Court Opinion

ID: 9702352
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:07:47.679593+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:36.916304
License: Public Domain

Justice EAKIN,
dissenting.
I cannot support the majority’s remand which would consider whether appellant’s trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and present at the penalty phase “mitigating evidence” of appellant’s intoxication at the time of the murders, his history of drag and alcohol abuse, and his dysfunctional family history. Counsel in this case offered a viable approach, seeking to cast the most favorable light on his client for the jury — an effort which included nine witnesses who *8testified about the positive and human aspects of appellant’s life. I believe, as the PCRA court found, counsel’s chosen path was a reasonable strategy, highlighting the beneficial aspects and accomplishments of appellant’s life rather than belaboring the factors that purportedly made him a killer, and would affirm the order below.
The jury found the mitigation presented did not outweigh the aggravating factors in this double homicide. The argument that inevitably follows such a result is that choosing a different course at the penalty phase could not have led to a worse result; therefore, it should have been chosen in the first place. This is flawed logic, for it necessarily presumes that a successful strategy is available in the first place; such is not always the case. Reasonableness of a strategy is not measured by its success any more than is the reasonableness of a search. We cannot review in hindsight and say the result determines whether the means chosen were reasonable; we review the means chosen and determine whether they reflect a valid strategy.
Hindsight often reveals inadequacies and missteps, but this Court reviews whether counsel’s chosen course was reasonably designed to serve the client’s interest. See Commonwealth v. Meadows, 567 Pa. 344, 787 A.2d 312, 320-21 (2001). As is often the case, trial counsel had two competing types of potential “mitigation” evidence. The focus could center on how appellant had accomplished things despite his hard background, and hence had potential value to society; this would suggest the murder was an aberration, a contrast to his positive side. Alternatively, he could have stressed those factors which offer an explanation of why he turned out to be a murderer. These suggest the crime was almost inevitable; they could also suggest that he will always be a dangerous product of those factors.
Counsel admittedly did not investigate or present the latter, but he did present the former, in detail. Counsel called nine witnesses to testify to appellant’s good character: his mother, grandmother, grandfather, uncle, two aunts, a long-time friend, the mother of his daughter, and a family friend. *9Counsel admitted he did not know exactly what each witness would testily to, but it is clear he sought to and succeeded in making a contrast to the damaging testimony of appellant’s actions suiTOunding the murders. This was done with testimony showing appellant manifested decency and goodness in his life, and hence desexved to be spared from the death penalty.
For example, appellant’s mother testified her son was a good student, senior class president, and went to college. N.T. Trial, 10/10/91, at 7-9. Appellant’s mother also offered the jury some insight into appellant’s troubled youth,' such as his upbringing in a rough, drug-infested neighborhood, and that his father left when he was 21 months old. Id., at 11-12. This testimony was elicited to show how appellant overcame these setbacks and became a respected member of the community, rather than characterizing him as a corrupted individual. This chosen path painted appellant in the most positive light, instead of trying to explain why he was a bad person now seeking gratuitous mercy. This was a viable approach, particularly since appellant steadfastly maintained his innocence throughout trial; it expanded on appellant’s lack of pxlor criminal involvement. See Commonwealth v. Baez, 554 Pa. 66, 720 A.2d 711, 734-35 (1998) (counsel not ineffective for continuing to paint consistent picture).
It is not ineffective representation for counsel, having chosen the first path, to keep from the jury the prejudicial evidence now said to be mitigation: appellant’s intoxication, historical addiction, and unstable mental state. Ironically, if the prosecution sought to introduce these same factors, appellant would cry foul and claim they were being offered merely to smear his character and prejudice the juxy against him. They are traits of bad character. Now, through some alchemy of logic, they are said to be mitigators.
There will be cases where addiction, intoxication, and mental instability may mitigate a murder, but it simply is not an automatic conclusion. It cannot be the law that failure to seek out and present evidence of bad chai’acter is deemed ineffectiveness — how can we condemn counsel for not telling the jury *10“my client is not just a killer, he’s a mentally unstable drug addict too, and probably will be forever — but have mercy on him anyhow.” A life of dysfunction may explain a murderer’s disposition to commit the crime, but it may also make the jurors conclude that his future is as dangerous as his past and there is every reason to fear and worry about him.
In Commonwealth v. Malloy, 579 Pa. 425, 856 A.2d 767 (2004), this Court recently faulted counsel for making no effort at mitigation, a contrast to the present case that is significant. This Court commented at length on the criterion warranting a death penalty phase remand for counsel’s inadequate performance:
Although we recognize that the unpursued evidence in this case is not the strongest, we further note that trial counsel’s presentation at the penalty phase included no affirmative evidence at all, but only a brief argument and a stipulation. Such a performance, which was not motivated by any strategic decision, left the jury with a dry assessment of appellant’s individual circumstances. In short, it is not just the failure to present evidence of appellant’s background which concerns us, but the fact that the failure occurred in a case where there was little effort to personalize appellant for the jury.
Id., at 789 (emphasis in original).
Such is not the case here. Counsel tried extensively to personalize appellant and not leave the jury with only those negative aspects of his life extrapolated during the trial. While it ultimately proved insufficient to overcome the aggravating factors, I would not overturn the trial court’s finding, nor do I characterize as ineffective, counsel’s failure to present appellant’s condemnable and prejudicial character traits simply because they are labeled “mitigation” by present counsel. Therefore, I respectfully dissent.
Justice CASTILLE and Justice NEWMAN join this dissenting statement.