People v. Mette

• Decision Date: 10 January 2001
• Docket Number: Docket No. 209202.
• Citation: 243 Mich. App. 318,621 N.W.2d 713
• Parties: PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. William Michael METTE, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US

621 N.W.2d 713

243 Mich. App. 318

PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. William Michael METTE, Defendant-Appellant.

Docket No. 209202.

Court of Appeals of Michigan.

Submitted April 12, 2000, at Detroit.

Decided November 17, 2000, at 9:05 a.m.

Released for Publication January 10, 2001.

Jennifer M. Granholm, Attorney General, Thomas L. Casey, Solicitor General, Carl J. Marlinga, Prosecuting Attorney, Robert J. Berlin, Chief Appellate Attorney, and Edward L. Graham, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for the people.

Carolyn A. Blanchard, Northville, for the defendant.

Before MICHAEL J. KELLY, P.J., and HOLBROOK, and RICHARD ALLEN GRIFFIN, JJ.

MICHAEL J. KELLY, P.J.

Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, M.C.L. § 750.316; MSA 28.548, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, M.C.L. § 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2). He was sentenced to the mandatory terms of life imprisonment for the first-degree murder conviction and two years' imprisonment for the felony-firearm conviction. Defendant now appeals as of right. We affirm.

I

On December 18, 1996, according to defendant's own statement he went to the home of his former wife with a fully loaded.22 caliber handgun. He rang the doorbell and when his former wife's husband answered the door, defendant stated, "I got something for you." Defendant fired repeatedly and fatally shot the victim three times in the face. He then drove to his sister's house and hid the gun in a bag of charcoal in a shed. Defendant was arrested a little more than an hour later after he had given a statement at the clinic where he was being treated for depression. He told police that he had been off work for a couple of days because he was not feeling well and that he "just snapped." He stated that the victim had "hassled" him and had threatened to seek custody of defendant's children. Defendant was given an injection of Valium at the clinic by his treating physician.

These facts are not in dispute.¹ The key issue at trial was whether defendant formed the specific intent to commit first-degree premeditated murder, or whether his diminished mental capacity prevented him from forming the requisite intent.

Defendant based his diminished capacity argument on his claim that he suffered from depression, which had been exacerbated when he stopped taking Prozac, an antidepressant. Defendant began taking Prozac and Xanax, a tranquilizer, in late 1991 and had continued with daily doses. On October 28, 1996, his doctor stopped the Xanax and changed the medication from Prozac to Zoloff, another antidepressant. Defendant was also referred to a therapist. Defendant's doctor testified that, during the entire course of treatment, he did not believe defendant likely to be a harm to himself or to others.

At trial, defendant called Dr. David Schneider, an expert in pharmacology and toxicology, who had reviewed defendant's medical records and had examined defendant for approximately an hour just before the trial. At the time of the examination, defendant was taking Prozac, Xanax, and muscle relaxants. Dr. Schneider testified that when a patient stops taking Prozac, the effects of the drug are completely gone after approximately ten days. Thereafter, the depression returns. Dr. Schneider also testified that the sudden cessation of Prozac could result in extreme behavioral changes.

Dr. Steven Miller, a forensic and clinical psychologist, testified that he met with defendant twice for two or three hours each session. Dr. Miller relayed facts as told to him by defendant and, based on those facts, concluded that defendant was suffering from major depression, substance abuse,² borderline personality disorder, and dependent personality disorder. He opined that although defendant met the first prong of the insanity defense because he was mentally ill, he did not meet the legal definition of insanity because of his voluntary intoxication. Dr. Miller also opined that defendant did not possess the capacity to establish the requisite intent. However, he was not aware that defendant had gone to work and had attended a hearing concerning visitation three days before the murder and, therefore, that defendant could not have been in bed for the three days preceding the shooting as he had claimed. Dr. Miller also testified that it was defendant, and not the victim, who had been accused of sexually assaulting his children.

