Yesterday the 10th Circuit issued its per curiam opinion in Young v. Sirmons (#07-5150 2008) affirming the District Court's dismissal of Young's habeas petition.  Young, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of his girlfriend's daughter and her 6 year-old granddaughter, presented a Strickland claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.  The opinion is an interesting read as it finds Young's counsel violated the first prong of Strickland, but nevertheless found no prejudice.  There's also an interesting discussion of the state's Landrigan claim, which the court ultimately rejects. 

Yet the decision is also remarkable as it pertains Young's roster of mitigation experts.  Among them is Wanda Draper, Ph.D., a "developmental epistemologist" who apparently conducted a qualitative analysis of Young's history was prepared to testify:

"Young suffered cumulative emotional trauma as a result of the loss of four close family members [maternal grandmother and grandfather, brother, and son] during a seven year period in his adulthood" which, in Draper's opinion, caused him "to experience a breakdown of his compulsively ordered life." Id. at 10. More specifically, Draper opined that "[t]he emotional impact of these losses produced a severe stress and trauma psychologically," and "his thought processes obscured reality and he suppressed his deepest feelings of loss." Id. According to Draper, "[w]hen ... Young was threatened with another loss, that of rejection by his girlfriend, one could expect that he would experience severe emotional trauma as he began to, again, lose control." Id. That is, "[w]hen he faced losing his most recent emotional connection to his love, Joyslon, it was beyond the scope of his ability to adapt." Id. at 12-13. Thus, Draper opined, "it is conceivable that he acted in concert with a deep subconscious need to protect his ego and thereby move outside the realm of his conscious awareness of moral justice." Id. at 13. "From a neurological perspective, it is [Draper's] opinion that on a conscious level, he would not be aware of what he had done." Id. In Draper's opinion, the murders "could have been the result of distortion in his rational thinking" "set into action by the combination of severe emotional trauma and use of alcohol which dulled the inhibitions" (at 37-38).

Incredible.