Opinion ID: 2630926
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Letner's Case in Mitigation

Text: Letner's younger brother John testified that their father was an alcoholic. Because of his alcoholism, their father frequently moved the family while the boys were growing up. Their parents fought over his drinking, eventually separating when Letner was 19 years of age. Alcoholic beverages always were present in the home, and Letner was drinking consistently by the time he was 15 years of age. Letner also smoked marijuana, but John was not aware of his using other drugs. When Letner was growing up, he constantly was teased by other children concerning his appearance. At one point, his parents considered having him undergo cosmetic surgery to improve the appearance of his face, but ultimately his father decided not to proceed. John believed that Letner acted suicidal on several occasions. John testified that Letner assaulted Stephan Frame because Frame and two other boys previously had confronted John in school and threatened to beat him up. John did not inform Letner of the incident, because he knew their father would expect Letner to do something to protect John, and would beat Letner if he did nothing. Letner found out, however, and John overheard a telephone call during which Letner told Frame to leave John alone. According to John's testimony, Frame told Letner that if Letner confronted him, Frame would shoot Letner once he had the chance. John testified that he was present during the first incident when David Bendowski was with defendants in their car. John testified that no one forced Bendowski into the vehiclehe willingly joined them in order to drink beer and smoke marijuana. Tobin and Letner did not discuss money other than to remind Bendowski that he owed them money for marijuana. According to John, no one threatened or abandoned Bendowski; he simply chose not to ride back to town with them. John also testified that Letner and Tobin met in 1977 and became close friends. After they began to engage in frequent fights and other types of trouble, John told Letner he should stay away from Tobin. Eventually, John told Letner that he no longer wanted to be around Letner unless Letner ended his friendship with Tobin. Other witnesses testified on Letner's behalf along similar lines concerning the relationship between Letner and Tobin. Earl Bothwell's preliminary hearing testimony, which was read to the jury, was to the effect that Letner bought various things for Tobin and appeared to idolize him. Sheila W. also testified that Letner idolized Tobin. Burt Arnold testified that defendants sometimes had physical confrontations with each other, and it was Letner who usually would back down. In addition, the jury heard Bothwell's preliminary hearing testimony indicating that during the fight in the motel room prior to defendants' being arrested, Tobin had threatened to shoot Bothwell with his shotgun, but Letner removed the ammunition from the gun. Bothwell believed that had Letner not done so, Tobin might have shot him. John Letner testified that defendant Letner telephoned him in late 1987 and said he wanted to leave Visalia because Tobin was acting crazy and was scaring him. In April 1988, after Pontbriant's murder, Letner telephoned John and their mother several times and said he had done nothing wrong but doubted he would be acquitted of Pontbriant's murder. John told Letner not to contact them again unless he was willing to turn himself in to the authorities. Derrin Clenny testified he was hitchhiking with Letner at the time of the incident involving Officer Emberton. According to Clenny, Emberton was the aggressorLetner did not hit Emberton's car and merely was acting defensively throughout the confrontation. Clenny stated that Letner did not resist the officers at the time of his arrest. Letner testified on his own behalf. Regarding the incident with Stephan Frame, Letner testified he assaulted Frame because Letner's father had told him that he either must confront Frame to protect John, or find a new place to reside. Letner testified he was not present when Tobin entered David Bendowski's house and kicked him in the face. According to Letner, he and Tobin never forced Bendowski to enter their vehicle, and never threatened him or demanded money because Bendowski had dated Tobin's ex-girlfriend. Moreover, Letner testified, they did not abandon him outside of town; Bendowski had said he wanted to walk back. Similarly, Letner testified that he merely slapped William Healer once while they were driving him to meet Tobin's mother, and Letner may have hit him on one other occasion because he did not like Healer. Letner asserted he did not attempt to obtain money from Healer by threatening to harm him. Letner testified that Officer Emberton nearly hit Derrin Clenny when Emberton pulled his car over to the side of the road. Letner claimed that when Emberton left his vehicle, he was very aggressive and grabbed Derrin's arm. When Letner slapped Emberton's arm away, Emberton swung at him. Letner hit him back, knocking Emberton to the ground. Then two police cars arrived, and Letner was arrested. According to Letner, on the day of the incident involving Alexander McAdams, Letner drove Susan Forsythe to work at a restaurant. On the way, he saw McAdams drive through a red traffic signal. To avoid a collision, Letner was forced to accelerate, despite the red signal. Later, when he saw McAdams, Letner drove toward him in order to scare him. Letner asserted he did not have a rifle with him and did not shoot at McAdams. Letner explained he had left his rifle with a neighbor of Anthony Hockney named Rodney, and since had learned that the rifle was in Hockney's apartment. Letner