Opinion ID: 2365387
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Dr Robert Sadoff

Text: Dr. Sadoff, who testified for the State, met with Nelson in 1997 for approximately two hours and reviewed her psychiatric and medical records. Sadoff agreed in part with Nelson's contention in mitigation that she had a long history of psychiatric problems that contributed to her violent conduct. The significant distinction between Sadoff's and Weiss' testimonies was that Sadoff believed that the murders of Investigator McLaughlin and Officer Norcross were separated by a twelve-minute cooling off period. Sadoff's testimony was important to the State's case because that testimony attempted to justify to the jury the harsher sentence of death for the Norcross murder, in view of the fact that Nelson had been sentenced to life for murdering Investigator McLaughlin. Although the State was trying to prove that the murder of Norcross was committed in the course of McLaughlin's murder for purposes of establishing the other murder aggravating factor, the State relied on Sadoff's opinion to argue that Nelson deserved the more severe sentence for murdering Officer Norcross. Aside from his cooling off theory, Dr.Sadoff's opinions did not significantly diverge from Dr. Weiss'. Sadoff acknowledged that Nelson had various mental disorders. He diagnosed Nelson with a mixed personality disorder that included traits from narcissistic, schizoid, avoidant, and borderline personality disorders. He concurred with Weiss' estimation of Nelson's bizarre attachment to her guns, stating that psychiatrists could conclude ... that [Nelson] may have considered [her guns] like her children. Sadoff disagreed with Weiss' opinion that Nelson was obsessed with suicide. Rather, Sadoff believed that she had thought about suicide, she had talked about it, but she could not be obsessed because she had ample opportunity to end her life. With regard to the effect of Nelson's sex change on her well-being, Sadoff would not label the surgery a disaster; however, he did believe that the operation did not meet Nelson's expectations. Dr. Sadoff denied that Nelson had a total breakdown in her ability to make judgments. For example, Sadoff cited Nelson's decision to stop firing at Detective Robert Norcross after her mother stepped in between her and the detective. Sadoff's opinion that Nelson did not have a total breakdown in reason and judgment is consistent with the absence of an insanity plea. Significantly, however, Sadoff agreed that she had an impairment of her judgment at the time because of her condition, which made her more vulnerable to a partial breakdown or an impairment of her judgment more than the average person. Sadoff testified that Nelson's ability to think clearly was impaired [in part] both by her anxiety and her depression. He also agreed that Nelson's fear of going to jail was above and beyond the normal fear that anyone would have of going to jail ... because of her condition.