Odle v. Calderon

• Decision Date: 21 February 1996
• Docket Number: No. C-88-4280-CAL.,C-88-4280-CAL.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California
• Parties: James Richard ODLE, Petitioner, v. Arthur CALDERON, in his capacity as Warden of California State Prison at San Quentin, Respondent.

919 F. Supp. 1367

James Richard ODLE, Petitioner, v. Arthur CALDERON, in his capacity as Warden of California State Prison at San Quentin, Respondent.

No. C-88-4280-CAL.

United States District Court, N.D. California.

February 21, 1996.

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James Forbes, Lillick & Charles, San Francisco, CA, for petitioner.

Dane R. Gillette, California State Attorney General's Office, San Francisco, CA, for respondent.

ORDER DENYING ADDITIONAL CLAIMS ON THE MERITS

LEGGE, District Judge.

DEATH PENALTY CASE

I

Petitioner James Richard Odle, a California prisoner under sentence of death, applied to this court for a writ of habeas corpus in 1988. In two prior orders, this court denied many of the claims raised in the petition.¹ See Odle v. Vasquez, 754 F.Supp. 749 (N.D.Cal.1990); Odle v. Calderon, 884 F.Supp. 1404 (N.D.Cal.1995). This court subsequently granted an evidentiary hearing on two of Odle's claims. This order addresses Odle's remaining claims.²

II

The federal habeas corpus statute authorizes this court to review a state-court criminal conviction "only on the ground that the petitioner is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a). The important — but limited — purpose of the writ of habeas corpus is to "protect individuals from unconstitutional convictions and ... to guarantee the integrity of the criminal process by assuring that trials are fundamentally fair." O'Neal v. McAninch, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 115 S.Ct. 992, 997, 130 L.Ed.2d 947 (1995); see also Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619, 632-34, 113 S.Ct. 1710, 1719, 123 L.Ed.2d 353 (1993). Even in this limited role, federal habeas review delays finality and burdens not only state and federal resources but also state-federal relations. See, e.g., Brecht, 507 U.S. at 634-39, 113 S.Ct. at 1720-22; McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U.S. 467, 490-91, 111 S.Ct. 1454, 1468-69, 113 L.Ed.2d 517 (1991); Summer v. Mata, 449 U.S. 539, 550, 101 S.Ct. 764, 770-71, 66 L.Ed.2d 722 (1981). Habeas doctrines and procedures thus balance the protection the writ offers from unlawful custody against "the presumption of finality and legality" (see Brecht, 507 U.S. at 633, 113 S.Ct. at 1719) that attaches to a state-court conviction after direct review.

To this end, a federal habeas court must in most cases accord a presumption of correctness to state-court findings of fact. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). Also, the burden is generally on the habeas petitioner to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, the facts necessary to support the claim. See, e.g., Garlotte v. Fordice, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 115 S.Ct. 1948, 1952, 132 L.Ed.2d 36 (1995); Sumner, 449 U.S. at 551, 101 S.Ct. at 771; McKenzie v. McCormick, 27 F.3d 1415, 1419 (9th Cir.1994). And a federal court need not set aside a state conviction or sentence for every constitutional violation. In most cases, habeas relief will be granted only if the error was either "structural" or "had substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury's verdict." See Sullivan v. Louisiana, 508 U.S. 275, 279-83, 113 S.Ct. 2078, 2082-83, 124 L.Ed.2d 182 (1993); Brecht, 507 U.S. at 628-30, 637, 113 S.Ct. at 1717, 1722.

With these principles in mind, this court addresses the merits of Odle's remaining claims.

III Claim G

Odle claims that he was denied the effective assistance of trial counsel because counsel did not provide mitigating expert testimony at the penalty trial. This court denied this claim in its 1990 order. See Odle, 754 F.Supp. at 772-74. Odle then moved for reconsideration of the court's decision on this claim.

Odle now argues specifically that trial counsel could and should have presented expert testimony that 1) linked Odle's mental condition to his actions at the time of the offense and 2) supported the two mental-state statutory mitigating factors. He was prejudiced by these failures, Odle contends, because readily available expert testimony would have diminished his mental and moral responsibility for the offenses.

The court has reviewed this claim, its prior order, the cases cited by Odle and more recent Ninth Circuit cases on ineffective assistance of counsel. See, e.g., Hendricks v. Calderon, 70 F.3d 1032 (9th Cir.1995); Bonin v. Calderon, 59 F.3d 815 (9th Cir.1995); Williams v. Calderon, 52 F.3d 1465 (9th Cir. 1995). As this court noted in its prior order, however, "mere citation of cases only goes so far." Odle, 754 F.Supp. at 773.

