Court Opinion

ID: 9686492
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 15:51:04.258277+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:19.358183
License: Public Domain

M. J. Kelly, P.J.
(concurring). I concur in the per curiam opinion.
Defendant claims that Dr. Abramsky would have testified that at the time of the killing defendant was suffering from cocaine withdrawal, combined with medication and alcohol ingestion, to the extent that he lacked the ability to form the intent necessary to commit murder, first- or second-degree, and that his acts were impromptu, spur of the moment, and frenzied, rather than planned.
*377Counsel did not produce Dr. Abramsky, reputed to be a psychologist, at the post-sentencing motion to vacate defendant’s plea of guilty. We are therefore unable to evaluate Dr. Abramsky’s credentials and testimony or indeed to verify the factual and legal setting surrounding his evaluation because we have no record. Not even a deposition. Appellate counsel indicts trial counsel for ineffective assistance, but the critical failure to document the circumstances of the trial attorney’s claimed errors is itself an indictment of appellate counsel’s skill and effectiveness.