Goodin v. State

Decision Date13 December 2012
Docket NumberNo. 2010–CA–01762–SCT.,2010–CA–01762–SCT.
PartiesHoward Dean GOODIN a/k/a Howard D. Gooden a/k/a Howard Dean Gooden a/k/a Howard Goodin v. STATE of Mississippi.
CourtMississippi Supreme Court

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Office of Capital Post–Conviction Counsel by Glenn S. Swartzfager, Teresa L. Norris, Stacy L. Ferraro, attorneys for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Marvin L. White, Jr., Jason Lewis Davis, attorneys for appellee.

EN BANC.

CARLSON, Presiding Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. Howard Goodin appeals from the Newton County Circuit Court's denial of his application for post-conviction relief. The circuit court denied Goodin's claims that he was mentally retarded and that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel on the issues of mental illness and competency. After review of the record and pertinent authorities, this Court finds that the circuit court erred in determining that Goodin was not mentally retarded. We also find that Goodin failed to prove ineffective assistance of counsel regarding competency at the conviction stage. Because these issues are dispositive, we will not address Goodin's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel on the issue of mental illness. The judgment of the Newton County Circuit Court is affirmed in part and reversed and rendered in part. The circuit court's sentence of death is vacated and this case is remanded to the Circuit Court of Newton County for resentencing on the charge of capital murder.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. Goodin has a long criminal history and a nearly lifelong history of at least suspected mental illness. Due to the importance of this case, to Goodin personally and the legal system as a whole, the following lengthy recitation of the facts is imperative. We first note that the clinical definition of mental retardation requires (1) subaverage intellectual functioning (2) accompanied by significant limitations in at least two adaptive skills (3) that manifest before age eighteen. Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 318, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 2250, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002); Chase v. State, 873 So.2d 1013, 1027–28 (Miss.2004).

A. Criminal Background

¶ 3. Goodin was born in 1954. One psychologist reported that Goodin's records indicated that he had been “uncontrollable since 1966,” which would have been age twelve. He had a history of irregular school attendance, disobedience to authority, and breaking into houses. His sister testified that he was sent to Oakley Training School (Oakley) by a Neshoba County youth court. Goodin's criminal history as an adult includes convictions for the following crimes: burglary in 1973; second-degree sexual assault, robbery, and burglary in 1977; armed robbery in 1980; aggravated assault, armed robbery, attempted armed robbery, and assault on a law enforcement officer in 1982; and burglary in 1995. Goodin v. State, 787 So.2d 639, 643 (Miss.2001). In 1999, Goodin was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Id. It is that judgment of conviction and sentence which is the subject of this appeal.

B. History of Mental Illness

¶ 4. In February 1971, when he was sixteen years old, Vocational Rehabilitation at Oakley referred Goodin to Dr. Randall Thomas for a psychological evaluation. The purpose of the referral was to determine whether Goodin's objective of being a heavy-equipment operator was feasible. Goodin was administered the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), the Bender Gestalt Motor Test, the Gray Oral Reading Test, the Wide–Range Achievement Test, and the Rorschach Personality Test. According to the WAIS test, Goodin's full-scale IQ score was 62, with a verbal IQ score of 75 and a performance IQ score of 49. Dr. Thomas's preliminary diagnostic impression was “schizoid personality traits with mild mental retardation.” He concluded that Goodin “would have difficulty achieving his vocational objective of being a heavy equipment operator.”

¶ 5. By age nineteen, Goodin was incarcerated at Parchman after pleading guilty to a charge of felony shoplifting. In July of 1973, he was referred for a psychological examination by Vocational Rehabilitation personnel. Goodin was administered the WAIS, the Bender Gestalt, the Wide–Range Achievement Test, the 16 Personality Factor Test, and the House–Tree–Person Test. The tests were administered by Tommy Terrell, a rehabilitation psychologist, who was supervised by Dr. Billy Fox. Goodin scored a verbal IQ of 67, a performance IQ of 62, and a full-scale IQ of 63. His reading and spelling was at a third-grade level. The diagnostic impression was moderate mental retardation and behavioral disorder.

¶ 6. In May 1998, just before his release from Parchman on the 1995 burglary conviction, Goodin was evaluated by Dr. Michael Whelan, a psychologist. This report appeared to be in support of a claim for disability that Goodin had filed with the Social Security Administration. The report noted that Goodin had reported auditory hallucinations for the past three to five years and had been treated with Mellaril and Haldol, two antipsychotics. Dr. Whelan estimated that Goodin's IQ was in the mid-seventies and that his math and reading abilities were at a fifth-grade level. Dr. Whelan did not think Goodin was competent to manage money if he was to receive benefits. Dr. Whelan's conclusion was that Goodin suffered from chronic paranoid schizophrenia.

