Opinion ID: 3045707
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ferguson’s Witnesses

Text: Dr. George Woods, a psychiatric expert who has testified throughout the country on behalf of capital inmates, reviewed Ferguson’s mental health records, interviewed him on three separate occasions from October 2011 to September 2012, and administered several neurological tests. He prepared a written report on Ferguson’s behalf, which was admitted into evidence during the evidentiary hearing. In his report, Dr. Woods recounted Ferguson’s documented history of paranoid schizophrenia, including his belief that he is the Prince of God. The report stated that Ferguson exhibited delusional beliefs and reported experiencing visual, auditory, and olfactory hallucinations throughout the years. According to Dr. Woods’ report, Ferguson said that his long-deceased father was still alive and protecting him, that he is the Prince of God, that he will be resurrected at some point after his execution “to sit at the right hand of God,” and that he is destined to ascend to his rightful throne and ultimately “save the world.” Ferguson also told Dr. Woods about visual and auditory hallucinations of seeing and communicating with his dead father, as well as olfactory hallucinations of an inexplicable “sweet smell.” Ferguson recounted earlier experiences of seeing snakes and vicious dogs 16 Case: 12-15422 Date Filed: 05/21/2013 Page: 17 of 65 coming out of the walls of his cell, although he acknowledged that his visual and auditory hallucinations had diminished over the past decade. Dr. Woods’ report concluded that, although Ferguson understands that he is facing execution and that the State of Florida intends to execute him for the crimes for which he was convicted, he lacks a rational understanding of the reason for the execution and its consequences. The report said that Ferguson believes his convictions and continued incarceration on death row are “not based upon the law,” but are part of a plot by the State of Florida “to prevent him from ascending to his rightful throne as the Prince of God,” as well as a “conspiracy of corrupt policemen” to retaliate against him “for being acquitted in a prior case.” The report said that Ferguson believes he will not die as a result of his execution due to “his father’s powers” and his eventual resurrection. In his hearing testimony, Dr. Woods reiterated his opinion that Ferguson is a paranoid schizophrenic and lacks a rational understanding of the reason for his execution and its consequences. He testified that Ferguson has grandiose delusions that he is the Prince of God, that there is a Communist plot to take over the United States, that he will play a divine role in driving away the Communist threat, and that the State cannot kill him because he possesses “special powers.” Dr. Woods also recounted Ferguson’s reports of visual hallucinations of seeing “shadow people” since a very young age, auditory hallucinations of hearing the voice of his 17 Case: 12-15422 Date Filed: 05/21/2013 Page: 18 of 65 dead father, and olfactory hallucinations of a “sweet smell” that would persist even after he cleaned his cell. In contrast to his written report, however, Dr. Woods testified at the evidentiary hearing that Ferguson believes that, through his trial and incarceration, the State of Florida has been preparing him for his “ascension” to his rightful throne as the Prince of God, not preventing him from doing so. And, also unlike his report, Dr. Woods did not testify that Ferguson believed that his convictions, incarceration, and impending execution were the product of a conspiracy among state officials or were the result of anything other than the murders he had committed. In his testimony, Dr. Woods conceded that Ferguson had not taken any antipsychotic drugs since 2000, had not exhibited any unusual behaviors to prison staff since that time, and since 2001 had maintained an S-1 classification (the designation for prisoners with no identifiable mental health concerns that might impair their functioning in prison). He also conceded that Ferguson had filed a number of prison grievances over the years that were “fairly goal-directed toward his daily life” and made no reference at all to believing that he is the Prince of God. Dr. Woods described Ferguson as a “geriatric” or “late-life” schizophrenic who, despite his psychosis, did not necessarily require medication and would not necessarily exhibit any outward manifestations of his illness because the “positive symptoms” of paranoid schizophrenia diminish with age. He stated that paranoid 18 Case: 12-15422 Date Filed: 05/21/2013 Page: 19 of 65 schizophrenics are the highest functioning types of schizophrenics and can perform ordinary tasks in structured environments. In further support of his diagnosis, Dr. Woods opined that Ferguson suffers from cavum septum pellucidum, a fissure between the two hemispheres of the brain indicative of schizophrenia. Although Dr. Woods initially testified that the fissure was “very deep,” he later retreated from that description, conceding on cross-examination that the 2004 radiology report upon which he had relied actually stated that Ferguson’s brain was intact except for a “very small” cavum septum pellucidum. Dr. Woods also conceded that a 2001 article from the American Journal of Psychiatry concluded that a small cavum septum pellucidum is a normal anatomical variant that appears in virtually equal numbers of schizophrenic and non-schizophrenic people.
Dr. Richard Rogers, an expert in forensic psychology and malingering, also testified as an expert witness for Ferguson. He evaluated Ferguson on September 20 and 21, 2012, for the limited purpose of determining whether he was currently malingering or feigning psychotic symptoms. In addition to interviewing Ferguson, Dr. Rogers administered a battery of malingering tests. He acknowledged that two of the test scores were elevated and did suggest that Ferguson was malingering. However, based on the totality of the results of the 19 Case: 12-15422 Date Filed: 05/21/2013 Page: 20 of 65 administered tests, Dr. Rogers was of the opinion that Ferguson was not currently malingering, even if he had done so in the past. On the core question of mental competency, however, Dr. Rogers conceded that Ferguson did not exhibit any obvious signs of cognitive impairment in his writings or verbal communications and appeared to be of average intelligence.