Christy v. Horn, Civil Action No. 96-37J.
| Decision Date | 10 November 1998 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 96-37J. |
| Citation | 28 F.Supp.2d 307 |
| Parties | Lawrence Duane CHRISTY, Petitioner, v. Martin F. HORN, Commissioner, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections; Ben Varner, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Greene; and Robert Meyers, Acting Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Rockview, Respondents. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania |
W. Thomas McGough, Jr., John C. Unkovic, Pamina Ewing, Eric Chaffin, Pittsburgh, PA, for petitioner.
Christian A. Fisanick, Barnesboro, PA, for respondent.
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Pending before the court is the motion of petitioner, Lawrence Duane Christy, for habeas corpus relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.1 Petitioner alleges that a habeas writ should issue for the following reasons: (1) the state court trial judge failed to appoint a psychiatrist to assist the defense and violated plaintiff's due process rights; (2) trial counsel was ineffective in violation of the Sixth Amendment; (3) the prosecution violated plaintiff's right to a fair trial by making false and inflammatory arguments to the jury; and (4) the trial court erroneously instructed the jury. An evidentiary hearing was conducted in this court on March 3, 1998, and Christy presented evidence, argument, and the testimony of Caroline Roberto, Esquire. Roberto is an able and experienced criminal defense lawyer who practices extensively in federal and state court. She qualified as an expert witness and expressed various opinions. The respondents presented no evidence beyond the record of the state court proceedings. Based on the credible evidence of record and the testimony adduced at the hearing, the parties' joint appendix, and the submissions of the parties, the following shall constitute findings of fact and conclusions of law.
4. In November 1977, Cambria County Mental Health Review Officer Dennis McGlynn, Esquire, presided over Christy's involuntary commitment proceeding.4 McGlynn subsequently joined the Office of District Attorney of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, and prosecuted Christy in the proceedings that underly the instant habeas petition.
5. The Honorable Eugene A. Creany, who served as the state court judge in Christy's capital case, also presided at several of Christy's commitment hearings.
6. In June of 1978, McGlynn again reviewed Christy's medical evaluations with respect to an involuntary commitment, and concluded that Christy was "actively psychotic." Another commitment hearing was held in September 1978, as ordered by Judge Creany, which resulted in petitioner's recommitment to Farview State Hospital. The basis for the recommitment, according to McGlynn, was, inter alia, "suicidal schizophrenia."5
7. On July 23, 1979, Christy was ordered transferred to Mayview State Hospital.
8. In November 1979, Christy was released from Mayview to a halfway house in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where he remained until his release in March 1980.
9. During the early hours of June 16, 1980, after ingesting "speed," Christy broke into the Oriental Ballroom in Gallitzen, Pennsylvania, where he encountered the night watchman, James Volk. Upon discovering Christy, Volk shot petitioner in the left wrist. Apparently unaware that Christy's wound was superficial, Mr. Volk placed his gun on the bar and began walking away. Christy stood up, grabbed the gun and shot Mr. Volk, as he rushed towards him. Christy then shot Volk in the head while the victim was crouched on the floor.
10. According to Christy's confession and subsequent trial testimony, he fired the fatal shot into Mr. Volk's "head because to me I felt that he was dying and I didn't want ... to me he was suffering."
11. In March of 1983, while on trial for unrelated assault charges in the Court of Common Pleas of Cambria County, Christy confessed to killing Mr. Volk.6
12. The presiding judge at the homicide trial, Honorable Eugene A. Creany, appointed Mark Parseghian, Esquire, to represent Christy in the capital case. Parseghian had represented Christy in the unrelated assault case. The attorney, who had graduated from law school three years earlier, informed the court that he had never tried a capital case. Parseghian subsequently obtained the assistance of Christopher Rulis as co-counsel. Mr. Rulis had graduated from law school two years earlier and had never tried any criminal cases.
13. Christy attempted to secure more experienced counsel without avail. Trial counsel also voiced concerns to the court regarding representation of Christy in the homicide case because of, inter alia, their limited experience and the fact that neither attorney had ever tried a capital case. Notwithstanding pleas from Christy and trial counsel, the trial judge declined to appoint more experienced counsel.
14. The prosecutors in the homicide trial were Patrick Kiniry and Dennis McGlynn, the former Mental Health Review Officer for Cambria County, who had recommended the involuntary commitment of Christy to state mental hospitals after reviewing Christy's medical records.
15. Prior to the homicide trial, the court ordered a hearing to determine whether Christy was competent to stand trial, his sanity at the time of the offense, and the voluntariness of his confession.
