noting that trial courts have wide latitude when crafting jury instructions
How later courts described this case
- noting that trial courts have wide latitude when crafting jury instructions
- affirming a PCRA court's determination that records of prior psychological examinations contained "red flags," indicating a need for further investigation into a capital defendant's mental health
- new penalty hearing awarded where, as recounted by the PCRA court, trial counsel “failed to adequately investigate substantial mitigating factors, even though the record was replete with ‘red flags’ of brain damage that indicated the need for neuropsychological evaluations,” and “did not conduct a thorough investigation of his client’s background” (citation omitted)
- under less stringent “good cause” standard governing discovery for first PCRA petitions in capital cases, a petitioner must make “more than just a generic demand for potentially exculpatory evidence that might be discovered if the petitioner is permitted to review requested materials”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Justice EAKIN,
Concurring and Dissenting.
I dissent from the portion of the majority’s decision affirming the PCRA court’s grant of a new penalty hearing based on trial counsel’s ineffectiveness for failing to present mental health mitigation evidence. For the same reasons expressed in Commonwealth v. Romero, 595 Pa. 275 , 938 A.2d 362, 387 (2007) (at time of trial, Williams and Wiggins had not been decided, and degree of investigation required for capital counsel to not be deemed ineffective had not evolved to extent currently required), I believe counsel’s stewardship should be evaluated by the standards in effect at the time of trial. “A fair assessment of attorney performance requires that every effort be made to eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight, to reconstruct the circumstances of counsel’s challenged conduct, and to evaluate the conduct from counsel’s perspective at the time.” Romero, at 387 (citations omitted); see also Commonwealth v. Williams, 950 A.2d 294 (Pa.2008), Concurring Op., at 324 (Eakin, J., concurring) (“Any other standard would require counsel to predict changes in the law and turn representation into prognostication.... ”).
Although Romero was a plurality, my view remains “that counsel’s performance regarding mitigating evidence should be critiqued according to the law existing at the time of trial, not according to later-announced standards.” Williams , at 324 (citing Commonwealth v. Hughes, 581 Pa. 274 , 865 A.2d 761, 825 (2004) (Castille, J., concurring and dissenting, joined *701 by Eakin, J.)). Here, counsel testified Appellee’s mother gave no indication of appellee’s psychiatric history, Appellee’s prison records gave no indication of any mental illness, and Appellee failed to provide counsel with names of potential witnesses and discouraged further investigation into his background, indicating he had been a troublemaker. Cf. Romero, at 388 (appellant showed no signs of mental illness, never gave counsel any useful information about his childhood or family when asked, and prison records contained no indication of psychiatric problems, although counsel was aware appellant had done poorly in school and dropped out). Given these circumstances, counsel’s decision not to pursue evidence of mental health mitigation was not unreasonable. See Commonwealth v. Carson, 590 Pa. 501 , 913 A.2d 220, 266 (2006) (in evaluating reasonableness of counsel’s investigation, court must remember counsel’s decisions may depend heavily on information his client provides to him). I would instead assess counsel’s stewardship under the law at the time of Appellee’s trial, by which standard one must conclude counsel was effective; accordingly, I would reverse the grant of a new penalty phase hearing.
In all other respects, I join the majority opinion.