Opinion ID: 2348914
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Counsel's Representation During the Penalty Phase Fell Beneath the Standards of Competency Required by the Sixth Amendment

Text: The only witness that defense counsel called during the penalty phase of Mr. Taylor's trial was the superintendent of Crossroads Correctional Center. The superintendent testified that Mr. Taylor would be housed in administrative segregation, potentially for the duration of his life-without-parole sentence. Under those conditions, the superintendent averred that defendant's ability to be a danger to others was minimal. Of course, the murder for which Mr. Taylor had just been convicted occurred in a maximum security prison under only slightly less restrictive conditions than those in which he was incarcerated at the time of trial, a fact the prosecution emphasized in rebuttal. Had there been no other available evidence in mitigation, perhaps presenting this as the only testimony would have been reasonable. But in Mr. Taylor's case, defense counsel had abundant mitigation evidence available that they failed to present to the jury. Where this evidence is available, and the jury has recently convicted a defendant of first-degree murder while in a maximum security prison, it is not reasonable for defense counsel to only present mitigation evidence that the defendant is unlikely to commit crimes in prison. Of course, defense counsel was entitled to  and did  rely on the evidence presented at the first phase of the trial during the penalty phase. Because the issue in the guilt phase was narrower, however, four of their five experts were not permitted to testify broadly as to their diagnosis and treatment of Mr. Taylor. The sole expert that concluded that Mr. Taylor lacked the capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the crime was Dr. Rabun. The other four experts, each of whom was responsible for diagnosing and treating Mr. Taylor while he was incarcerated, were only permitted to testify regarding those aspects of their reports that Dr. Rabun relied upon. As the trial court ruled in reference to Dr. Eikermann's testimony, defense counsel could only inquire as to those things that were reflected in the records that Rabun reviewed and relied on, but not anything extraneous to those records. This meant that, at the guilt phase, the jury could only use these experts' testimony as collateral support for Dr. Rabun's ultimate conclusion regarding Mr. Taylor's capacity at the time of the crime. In the penalty phase of the trial, these other experts' testimony could have been proffered for their own merit, as evidence of Mr. Taylor's history of mental illness. The limitations that the trial court imposed upon their testimony would have vanished. Moreover, the jurors would have been presented with this broader testimony at a time when their instructions would have permitted them to give mitigating effect to their conclusions about Mr. Taylor's history of mental illness  testimony that in itself provided no defense in the guilt phase. Due to counsel's unprofessional choice to present only the prison superintendent at the penalty phase, however, the jury was not given this opportunity. One of the defense experts, Dr. Rabun, had presented testimony in the guilt phase regarding Mr. Taylor's abusive upbringing and other difficulties in childhood. Through his testimony, some of the available mitigation evidence regarding Mr. Taylor's life was before the jury when deciding whether a recommendation of death was warranted. However, Dr. Rabun's testimony was provided primarily to support his conclusion at the guilt phase that Mr. Taylor lacked the capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the crime. Consequently, his testimony regarding Mr. Taylor's childhood was analogous to that of the other four experts: it offered collateral support to Dr. Rabun's ultimate conclusion. Once again, at the penalty phase of Mr. Taylor's trial, this testimony was entitled to receive independent weight and consideration as circumstances in mitigation of punishment. Reasonable trial counsel would have recognized the need to put on additional mitigation evidence regarding the defendant's character and background at the penalty phase, particularly after the jury had rejected the expert's ultimate conclusion. Moreover, trial counsel failed to introduce into evidence any of the records on which Dr. Rabun relied in reaching his conclusions regarding Mr. Taylor's abusive background, history of mental illness, and eventual diagnosis. This failure at the penalty phase is particularly profound since the jury had asked to review these records during the guilt phase of the trial. Despite the jury's specific desire to see these available records, which were replete with statements showing Mr. Taylor had suffered from mental illness since long before the murder, counsel made no attempt to fill this evidentiary void by introducing them in the penalty phase. During the evidentiary hearing on this motion, trial counsel testified they did not want to introduce the records because they felt the records contained some harmful information. While not all of the evidence in the records was favorable to Mr. Taylor, such records seldom are. Where the only basis of defense is that one's client has long had a mental illness that reduces his responsibility, the failure to introduce records that present not only support for his history of mental health evaluations and treatment beginning at the extremely young age of 7, but also a treasure trove of mitigation regarding Mr. Taylor's abusive childhood, simply is not a reasonable trial strategy. Foregoing mitigation because it contains something harmful is not reasonable when its prejudicial effect may be outweighed by the mitigating value. Hutchison v. State, 150 S.W.3d 292, 304-05 (Mo. banc 2004). See also Williams, 529 U.S. at 396, 120 S.Ct. 1495 (reversing death sentence where counsel failed to present mitigating evidence even though not all of the additional evidence was favorable to [the defendant]). Mitigating evidence unrelated to dangerousness may alter the jury's selection of penalty, even if it does not undermine or rebut the prosecution's death-eligibility case. Williams, Id. at 398, 120 S.Ct. 1495. In short, counsel's performance at the penalty phase of Mr. Taylor's trial did not satisfy the standards of the Sixth Amendment. Given both the nature and the extent of the abuse petitioner suffered, we find ... that a competent attorney, aware of this history, would have introduced it at sentencing in an admissible form. Wiggins, 539 U.S. at 535, 123 S.Ct. 2527.