16. Defense counsel sought a psychiatric examination based on Christy's extensive psychiatric history at various state mental hospitals, and their desire to assert an insanity defense.7 Counsel further noted that such an evaluation was essential to prepare an adequate defense.
17. The trial court declined to appoint a defense psychiatrist for Christy. Rather, the court initially appointed Dr. J. Edward Olivier, who evaluated Christy on behalf of the court. After reviewing medical records and interviewing Christy, Dr. Olivier concluded that Christy was not suffering from mental illness; rather, his "characterologic and personality problems are severe and are considered totally resistant to modifications through any known form of treatment." Olivier further opined that "Christy's descriptions of his crimes indicate that he clearly knew exactly what he was doing, knew the nature and quality of his acts, and knew they were wrong."
18. During the Fall of 1983, apparently because Dr. Olivier was unavailable to appear in court, the trial judge appointed Dr. Hugh Chavern to examine Christy and advise the court as to Christy's mental condition. After interviewing Christy, but without reviewing his medical records,8 Dr. Chavern failed to reach a conclusion as to whether Christy was able to form the specific intent required for first degree murder. Further, Chavern did not evaluate Christy's mental state with respect to mitigation. Rather, Chavern, who merely provided conclusory answers to the seven questions propounded by the court, noted that Christy stated that "I am possessed — I believe God is Lucifer — he told me to kill the second one." This statement, according to Chavern, did "not constitute a delusion and no delusional thought is noted in the rest of the interview material."
19. On November 14, 1983, the trial judge held a competency hearing, at which Dr. Chavern testified. Chavern, who rejected the diagnoses of schizophrenia,9 testified that Christy was competent to stand trial and was not legally insane at the time of the offense. Dr. Chavern conceded that Christy had "the characteristics of an antisocial personality disorder," and that an evaluation performed near the time of the offense would more likely have reflected Christy's mental state at the time of the offense.
20. Defense counsel failed to cross-examine Dr. Chavern with respect to a diminished capacity defense or the psychiatric mitigating circumstances recognized under Pennsylvania law.10
21. In an effort to rebut Dr. Chavern's testimony, defense counsel sought to introduce Christy's medical records. The prosecutors objected and the trial court ruled that, absent testimony from the persons who prepared the records, the records documenting Christy's mental illness would not be admitted as evidence.
22. Defense counsel failed to contact any of the physicians who had prepared petitioner's medical records because they "had no familiarity with psychiatrists in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh or Harrisburg or anywhere else." App. 1, Tab E at 44.
23. After the competency hearing, the trial judge issued the following findings: (1) Christy was competent to stand trial; (2) petitioner was sane at the time of the offense; and (3) Christy was competent at the time that he confessed to the crime.
24. The parties proceeded to trial before a jury.
25. Trial counsel presented two defenses: (1) Christy was suffering from diminished capacity and therefore lacked the specific intent to kill as required for first degree murder; and (2) petitioner acted in self-defense.
26. In pursuing the diminished capacity defense, defense counsel failed to present any psychiatric testimony and failed to present any medical evidence or testimony from Christy's treating physicians. Further, trial counsel failed to offer Christy's medical records as evidence, apparently because Dr. Chavern had found that Christy was competent to stand trial and sane at the time of the offense. I...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Holland v. Horn
...assistance for sentencing in capital cases."). A similar situation to that confronting Petitioner here was addressed in Christy v. Horn, 28 F.Supp.2d 307 (W.D.Pa.1998). Christy involved a petition for habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, and addressed the question, among others, of whether......
-
Holloway v. Horn, CIVIL ACTION No. 00-CV-1757, CAPITAL CASE (E.D. Pa. 8/27/2001)
...of his mental and emotional state even if Petitioner and counsel ultimately decided not to present such evidence. See Christy v. Horn, 28 F. Supp.2d 307, 321 (W.D.Pa. 1998) (finding that Ake required psychiatric assistance "`to help determine whether the insanity defense is viable.' Thus, i......
-
Holloway v. Horn
...of his mental and emotional state even if Petitioner and counsel ultimately decided not to present such evidence. See Christy v. Horn, 28 F.Supp.2d 307, 321 (W.D.Pa. 1998) (finding that Ake required psychiatric assistance "`to help determine whether the insanity defense is viable.' Thus, im......
-
Com. v. Miller
...U.S. 68, 80-81, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 1095, 84 L.Ed.2d 53 (1985); Holland v. Horn, 150 F.Supp.2d 706, 752 (E.D.Pa.2001); Christy v. Horn, 28 F.Supp.2d 307, 322 (W.D.Pa. 1998). In this case, therefore, rather than assuming that trial counsel may have had a strategic or tactical basis for presentin......