Dr. Jethro Toomer, Ph.D., provided the undersigned with a declaration setting forth the following. See Exhibit 3. Dr. Toomer is a licensed psychologist. His practice includes clinical and forensic psychology. He has been qualified by federal and state courts in several jurisdictions to testify about psychological questions arising in capital cases and other forensic issues. He has served as an expert witness in capital cases for over four decades. He also serves as a professor of psychology. Dr. Toomer provided a declaration to undersigned counsel setting forth his opinion regarding the nature, weight, and significance of Mr. Grim’s aggravating circumstance arising from his prior convictions.
Dr. Toomer’s review of the witness statements, in combination with the records relating to Appellant’s convictions, revealed that Appellant has deep-seeded psychological and substance abuse problems. Witnesses who knew Appellant around the time of his prior offenses related that, when Appellant was drinking, he lost control and engaged in acts that he never would have engaged in while sober. When he was…show more content… Toomer’s review of the records of Appellant’s prior offenses also shed light on the psychological and substance-abuse issues underlying Appellant’s prior convictions. For example, Appellant’s counsel on his 1983 Escambia County convictions, Mr. Van Cavage, moved for the appointment of psychiatric experts to evaluate Appellant’s mental state at the time of the crimes. A court-appointed expert, Dr. Ogburn, concluded that on the night of the 1982 offenses, Appellant was intoxicated and succumbed to a loss of control. After Appellant pleaded guilty, Mr. Van Cavage filed a motion to mitigate and wrote a letter to the judge regarding the circumstances of the offenses. Mr. Van Cavage stated that Appellant’s drinking and psychological issues may have been a contributing factor in his commission of the crimes, and recommended that Appellant receive psychiatric