In rebuttal, the prosecution called defendant's employer, who testified that defendant had worked for him for three or four months, that defendant was an exemplary employee, and that he did not know defendant was depressed. He also testified that defendant had health insurance.³

The prosecution also called Dr. Judith Thompson, a psychologist who had interviewed defendant in preparation for evaluation of his competency to stand trial. The doctor concluded that defendant did not meet the criteria for legal insanity and that he possessed the capacity to form specific intent. She noted that defendant recalled the shooting and prior incidents of the victim being abusive toward his children. Dr. Thompson opined that defendant's disposal of the gun after the crime showed his appreciation of the wrong he had committed. She further noted that he was able to drive to the scene, knew where he was headed, and engaged in a series of organized behaviors to get there, which indicated that the act was not random. Dr. Thompson also acknowledged that defendant suffered from major depression with suicidal ideation. However, at the time of the shooting, the medication defendant was taking brought into question whether he met the criteria for major depression because his abuse of those drugs could also create such symptoms. The doctor also noted that defendant's medical records did not indicate a severe level of depression. She opined that there was nothing about depression, per se, that would prevent a person from forming specific intent to commit a crime.

II

On appeal, defendant first argues that the trial court's jury instruction on diminished capacity impermissibly shifted the burden of proof onto defendant in violation of federal and state due process clauses. Defendant claims that, because of essential differences in the two affirmative defenses, the trial court erred in imposing the procedural requirements for the insanity defense on defendant's claim of diminished capacity. Defendant did not raise a timely objection to the instruction, and, consequently, in order to avoid forfeiture of this issue, he must demonstrate plain error that was outcome determinative or error that falls under the category of cases where prejudice is presumed or reversal is automatic. People v. Carines, 460 Mich. 750, 763-764, 597 N.W.2d 130 (1999); People v. Grant, 445 Mich. 535, 553, 520 N.W.2d 123 (1994).

This issue involves statutory interpretation, which is a question of law subject to review de novo. People v. Law, 459 Mich. 419, 423, 591 N.W.2d 20 (1999). When interpreting a statute, our primary goal is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the Legislature. People v. Joseph, 237 Mich.App. 18, 20, 601 N.W.2d 882 (1999).

In 1994, the Legislature amended the insanity statute to provide that the insanity defense is an affirmative defense and that the defendant has the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence. The relevant portion of the statute provides as follows:

(1) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution for a criminal offense that the defendant was legally insane when he or she committed the acts constituting the offense. An individual is legally insane if, as a result of mental illness as defined in section 400a of the mental health code [now repealed M.C.L. § 330.1400a; MSA 14.800(400a) ] ... that person lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his or her conduct or to conform his or her conduct to the requirements of the law. Mental illness or being mentally retarded does not otherwise constitute a defense of legal insanity.

* * *

(3) The defendant has the burden of proving the defense of insanity by a preponderance of the evidence. [MCL 768.21a; MSA 28.1044(1).]

Mental illness is now defined in M.C.L. § 330.1400(g); MSA 14.800(400)(g) as "a substantial disorder of thought or mood that significantly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, or ability to cope with the ordinary demands of life."

Defendant argues that requiring a defendant to prove diminished capacity essentially requires him to disprove the element of specific intent contrary to the principle that "the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects the accused against conviction except upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime with which he is charged," relying on In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970). Five years after deciding Winship, the United States Supreme Court held that, under a state homicide law, the burden could not be constitutionally placed on the defendant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the crime had occurred in the heat of passion on sudden provocation. Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U.S. 684, 95 S.Ct. 1881, 44 L.Ed.2d 508 (1975).⁴

The Supreme Court has since limited the effect of Winship and Mullaney by holding that the Due Process Clause only requires the "prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt all of the elements included in the definition of the offense of which the defendant is charged," but does not require the prosecution to bear the burden of disproving beyond a reasonable doubt every fact constituting "any and all affirmative defenses relating to the culpability of the accused." Patterson v. New York, 432 U.S. 197, 210, 97 S.Ct. 2319, 53 L.Ed.2d 281 (1977); see also People v. Eason, 435 Mich. 228, 233, 458 N.W.2d 17 (1990). The Patterson Court recognized that...