Opinion ID: 2277764
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: exclusion of expert testimony regarding defendant's mental state at the time of the offenses

Text: It is helpful to begin with a review of the defense of lack of criminal responsibility. Prior to our decision in State v. Johnson, 121 R.I. 254, 399 A.2d 469 (1979), Rhode Island followed the M'Naghten test to determine the validity of insanity pleas. Stated briefly, the M'Naghten standard instructed the jury to determine `whether the defendant had the capacity to know right from wrong in respect to the particular act charged.' Id. at 260 n. 3, 399 A.2d at 472 n. 3. M'Naghten, therefore, focused solely on cognitive capacity: the capacity of the defendant to understand the moral nature of his or her behavior. Id. at 261, 399 A.2d at 473. In abandoning M'Naghten, we concentrated on two primary problems with the right/wrong test. First, M'Naghten was predicated upon an outdated psychological concept. As we stated, [i]nsanity affects the whole personality of the defendant, including will and emotions, not just cognitive capacity. Id. (citing Durham v. United States, 214 F.2d 862, 871-72 (D.C. Cir.1954), overruled on other grounds by United States v. Brawner, 471 F.2d 969, 982 (D.C. Cir.1972)). Second, the M'Naghten standard restricted expert testimony to the issue of a defendant's cognitive ability and deprived the jury of a true and complete picture of a defendant's mental state. 121 R.I. at 262, 399 A.2d at 473 (citing United States v. Brawner, 471 F.2d 969, 620 (2d Cir.1966)). With these concerns in mind, we adopted a new test that closely resembled the proposal of the American Law Institute's Model Penal Code. 121 R.I. at 267, 399 A.2d at 476. We stated: A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct, as a result of mental disease or defect, his capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law is so substantially impaired that he cannot justly be held responsible. The terms `mental disease or defect' do not include an abnormality manifested only by repeated criminal or otherwise antisocial conduct. Id. In attempting to establish this defense of lack of criminal responsibility, defendant introduced the testimony of Dr. Theoharis Seghorn. Doctor Seghorn had obtained his Ph.D. from Boston University in clinical psychology and had extensive experience working with sexual offenders at Bridgewater Treatment Center for Sexually Dangerous People located in Massachusetts. Doctor Seghorn also testified that he was working with New England Forensic Associates and that on fifteen to twenty occasions he had conducted evaluations to determine whether an individual was criminally responsible for the offenses they committed. The trial justice qualified Dr. Seghorn as an expert in psychology. Doctor Seghorn proceeded to testify concerning the various medical records and reports he had used in diagnosing defendant. He testified that defendant suffered from schizotypal personality disorder whose foundations became fixed at some point during his childhood. At that point defense counsel asked the doctor whether in his opinion defendant suffered from this mental defect at the time that defendant committed the crimes. The trial justice refused to allow Dr. Seghorn to answer this question. The trial justice reasoned that this question required the doctor to take his diagnosis at the time that he evaluated defendant and relate this diagnosis back to the date of the perpetration of the crimes. The trial justice concluded that our decision in State v. Johnson required exclusion of testimony regarding this retroactive diagnosis. The trial justice also concluded that Dr. Seghorn was not qualified to make a retroactive diagnosis.