Court Opinion

ID: 9568259
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:01:54.671772+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:24:31.259915
License: Public Domain

Deen, Presiding Judge,
concurring specially.
There is no conflict in the following evidence: McNorton was a dull normal youth aged 23 with a seventh grade education, who had been an addict in his early teens, was aided by a mental health agency and then Atlanta Rehabilitation Center, had had no contact with drugs for three or four years preceding this incident, and was suddenly hounded by systematic telephone calls from Paula, a girl he had worked with at the Center who had turned informer, up to six or eight times a day with conversations lasting up to two hours. The calls begged defendant to help her find some drugs for a “friend” who had threatened her with a gun, etc. The defendant has an emotional and judgmental age of 13 or 14, is withdrawn, immature, depressed, unusually susceptible to the influence of others and unable to evaluate the consequences of his actions, as shown by highly competent professional testimony. He had no prior contact. There *606appears not to be the slightest doubt here but that overzealous “informers,” working with the police, played on his susceptibilities with fabricated fictional values, confusional techniques and change agent strategy stories to achieve exactly this result, and to undo what the boy’s family with assistance from the Georgia governmental institutions and their personnel had labored very hard over the years to achieve — a cure of the defendant’s addiction. It could be argued that use of these tactics itself amounts to mental and emotional child abuse, and while it is difficult to believe this conduct deserves to be rewarded with a conviction, yet, reasonable women and men on the jury may differ in considering two additional points in this case.
1. As to incipiency of free will of appellant. At the very heart of our juvenile and criminal justice systems and administration of justice is the presumption of sanity of all individuals. Particularly where this concept has not been challenged by appellant, the jury may believe that he knew right from wrong at the time of the act, that he possessed a free will, that he could make a choice and that he is responsible for his choice made. This indubitably is a legal position of non-determinism. This is also very similar to consideration given when one executes a will; that is, it is presumed to have been freely and voluntarily made and that the testator was not unduly influenced. Of course, this also may be challenged. In viewing undue influence and free will the jury might consider appellant’s offer to an official witness to help secure drugs for others on another occasion. “... give him a call and he might be able to help us out.” This jury question has been resolved.
2. As to disregarding testimony of experts. A jury may disregard the opinion evidence of all experts and may use their own common sense and experience based on observations of cause and effect. They may have in this case totally rejected all expert opinion testimony relating to appellant’s emotional maturity and judgmental age and based their finding on this question on their own observations and common sense in ascertaining a conclusion that his judgmental age was closer to age 23 and that he was mentally and emotionally stable.
We must affirm the jury’s conviction.