertolotti's trial, we see no reasonable probability that the evidence discussed above would have resulted in a life sentence for Bertolotti. 12 Because the evidence of psychological impairment would have been strongly disputed by the state's expert witnesses, and because the evidence itself has substantial internal weaknesses, we question whether counsel would have presented the evidence to the jury even had counsel possessed it. Attorney Kenny testified that his penalty-phase tactical theory was to portray Bertolotti as a normal man from a happy and loving family, whose life deserved to be spared; in light of the weakness of Bertolotti's psychiatric evidence, this tack would continue to be a reasonable strategy. 54 Assuming counsel would have produced the evidence, however, we nonetheless agree with the district court's factual conclusion that a jury likely would have found the state's expert testimony more logical and credible than the testimony offered in Bertolotti's behalf; 13 at most, the experts from opposing camps would have offset one another. 14 Bundy, 850 F.2d at 1409, 1412; Daugherty, 839 F.2d at 1431; Elledge, 823 F.2d at 1447-48. Moreover, in view of the three statutory aggravating circumstances presented to the jury--a disturbing record of prior criminal convictions, three felonies accompanying the victim's murder, and the especial heinousness, atrocity and cruelty of the murder--Bertolotti has not established a reasonable probability that equivocal evidence of mental instability would have tipped the jury's weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances in his favor. Thompson, 787 F.2d at 1453 (no reasonable probability that evidence of troubled youth, unsavory codefendant, and mental incapacity would have altered jury's recommendation of death sentence for brutal torture-murder); Elledge, 823 F.2d at 1447. Even if the proffered evidence would have affected the jury's consideration of the third aggravating circumstance, the other two would remain amply supported. Cf. Ford v. Strickland, 696 F.2d 804, 815 (11th Cir.) (in banc) (resentencing not necessarily required when one aggravating circumstance is struck on appellate review), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 865, 104 S.Ct. 201, 78 L.Ed.2d 176 (1983). 55 b. Remaining grounds of ineffective assistance.--We may quickly dispose of Bertolotti's remaining charges of ineffective assistance of counsel. Testimony at the evidentiary hearing showed that counsel conducted a reasonable investigation into the circumstances of Bertolotti's childhood; counsel interviewed Bertolotti's parents personally and also had them complete a lengthy questionnaire concerning Bertolotti's past experiences. 56 The evidence does not show that counsel unreasonably failed to raise a voluntary-intoxication defense to the specific-intent crimes of murder, robbery and burglary. The Florida Supreme Court held that the evidence of intoxication was insufficient to warrant a voluntary-intoxication instruction. Bertolotti v. State, 534 So.2d at 387. Bertolotti does not now show that counsel overlooked any other evidence of intoxication; indeed, Bertolotti later claimed that he had lied when he told police officers that he was under the influence of a quaalude at the time of the murder. 57 Nor does Bertolotti's final ineffectiveness claim have merit. Bertolotti argues that counsel simply did not grasp the fact that felony murder, like premeditated murder, is death-eligible under Florida law; as a consequence, Bertolotti argues that counsel failed to mount a defense against felony murder. During a hearing on several pending pre-trial motions, however, Attorney Wolfe informed the court that the state could prove capital murder by proving felony murder. Furthermore, the record shows that counsel sought to raise a reasonable doubt whether Bertolotti had committed the three charged predicate felonies. Bertolotti has shown neither attorney error nor prejudice. 58
59 Bertolotti argues that the prosecutor and judge impermissibly diminished the jury's sense of responsibility for the awesomeness of its task, in violation of Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985). The Florida Supreme Court found this claim procedurally barred because it was not raised on direct appeal; alternatively, the Florida court refused to address the merits of Bertolotti's Caldwell claim because Florida maintains that Caldwell is inapplicable to its statutory scheme, in which the trial judge imposes the death sentence. Bertolotti v. State, 534 So.2d at 387 n. 2. 60 Although we question the strength of Bertolotti's claim, 15 the doctrine of procedural bar prevents us from addressing the merits. In Dugger v. Adams, the Supreme Court recently held that Florida petitioners generally do not have cause for failing to object to Caldwell-type errors during pre-Caldwell trials, because Florida has long recognized that a defendant must object if the judge misinstructs jurors on applicable state law. --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 1211, 1215-16, 103 L.Ed.2d 435 (1989). Similarly, Florida has long held that the defense must object to improper prosecutorial remarks. E.g., Rogers v. State, 158 Fla. 582, 30 So.2d 625, 628-29 (1947). As Bertolotti suggests no other manner of satisfying the cause-and-prejudice test of Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977), we conclude that Florida's decision constitutes an adequate and independent ground for decision. 