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State v. Flake8/5/2003
"they had never helped him before" and that he believed "everything was okay."
The record reveals that in March of 1997, i.e., in the midst of this period of bizarre behavior and deteriorating mental health, the defendant applied for a handgun. He completed the application and related paperwork by withholding his history of mental illness, hospitalizations, and substance abuse. On April 4, 1997, the defendant retrieved the weapon from the store by filling out additional paperwork. On the very next day, the defendant committed the offenses.
James Flake testified that he did not know the defendant had applied for and purchased a handgun. On April 5, 1997, i.e., the day the victims were shot and killed, the defendant returned home around 11:00 p.m. following an A.A. meeting. Flake asked the defendant if everything was okay and the defendant said, "yes." The next morning, April 6, 1997, the defendant had breakfast, kissed his mother, and seemed to have a "regular" morning. Later that day, however, the defendant shot a third person, Turner Carpenter, at a nearby church.
On the night of April 6, 1997, James Flake received a telephone call indicating that the defendant was a suspect in a shooting. When the defendant arrived home, James Flake told him to cooperate with authorities. He testified that the defendant had a "blank" look when arrested. The police officers' search of the defendant's room after his arrest revealed a large quantity of prescription Zoloft and Cylert that the defendant obviously had not taken as prescribed.
Turner Carpenter testified on the defendant's behalf. Carpenter said that he had been introduced to the defendant in his position as a pastoral counselor with an addiction and dependency program. After missing several prior appointments, the defendant arrived at Carpenter's office around 6:00 p.m. on April 6, 1997, and asked to meet with him. The defendant appeared "normal," and he spoke in a normal voice. Carpenter agreed to meet with the defendant after he finished meeting with another individual. A few minutes later, however, Carpenter saw the defendant in his outer office. The defendant "leaped out from the couch" and "screamed" Carpenter's name, "just as loud as he could scream it." The defendant, who Carpenter described as "horrible looking" and "angry as the devil," pointed a gun and fired one shot; the bullet struck Carpenter's hand and penetrated his lung, liver, and diaphragm. Carpenter testified that there had been no ill will or animosity between he and the defendant and that he had no rational explanation for why the defendant shot him.
In addition to these lay witnesses, the defense introduced the expert testimony of seven mental health professionals who related the defendant's lengthy history of mental illness, treatment, and medications. Moreover, six of the mental health experts, both psychiatrists and psychologists, performed numerous, comprehensive evaluations and determined that the defendant suffered from a severe mental illness, schizophrenia, and was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct when shooting the victims. Indeed, the record reveals that after the offenses and prior to trial, the defendant was examined by a number of psychiatrists and found by the trial court to be incompetent to stand trial for a period of over two years after the offenses. The trial court declared him competent to stand trial only after the State had furnished extensive treatment and anti-psychotic medication over the two years following the offenses.
The first expert witness to testify for the defense, Dr. Melvin Golden, stated that he saw the defendant approximately 17 or 18 times between 1991 and 1995. He
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