Opinion ID: 2686798
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Dr. Eugenio Rothe

Text: Dr. Eugenio Rothe, a forensic psychiatrist, evaluated Mendoza in Spanish in 2007. Dr. Rothe testified that Mendoza suffered from “a residue of mild chronic post-traumatic stress disorder” (“PTSD”), based on his time in the Peruvian embassy in Havana and the Peruvian refugee camp, and that Mendoza “probably had a moderate to severe [PTSD] when he first arrived” in the United States. 34 Case: 13-14968 Date Filed: 07/31/2014 Page: 35 of 58 Dr. Rothe believed that Mendoza’s time in Peru, where he lived “with the law of the jungle,” caused Mendoza to adopt “an attitude [of] . . . identification with the aggressor.” Mendoza saw the world as comprised of victims and victimizers, and “he became identified with the victimizer as a defense of not wanting to be the victim.” Dr. Rothe mistakenly believed that Mendoza lived in the Peru refugee camp 12 years, rather than two years and three months years. Dr. Rothe noted that Mendoza’s drug abuse was consistent with PTSD and that Mendoza used marijuana and powder cocaine, but not crack cocaine, as it made him nauseous. Dr. Rothe believed that using drugs made Mendoza “more impulsive” and more “prone to engaging in more violent out-of-control behaviors than somebody who was not using drugs and who would not have history like Mr. Mendoza.” Dr. Rothe administered a specific test for PTSD. Because of the lapse in time (1992 murder to 2007 testing), Dr. Rothe did not intend the test to produce “an exact representation of [PTSD] but just to provide a general view and to look at what specific areas of functioning were affected when he went through all of these experiences in Peru.” This testing, and the background experiences Mendoza told Dr. Rothe, led Dr. Rothe to reach his conclusions that Mendoza had “a residue 35 Case: 13-14968 Date Filed: 07/31/2014 Page: 36 of 58 of mild chronic” PTSD in 2007 and “probably” had “moderate to severe” PTSD when he first arrived in the United States in 1982.17 Dr. Rothe believed that Mendoza’s “neurological immaturity,” as evidenced by his Cuban medical records, made him more likely to suffer PTSD after being exposed to traumatic events in the Peruvian embassy and in Peru. However, Dr. Rothe could not give an accurate diagnosis about Mendoza’s mental state at the time of the crime because he did not examine Mendoza back then.