did not know why the police were searching for him at the time he left Hockney's apartment. Letner testified that on the night of December 27, 1987, he became intoxicated and lost consciousness. At some point while he slept, Sheila W. poked Letner in the eye. Letner was startled and reacted by punching her, not realizing exactly what he was doing. Letner admitted having sexual intercourse with Sheila on January 1, 1988, but believed it was consensual. Letner testified concerning the incident with Mike Mohrhauser. Mohrhauser, who had consumed heroin that night, had been beaten up by Mohrhauser's brother and was unable to drive. When Letner drove Mohrhauser home, he punched Letner for not having helped Mohrhauser during the fight with his brother. According to Letner, when Mohrhauser told Letner to leave the truck, Letner stopped and instead pulled Mohrhauser out of the truck and drove away. Letner did not hit Mohrhauser or remove Mohrhauser's wallet or watch from his person; those items already were in the truck when he left Mohrhauser on the side of the road. Letner also testified that Tobin alone killed Pontbriant. Letner and Tobin went to Pontbriant's house on the night of the murder to drink beer with her, and he and Pontbriant made several telephone calls to Ed Burdette. After Tobin left to buy more beer, Letner and Pontbriant sat on the couch and hugged and kissed each other. Letner and Pontbriant had had sexual intercourse on three occasions prior to the night of the murder, but that night Letner merely acted to console Pontbriant. Letner testified that he, not Tobin, went to the liquor store on the second occasion to buy more beer. When Letner returned, Pontbriant asked him to tell Tobin to go outside and remain there for approximately one hour. Tobin took several beers and went outside to the front yard. Letner and Pontbriant disrobed and were intimate on the couch, but did not have sexual intercourse. After approximately 35 minutes, while Letner and Pontbriant were dressing, Tobin reentered. Pontbriant became angry because Tobin had not been invited to come back inside the house. Tobin told her that he knew what she and Letner were doing, and then asked Letner whether he already had asked to borrow Pontbriant's car. [4] Pontbriant became angrier and slapped Letner, who reflexively slapped her back, knocking her onto the couch. When Letner went to use the bathroom, he heard Pontbriant threatening to call the police. After Letner returned to the living room, he observed Tobin kicking Pontbriant's arm as she sat on the couch. Letner attempted to pull Pontbriant to safety by grabbing her hair. According to Letner, Tobin tried to remove Pontbriant's sweater. Tobin somehow had obtained Letner's buck knife, which may have fallen out of Letner's pants pocket when he sat on the couch. Tobin cut the collar of the sweater and ripped off the remainder of the garment. Tobin removed Pontbriant's pants and observed that she had defecated. Pontbriant laughed at Tobin, who then pulled out some of Pontbriant's hair and forced her down upon the floor. He then removed a telephone cord from his pocket and tied it around her wrists and neck. Tobin had his foot on Pontbriant and was strangling her with the cord when Letner intervened by wrestling with Tobin. Tobin bit Letner on the top of his head, and Letner hit his head against Tobin's nose, causing it to bleed. Letner noticed that his buck knife was stuck in the table and retrieved it. Tobin went into the kitchen, returned with a butcher's knife, and threatened to kill Letner if he interfered again. Letner then watched Tobin repeatedly stab the back of Pontbriant's neck. After Pontbriant was dead, Tobin forced Letner to help clean up the house and remove their fingerprints. At some point, Tobin put the beer bottle in Pontbriant's buttocks and kicked the bottle. Tobin retrieved the car keys from Pontbriant's purse and said, Well, we don't have to steal the car now. The two men, departing with the remaining beer and the murder weapon, proceeded to the Murray Street apartment. After they disposed of the knife and loaded their belongings into Pontbriant's car, they drove off but soon afterward were stopped by Officer Wightman. [5] The final witness on Letner's behalf was Dr. Richard Blak, a psychologist. Dr. Blak interviewed Letner and several members of his family, and performed a number of psychological examinations. In Dr. Blak's opinion, Letner, who was average to above average in intelligence, suffered from chronic depression, alcohol dependence, and polysubstance dependence, resulting from a borderline personality disorder (BPD) that Letner had developed at a very early age. Dr. Blak testified that symptoms of BPD include unstable interpersonal relationships, self-damaging impulsiveness, mood swings, aggressive behavior with an absence of anger control, suicidal or self-mutilating behavior, an unstable self-image, chronic feelings of emptiness and boredom, and extreme fear of abandonment. In Dr. Blak's experience, a person with BPD also may have a distorted sense of reality and may act upon imagined threats with an inappropriate sense of right and wrong. In Dr. Blak's opinion, Letner exhibited all of these symptoms. Dr. Blak observed that Letner had suffered a head injury in a car accident when he was seven years of age, but Blak was unable to form an opinion concerning any resulting effect upon Letner's brain functioning, because no records existed of any testing performed following the accident. In response to a hypothetical question describing a murder similar to that recounted in Letner's testimony, Dr. Blak testified that a person's failure to intervene during such an event would be consistent with such a person's having BPD.