Opinion ID: 60366
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Dr. Carole Samango-Sprouse

Text: Dr. Samango-Sprouse is an expert in the neurodevelopmental assessment of children, specializing in genetic disorders. Her opinion relied heavily on a battery of tests conducted by Dr. Boone and interviews with Eff and his mother. During the Daubert hearing, Dr. Samango-Sprouse first testified about Klinefelter's Syndrome and its general effects. Specifically, she testified that: Klinefelter's Syndrome is a neurogenetic disorder, which is a genetic condition that, from birth, causes brain, behavioral, and neurocognitive differences; untreated Klinefelter's Syndrome causes deficient levels of testosterone in adolescent males, affecting brain development; young adolescents with Klinefelter's Syndrome have decreased volume in the frontal lobe of their brains, which controls executive functioning; the primary components of executive functioning are inhibition, attention, and working memory; executive functioning controls the ability to identify, plan, and execute a course of action; persons with Klinefelter's Syndrome and deficits in executive functioning show deficits in their ability to plan, their ability to anticipate and appreciate the consequences of their actions, and their ability to inhibit inappropriate behavior, resulting in childlike decisions or magical thinking; and Klinefelter's Syndrome resulting in executive dysfunction can constitute a severe mental disease or defect. Dr. Samango-Sprouse next testified about the effect of Klinefelter's Syndrome on Eff's behavior, specifically his decision to set the fires in Davy Crockett National Forest. She stated that: the tests by Dr. Boone reveal that Eff was deficient in executive functioning and his ability to make judgments and understand consequences; Eff makes judgments similar to an eight-year-old child; and when Eff set the fires, he was not thinking about the consequences or wrongfulness of his actionshe was busy on the front part of the plan and was focused on showing that he could put out a fire so he could impress his supervisor. Dr. Samango-Sprouse concluded that Eff was unable to appreciate the nature, quality, and wrongfulness of his acts.