Lambert v. Blodgett
248 F. Supp. 2d 988 (E.D. Wa. 2003)
Lambert, a juvenile, was charged with murder and his case was
transferred to adult court. He pled guilty and received a sentence of
life imprisonment without possibility of parole, the same sentence he
would have received if he had gone to trial.
Lambert brought this habeas corpus action, seeking to overturn his
guilty plea and conviction on the ground that he had been denied effective
assistance of counsel. The district court concluded that Lambert had not
received effective representation, and set aside his plea and conviction.
One area of ineffective representation concerned a psychological
evaluation of Lambert. The attorney retained a psychologist to conduct an
evaluation; the psychologist concluded that Lambert was extremely
dangerous and had no mental problems.
"[The psychologist] was not given sufficient information by [the
attorney]
from which to perform a meaningful evaluation as to some of the facts
related to Mr. Lambert's background. . . . The insufficient information
precluded [the psychologist] and [the attorney] from investigating the
possibility that Mr. Lambert suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome; such
investigation may have supported a diminished capacity defense or at a
minimum would have informed defense counsel of the need to explain in
greater detail the legal issues to Mr. Lambert."
248 F. Supp. at 1011. This decision illustrates that an attorney who
does
consult a psychologist or other expert may still be guilty of ineffective
assistance if the attorney fails to provide the expert with needed
information. It also recognizes that FAS may provide the basis for a
diminished capacity defense.
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