Defense suggests cop-killer's scribbled notes show remorse

When Rasheed Scrugs came out of surgery two days after murdering Philadelphia Police Officer John Pawlowski, he asked a nurse for a pen and paper.

She told him to write only about his medical care, but Scrugs, who had been shot multiple times by police during the Feb. 13, 2009, shoot-out, had more on his mind.

On three sheets of paper he began to scribble questions and statements, replete with poor spelling, punctuation and penmanship.

"I Canout believe I Shot at a phila cop," he wrote in one section.

"I was somking wet I I got into A Arugeument and I felt A A sharp pain in my back," he wrote later.

"Nothing I can say Did I kill a polliceor officer Pleaste tell me he is still All alive Read it to me . . .

"if I shot A cop my lif is over . . . "

Defense attorneys yesterday presented the letter as an exhibit in Scrugs' murder trial. Each member of the Common Pleas jury was given a copy to read and consider its meaning.

Because Scrugs, 35, already pleaded guilty to first-degree murder during the trial's guilt phase, during the penalty phase the jury is left only to decide if Scrugs should be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole.

The prosecution team rested its case Wednesday. Scrugs' two court-appointed attorneys have been working since then to persuade the jury to spare his life due to his troubled formative years, drug abuse and low intelligence.

Testifying yesterday for Scrugs was Jonathan Mack, a forensic psychologist who gave the defendant a battery of tests and studied his background.

Scrugs was depressed, may have been brain-damaged and high on PCP, or angel dust, the night he gunned down Pawlowski at Broad Street and Olney Avenue, Mack said.

Although it was possible that Scrugs' brain had been damaged by long-term abuse of PCP, the damage could also have been first caused as a result of blood loss he suffered after being shot multiple times the night of the murder, Mack said.

And although the PCP affected Scrugs' behavior, Mack said, it did not absolve him from being responsible for his actions.

"I'm not saying this . . . made him insane. I'm not saying it made him unable to form the intent to kill," he said of the PCP found in Scrugs' urine.

"What I am saying is that given the totality of the evidence, Mr. Scrugs became more violent, more crazy, more assaultive."

The average person has an IQ score of 100; Scrugs' score is 80, which is borderline intelligence, Mack said.

Scrugs' right-brain damage affects his decision-making, impulse control and ability to solve problems, Mack said, but his verbal skills are average.

"He talks better than he thinks," he told the jury.

The defense will continue its case Monday.