Court Opinion

ID: 9774613
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 18:26:53.134301+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:51:22.355085
License: Public Domain

*220Justice EAKIN,
concurring and dissenting.
I concur with the majority’s affirmation of guilt; however, I dissent from the affirmation of the PCRA court’s grant of a new penalty hearing and would remand the case for reinstatement of Martin’s original sentence.
The majority affirms the PCRA court’s conclusion that Martin’s claim of trial counsel’s ineffectiveness was of arguable merit. The PCRA court found the record did not indicate Martin directed Attorney Kilgore to forgo investigation or presentation of evidence regarding his mental health history; the court cited Martin’s mother’s testimony and her references to his mental health as support that Martin was not opposed to public presentation of his mental health history. See Majority Op., at 202-04, 5 A.3d at 199-200 (citing PCRA Court Opinion, 3/4/04, at 68-69). The PCRA court also noted Martin’s parents provided counsel with a list of institutions and psychologists who had treated their son, and determined Martin’s dislike of discussing his mental history did not preclude counsel from pursuing such evidence. Id. The majority also points to Attorney Kilgore’s testimony that Martin never issued any order prohibiting him from hiring or using mental health witnesses as evidence that Martin was not opposed to the presentation of such mitigation evidence. Id., at 205, 5 A.3d at 200-01 (citing N.T. PCRA Hearing, 9/9/02, at 112).
Under prevailing constitutional norms as explicated by the United States Supreme Court, capital counsel has an obligation to pursue all reasonable avenues for developing mitigating evidence. Counsel must conduct a thorough pretrial investigation, or make reasonable decisions rendering particular investigations unnecessary. Strategic choices made following a less than complete investigation are reasonable precisely to the extent that reasonable professional judgment supports the limitation of the investigation. In undertaking the necessary assessment, courts are to make all reasonable efforts to avoid distorting effects of hindsight. Nevertheless, courts must also avoid “post hoc rationalization of counsel’s conduct.”
*221Commonwealth v. Williams, 597 Pa. 109, 950 A.2d 294, 303-04 (2008) (citations and footnote omitted).
This Court has specifically held trial counsel’s failure to present mitigating evidence does not constitute ineffectiveness if the defendant directs counsel not to present such evidence. See Commonwealth v. Sam, 535 Pa. 350, 635 A.2d 603, 611-12 (1993). This is true because a “criminal defendant has the right to decide whether mitigating evidence will be presented on his behalf.” Id. If a defendant specifically directs trial counsel to avoid presenting mitigation evidence, counsel is under no duty to present such evidence; such action will not be found to comprise ineffectiveness. Id., at 612 (citing Commonwealth v. Tedford, 523 Pa. 305, 567 A.2d 610, 626-27 (1989)); see also Commonwealth v. Rios, 591 Pa. 583, 920 A.2d 790, 810-11 (2007) (counsel not ineffective in failing to present family testimony where appellant instructed counsel not to present additional witnesses). These principles control here.
Attorney Kilgore testified Martin was not interested in using his psychological treatments or problems during the trial or the penalty phase. Martin “did not want the general public to perceive of him of [sic] having psychological problems.” N.T. PCRA Hearing, 9/9/02, at 97. Attorney Kilgore testified he chose to present Martin’s mother’s testimony during the penalty phase regarding psychological circumstances, with Martin’s approval. Martin’s mother was a very articulate woman, she was responsible regarding her job, and counsel did not believe a psychiatrist or psychologist was going to save Martin’s life; however, he believed a mother’s love could. Id., at 92. Attorney Kilgore stated his penalty phase decision was also based on his experience with Lebanon County jurors — “[s]ome people think that psychiatry is just one step above witchcraft.” Id., at 93. This perception is not to be snickered at — counsel is duty-bound to understand the community in which the case is being adjudicated, and cannot be faulted for appreciating the predispositions of any significant portion of the jury pool. While we in the appellate world speak in broad and esoterically appealing terms and concepts, *222in the real world of trial decisions, this very practical concern of counsel should not be summarily rejected.
The fact that Attorney Kilgore did not contact any of the doctors who previously examined Martin, or contact any of the facilities in which Martin received treatment in any effort to establish the 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9711(e)(2) or (3) mitigators, is irrelevant to the analysis. Counsel followed Martin’s instructions regarding his psychological history, yet was able to reveal a bit of Martin’s past through his mother’s testimony; he respected Martin’s instruction and still gave the jury insight into his client through a witness counsel felt would be more readily accepted by the jury. Whether it would be more readily accepted by appellate judges is not the issue.
Counsel is presumed effective, and to overcome this presumption, Martin must satisfy a three-pronged test and demonstrate that: (1) the underlying substantive claim has arguable merit; (2) counsel did not have a reasonable basis for his actions or failure to act; and (3) Martin suffered prejudice as a result of counsel’s deficient performance. Commonwealth v. Pierce, 515 Pa. 153, 527 A.2d 973, 975 (1987). The evidence presented to the PCRA court as confirmation of counsel’s ineffectiveness in investigating and presenting mitigating evidence fails to meet this burden. Attorney Kilgore did not pursue such evidence under direction from his client. Attorney Kilgore was under no obligation to pressure Martin to present such evidence when it was quite clear he was not interested in the prospect. Nor, as the majority and PCRA court hold, was Attorney Kilgore required by the governing ineffectiveness standard to circumvent his client’s wishes and investigate or present evidence on a line of argumentation his client clearly did not wish to pursue. Attorney Kilgore followed Martin’s instructions, detrimental or not, and presented his case employing reasonable, strategic techniques. Pursuant to this Court’s precedent, he should not be found ineffective for such actions. I would find the portion of the PCRA court’s order granting a new penalty phase should be reversed *223and the case remanded for reinstatement of Martin’s original death sentence.