Opinion ID: 179034
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Dr. Sparks

Text: The State also called Dr. John Sparks, a psychiatrist and medical director of the Bexar County Detention Center. Previously, in his capacity as the medical director, Dr. Sparks had seen Esparza because of a treatment issue. Dr. Sparks testified that Esparza “conveyed to me what he needed in a very clear and concise way.” At the request of the state court, Dr. Sparks interviewed Esparza and also reviewed the report issued by Dr. Kern. Dr. Sparks’ evaluation of Esparza provides that he “is aware that it may lead to the death sentence if he is not retarded or may lead to life in prison if he is retarded.” Dr. Sparks concluded that Esparza was not mentally retarded. Although Dr. Sparks acknowledged that the current test scores were in the mildly mentally retarded range, his evaluation provided as follows: [E]vidence from multiple sources suggest that the present test results provide marked underestimates of his intellectual capabilities. He displayed “pervasive evidence of poor test taking attitude characterized by low motivation, poor attention and concentration, and low task involvement and persistence.”[3 ] He 2 Dr. Arambula’s testimony will be more fully discussed infra in the context of Esparza’s claim of ineffective assistance. 3 Dr. Sparks’ evaluation was quoting from Dr. Kern’s report. 10 Case: 10-70009 Document: 00511289378 Page: 11 Date Filed: 11/09/2010 No. 10-70009 made minimal effort in the testing although his abilities to communicate and his ability to handle general living situations seem well above the mentally retarded range. He had long term gainful employment and knew how to drive and passed the drivers test. Dr. Sparks’ evaluation also found that Esparza’s functioning “was well above the retardation level.” Dr. Sparks found that Esparza communicated very well. Although Esparza does not write well, he “understands language better than a retarded person can.” Esparza did not receive a good education and thus “has difficulty in writing communications.” However, his “adaptive ablity is excellent.” Dr. Sparks found that the I.Q. scores of 86 and 88 contained in the prison records were consistent with his opinion that Esparza is not mentally retarded. Although Dr. Sparks initially estimated that Esparza had borderline intellectual functioning, after hearing Esparza’s taped phone conversations, he estimated that Esparza’s I.Q. would be “77 or 78, closer to 80, which would be then low average.”