there" to defense counsel when Dr. Krop made a statement at the competency hearing that Ponticelli disagreed with, and *1101 defense counsel's notes indicated that Ponticelli had called counsel from jail and provided him with the name of two potential mitigating witnesses.
Three former cellmates also testified to Ponticelli's strange behavior at the time of trial. They testified that they often saw Ponticelli pacing in his cell, at times with a cloth over his head, and constantly reading his Bible and praying. An inventory of his jail cell at the time of trial revealed eight Bibles; several friends and family members testified that Ponticelli wrote them long letters from jail that were fragmented and uncharacteristically religious; and defense counsel testified that Ponticelli's bizarre behavior continued throughout trial. Ponticelli's sistertestified at the evidentiary hearing that Ponticelli's father was fundamental in his religious beliefs, but she had never known Ponticelli to be.
There was also testimony regarding defense counsel's strategy in this case and whether counsel was ineffective for not further investigating Ponticelli's mental health at the time of the crimes.[35] Counsel testified that he had two theories in regard to Ponticelli's defense: (1) an acquittal based on insanity or cocaine psychosis; and (2) second-degree murder based on the voluntary intoxication defense. At the time of trial, counsel truly believed he had all the evidence available to him, and he argued the alternative theories of cocaine psychosis and reasonable doubt during his opening statement because he had no evidence Ponticelli was under the influence of cocaine at the time