¶ 7. After his release from the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), Goodin was seen at Laird Hospital in Union, Mississippi, in July and August of 1998. He complained of hearing voices. Goodin was treated with Risperdal, a medication for schizophrenia. Also in July of 1998, Goodin was treated at the Weems Community Mental Health Center in Meridian for complaints of auditory and visual hallucinations. His diagnosis was schizophrenia, undifferentiated type. By this time, Goodin's claim for disability had been approved.

¶ 8. In November 1998, Goodin had been out of prison for five months when he was arrested for the armed robbery and murder of Willis Rigdon. Goodin, 787 So.2d at 642–43. Attorneys Robert Brooks and Shawn Harris were appointed to represent Goodin. In December 1998, Brooks filed a Motion for Psychiatric Examination, alleging that Goodin was “of insufficient soundness of mind” and “not capable of making a rational defense.” The trial court granted the motion and ordered Goodin to be evaluated by clinical psychologist Dr. Gerald O'Brien and psychiatrist Dr. Donald C. Guild.

¶ 9. Dr. O'Brien saw Goodin in January and February of 1999. He administered the WAIS–Revised, the Shipley, the Wide Range Achievement Test–Revision 3, the Stroop Neuropsychological Test, the Trailmaking Tests, the Luria–Nebraska Screening Test, the 21 Word Test, and the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms. Goodin's verbal IQ score was 65, performance IQ score was 60, and full-scale IQ score was 60. According to Dr. O'Brien, this placed Goodin “intellectually in the mildly retarded range, if taken at face value.” However, it was Dr. O'Brien's opinion that Goodin's “degree of apparent effort and motivation strongly suggest[ed] that his scores underestimate[d] his level of functioning.” Dr. O'Brien made similar comments concerning Goodin's effort on the other tests. As to the 21 Word Test, Dr. O'Brien stated, [t]his pattern is characteristic of individuals who are feigning a mental disorder, and is rarely seen in those responding truthfully.” Based on all the information that he had available, Dr. O'Brien concluded that Goodin [did] not exhibit a psychosis or other significant psychological disorder which would affect his understanding [of] the nature and quality of his actions, including whether they were right or wrong, and conforming his behavior to the requirements of the law.” Finally, Dr. O'Brien reported that Goodin “appear[ed] to be competent to stand trial and to assist in his own defense.”

¶ 10. Dr. Guild saw Goodin in January 1999 and, like Dr. O'Brien, Dr. Guild determined that Goodin was competent to stand trial. His report stated:

Suffice it to say that Mr. Goodin did very well in the interview. He indicated that although he had a mental problem and had hallucinations, possible delusions, that these had nothing to do with the current charge. He indicates that he was strictly innocent of the current charge, and gives his whereabouts as somewhere else, but states his mental illness had no part of it.

He does have good street knowledge of the criminal justice system, and seems quite confident [ sic ] to assist his attorney in his defense. He is able to talk about the charges against him, the evidence against him, and how it might be countered.

I have written to his doctor and I am going to restart him on his anti-psychotic medications. Once I get those records, with Dr. O'Brien perhaps wishing to retest him after that. But even without medications, he remains responsible for his action at the time of the alleged crime, and also is competent to stand trial.

On March 16, 1999, the district attorney sent Goodin's counsel a copy of Goodin's medical records from MDOC, which included reports by Dr. Stanley C. Russell from 1996 to 1998 showing regular prescriptions of the antipsychotic Haldol.

C. Procedural History

¶ 11. In May 1999, Goodin was convicted of the capital murder of Willis Rigdon and sentenced to death. Goodin's conviction and sentence were affirmed by this Court on direct appeal. See Goodin v. State, 787 So.2d 639 (Miss.2001), cert. denied,535 U.S. 996, 122 S.Ct. 1558, 152 L.Ed.2d 481 (2002). Goodin filed an Application for Leave to File Petition for Post–Conviction Relief with this Court in April 2002, to which he attached an affidavit from Dr. O'Brien. Dr. O'Brien stated that he had conducted his competency evaluation of Goodin in 1999 with only documents supplied by the State, but he had since reviewed additional materials supplied by Goodin, including records showing Goodin to be schizophrenic. Dr. O'Brien said these...

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