 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
People v. Steele5/30/2002
ller than he would expect in someone his age, and it had an old trauma that looked like a hole.
Dr. Arthur Kowell, another neurologist, analyzed the results of EEG (Electroencephalogram) tests, which record brain electrical activity, and a "BEAM" test, i.e., brain electrical activity mapping. Defendant's EEG result was normal, but the BEAM test showed abnormalities in his brain. At the time of trial, BEAM testing was a fairly new technique and had been used primarily for treatment rather than evidentiary purposes. Regarding its validity, Dr. Kowell testified that control groups for the BEAM system were broken down into age groups varying in size from 15 to around 40 persons, and that the group for defendant's age consisted of 16 people.
Dr. Robert Bittle, a doctor specializing in psychiatry and neurology, testified about defendant's brain abnormalities, his learning difficulties as a child, head traumas he had suffered, including a skull fracture in 1980, and his substance abuse. He opined that defendant has an "organic brain dysfunction"; that he has "post-traumatic stress disorder, Vietnam-type"; that he has a "major affective disorder"; and that he suffers from a "mixed personality disorder" with "schizoid, antisocial, avoidant, aggressive and paranoid elements." Persons with these problems "routinely misinterpret stimuli, very poorly control anger, hostility and aggression and tend to over-respond and misinterpret events or stimuli coming from the environment or those in the environment."
On cross-examination, Dr. Bittle testified about the scientific acceptance of BEAM testing, which was a new technology. The testing and its results are based on data maintained by the person who owned the patent on the machine used in this case. That person "will not release [that data] until the patent runs out." Therefore the database was not a matter of public record. Although opinion in the scientific community was divided, Dr. Bittle believed that BEAM testing was generally accepted in the scientific community for clinical use.
B. Penalty Phase
1. Prosecution Evidence
In addition to the prior murder conviction, the prosecution presented evidence that in 1967, defendant abducted a woman at knifepoint from her home in the Redding area, drove her in her car to a remote location, raped her, and tried to force her to orally copulate him. For these events, defendant was convicted of kidnapping, rape, and sex perversion. Additionally, after he stabbed Deborah Cerna to death, defendant led a deputy sheriff who was trying to stop him on a high speed chase, and fired several shots at him, for which he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer.
2. Defense Evidence
Defendant's former employer testified defendant was a good worker who seemed to abuse drugs and alcohol. Regarding Vietnam, defendant told the employer "that a lot of times when he was under the influence of whatever that he would have flashbacks." A former girlfriend of defendant's testified that he treated her "fine" and she did not have problems with him. She ended the relationship because he had emotional and substance abuse problems. Defendant's aunt testified about his family background and said defendant had changed when he returned from Vietnam. A San Joaquin County deputy sheriff testified that for a number of years beginning in 1978, defendant provided the authorities at the Deuel Vocational Institute in Tracy with valuable information about a prison gang. Two friends of defendant's testified about his good qualities and problems with drug use and alcohol. Both said he was "compassionate."
II. Discussion
A.
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 California DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|