On the record in this case, trial counsel's preparation and presentation of the mental-state evidence was not constitutionally deficient. The investigation that Odle's counsel conducted of Odle's mental condition is discussed at pages 1382 and 1386, below. At the guilt trial, Odle's counsel presented extensive expert testimony about Odle's brain injury and its aftermath. At the penalty trial, he clearly understood — and told the jury — that the mental state mitigating factors require "a completely different consideration than what the jury had to decide in the guilt phase." 29 RT 63-64. The thrust of his entire penalty-trial argument was that Odle should be deemed less culpable for the offenses and the jury should show mercy on account of his brain injury. See generally 29 RT 67-86. As trial counsel emphasized to the jury, this argument was supported by the guilt-trial expert and lay testimony.

Where mitigating evidence is presented at the guilt trial and the jury is instructed to consider it at the penalty trial, trial counsel is not necessarily ineffective for not presenting additional evidence at the penalty trial. See Williams, 52 F.3d at 1471. Here, as in Williams, trial counsel could have presented more expert testimony about the mitigating factors. Given the presentation at the guilt trial, however, this court cannot say that trial counsel's failure to do so was objectively unreasonable. The guilt trial focused on Odle's mental state and his diminished capacity as a result of his lobectomy. At the guilt trial, Odle's attorney presented the testimony of Dr. Blum, the neurosurgeon who operated on Odle, neurologist Dr. Holtz, and psychiatrist Dr. Thompson. The issue of Odle's mental state was squarely presented to the jury, and it rejected the experts' conclusions.

For the reasons set forth here and in its 1990 order, this court DENIES Odle's renewed claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to present expert mitigating evidence. See Odle, 754 F.Supp. at 773-74.

Claim J

Odle claims that the trial court had a sua sponte duty to hold a hearing to determine his competency to stand trial. Respondent answers that the trial court had no such duty because it had no reason to doubt Odle's competency.

A defendant is incompetent to stand trial if he lacks "sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding — and a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him." Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402, 80 S.Ct. 788, 4 L.Ed.2d 824 (1960); Hernandez v. Ylst, 930 F.2d 714, 716 n. 2 (9th Cir.1991). The prosecution of a defendant incompetent to stand trial violates due process. See Godinez v. Moran, 509 U.S. 389, 396, 113 S.Ct. 2680, 2685, 125 L.Ed.2d 321 (1993); Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S. 375, 378, 86 S.Ct. 836, 838, 15 L.Ed.2d 815 (1966). Therefore, a trial court must hold a competency hearing if it has or should have a good faith or bona fide doubt about a defendant's competency. See Pate, 383 U.S. at 378, 385, 86 S.Ct. at 838, 842; Blazak v. Ricketts, 1 F.3d 891, 894 (9th Cir. 1993); see also Moran v. Godinez, 57 F.3d 690, 695 (9th Cir.1994) (trial court must hold hearing before allowing defendant to waive constitutional rights if it doubts defendant's competency).

The present question before this court is whether a reasonable trial judge should have doubted Odle's competency to stand trial, given the evidence before it at any time before sentencing. See Hernandez, 930 F.2d at 716, 718. "A bona fide doubt should exist where there is substantial evidence of incompetence." Moran, 57 F.3d at 695. All of the evidence before the trial court may be relevant, including the defendant's conduct in court, recent suicide attempts, previous findings of incompetency, past psychological reports, trial testimony about the defendant's history of mental illness and any irrational behavior and available medical evaluations. See Drope v. Missouri, 420 U.S. 162, 180, 95 S.Ct. 896, 908, 43 L.Ed.2d 103; Pate, 383 U.S. at 378-79, 86 S.Ct. at 838-39; Moran, 57 F.3d at 695; United States v. Lewis, 991 F.2d 524, 527 (9th Cir.1993).

Here, the trial court had before it, directly and indirectly, information about Odle's psychiatric problems. At a pre-trial hearing, a psychiatrist testified that he had diagnosed Odle five years earlier as having psychosis with organic brain syndrome and prescribed anti-psychotic medication. 1B RT 8, 11.³ Jail records ordered by the trial court reflect that Odle had set fire to his cell and was deemed suicidal less than a year before trial Ex. 4.⁴ County records ordered by the trial court also document "several suicide gestures and one serious attempt." Ex. 1. Medical records admitted into evidence reflect that Odle was committed to an institution for psychiatric reasons at least three times in the ten years before the trial. Ex. 2. At both the guilt and penalty trials, lay and expert witnesses testified about his unusual post-accident behavior. See, e.g., 20 RT 28-36 (Dr. Blum); 20 RT 93, 102 (Glenda Odle); 28 RT 15-17 (Michael Odle).

This information is relevant to the issue of whether the trial court should have had a good-faith doubt about Odle's competency to stand trial. This court notes, however, that most of the information related to events at least eight years before the...