61 3. Improper Denial of Motion for a Change of Venue and Improper Limitation of Bertolotti's Right to Voir Dire the Jury Venire (Claim 11) 62 News stories about the murder of Carol Miller Ward were carried on television and printed in the newspapers following discovery of the crime and following Bertolotti's arrest and confession; a local television station also carried a report on Bertolotti's impending trial shortly before jury selection began. Prior to jury selection, counsel moved for a change of venue and for individual voir dire. At a hearing on March 19, 1984, the trial judge granted Bertolotti's motion for individual voir dire, 16 but, concluding that Bertolotti had not demonstrated prejudice, denied the motion for change of venue. The judge informed defense counsel that should difficulty in obtaining an impartial jury appear to be the case during voir dire, ... you are entitled to raise the issue at that time. On March 26, prior to voir dire, counsel renewed the motion for a change of venue. At a subsequent hearing in open court, the trial judge reviewed video tapes of televised news reports that aired in September and October 1983 and March 1984, but again denied Bertolotti's motion for a change of venue without prejudice to reconsider should voir dire show that the venire was biased. Jury selection began later that day. 63 Of fifty prospective jurors called, individual voir dire revealed that thirteen were sufficiently biased to be excused for cause; of that number, six were excused because of a preconceived notion of Bertolotti's guilt. In response to questions posed by the judge and by the attorneys, the remaining thirty-seven jurors indicated that they could determine Bertolotti's guilt or innocence based upon the evidence adduced at trial and not upon any preconception. The attorneys selected a panel of twelve jurors and two alternate jurors; of this number, three had no knowledge of the murder, nine had some knowledge of the murder, and two knew of the existence of Bertolotti's confession. Counsel did not move for a change of venue after voir dire commenced. 64 The individual voir dire conducted by Bertolotti's lawyers insured that Bertolotti was tried by an impartial jury under the sixth and fourteenth amendments; accordingly, Bertolotti has not demonstrated that he was actually prejudiced by the trial judge's denial of his motion for a change of venue. Importantly, if jurors can lay aside preconceptions and base their verdict on the evidence adduced at trial, they need not be completely unaware of the facts of a given case. Murphy v. Florida, 421 U.S. 794, 799-800, 95 S.Ct. 2031, 2036, 44 L.Ed.2d 589 (1975). Perhaps recognizing the difficulty in proving actual prejudice on the basis of the voir dire transcript, Bertolotti submits that his case is of that rare breed which does exceed the extremely high threshold test of presumed prejudice requiring a change of venue. Coleman v. Kemp, 778 F.2d 1487, 1489 (11th Cir.1985), reh. in banc den., 782 F.2d 896 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1164, 106 S.Ct. 2289, 90 L.Ed.2d 730 (1986). We disagree. 65 The record contains two news articles that appeared in the Orlando Sentinel in October of 1983, five months before the trial. The articles, one of which appeared on the front page of the Sentinel, detail facts surrounding the murder and Bertolotti's subsequent arrest, and also recount Bertolotti's prior criminal record. Beyond this evidence, the record contains affidavits of Bertolotti and two public defenders in which the affiants state that extensive publicity surrounded the murder investigation. The record does not contain the video tapes viewed by the trial judge; the judge indicated, however, that the tapes contained references to statements attributed to Bertolotti. The record is devoid of circulation figures for the newspaper and audience-share figures for the televised newscasts. 66 This showing is plainly inadequate to establish a claim of presumed prejudice under our decisions. 17 In Bundy, the petitioner produced much more evidence of pretrial publicity than Bertolotti now presents. 850 F.2d at 1425. Six months prior to jury selection in the proceeding under attack in Bundy, a public television station had broadcast half-hour summaries of another of the defendant's trials; the commercial television stations likewise provided extensive coverage of the earlier trial and the defendant also presented several newspaper accounts from the local newspaper. As in the instant case, the articles and broadcasts were factual in nature and did not include editorial commentary on the defendant's guilt. An opinion poll suggested that ninety-eight percent of the county residents were familiar with the name Bundy, fifty-eight percent knew that the defendant had been involved in the earlier case, and thirty-one percent believed that the defendant's earlier conviction strongly indicated that he was guilty in the case under collateral attack. We rejected this evidence, noting that prejudice is not presumed simply because the defendant's criminal record is well publicized. Id., 850 F.2d at 1425 (citing Murphy v. Florida ). Following our decision in Bundy, we conclude that Bertolotti has not shown that he was constitutionally entitled to a change of venue. See also Cummings v. Dugger, 862 F.2d 1504, 1511-12 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 3169, 104 L.Ed.2d 1031 (1989); Marsden v. Moore, 847 F.2d 1536, 1543 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 534, 102 L.Ed.2d 566 (1988).