Opinion ID: 2584196
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Dr. Gitter's testimony regarding Plichta's omissions

Text: Following Plichta's testimony, the prosecution called Dr. Gitter as a rebuttal witness. On direct examination, Dr. Gitter testified that he explained to Plichta that the purpose of the interview was to determine his penal responsibility for the circuit court. He also testified that he believed that Plichta gave a complete explanation of the factors affecting him on the day of his alleged conduct: Q. . . . Did you allow Mr. Plichta to provide you a complete answer as to what may or may not have been affecting him on or about August 1 of 2003? A. I think so. I mean, I don't remember the details; this is a year-and-a-half ago that I interviewed him at [the O`ahu Community Correctional Center] for 65 minutes. Having done these evaluations so many times I know what information I need and sometimes I do guide the defendants through to get the kinds of information I need. Q. But if an individual is attempting to tell you what thoughts were going through [his or her] head at or about the time frame that you need to evaluate that person for purposes of penal responsibility, is it your practice to cut them off? A. Typically not, no. In addition, the prosecution elicited the following testimony from Dr. Gitter with respect to Plichta's concerns regarding aliens: Q. Now, during the course of your interview of Mr. Plichta, did he ever speak about . . . humanoids or . . . other beings who came in human form who were amongst us? A. No. Q. Did he ever express any strong interest in literature discussing those types of topics? A. Not that I'm aware of. Q. He never discussed it with you? A. No, sir. Q. If Mr. Plichta had been involved in that kind of thinking along the lines of these other beings in humanoid form who were going to take over the world and perhaps place him in danger, would you have expected that some information regarding that would have been provided to you during your interview of Mr. Plichta? A. I suppose so, but that wasn't provided to me. On cross-examination, defense counsel attempted to explore why Dr. Gitter did not have a record of Plichta's beliefs in aliens: Q. Now, when you saw Mr. Plichta, you went in with certain things you needed to know, correct, from your experience and training? A. Yes. Q. And if he started rambling about something that was not apparently helpful to you, would not your job require that you ÔÇö A. I might redirect him. Q. Redirect him so that you could get to what you needed to get to? A. I would redirect him except, again, if he had rambled or talked about some of those things, I would have made a note of that in my own mind, my own notes that he expressed some kind of delusional belief. And the only delusions he mentioned to me was the persecutory kind of feelings that people were persecuting, that they were following him around. Q. And in fact it never went deep enough for you to ask him whether those people might be alien or human-appearing but not really human? A. I never asked him that question, no. . . . . Q. . . . [D]id you in fact preserve or did you tape record the conversation with [Plichta]? A. No, I did not. Q. You simply take notes? A. I take notes. Q. So if . . . he did in fact tell you something that was rambling but perhaps you didn't pick up on as significant, there's no way of knowing that now? A. There's no objective evidence in terms of a tape recording. But I do know during the mental status examination he was not rambling, he was very clear, . . . coherent[and exhibited] goal-directed speech [and] tight associations. And I also mentioned that in my report under the mental status examination he denied all psychotic target symptoms. Q. And what are psychotic target symptoms? A. I typically always ask the defendants if they have any auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, . . . olfactory hallucinations, [or] tactile hallucinations. I'll ask them . . . whether they have paranoid ideas whether other folks are following, and that's where I got it that he said that he felt like people are following him. I asked him whether he has any ideas of reference, meaning does he ever feel that people are talking about him behind his back, or does he feel that when he watches TV or listens to the radio that he gets some secret message from the media. I also ask them routinely whether he feels that people can literally read his mind on the spot or whether he can do it, and he denied all those things. Q. But he didn't deny the idea about people following him? A. That's what he said[,] that he thought that people had been following him. Q. And how much did you expand upon that with him? A. I don't recall. On redirect examination, the prosecution asked Dr. Gitter about Plichta's delusions: Q. Now, you've already testified regarding the delusions the defendant may have expressed to you, specifically the persecution delusions that he may have had at the time that you spoke with him. At any point did, other than those persecution delusions, did Mr. Plichta indicate or suggest any other delusions that . . . were affecting him on or about the time of . . . the summer of 2003? A. No. Q. [Plichta] didn't express any kind of doomsday theories to you? A. No, he did not. . . . . Q. . . . [Plichta] never mentioned anything about aliens, for instance? A. Not to me. Q. And he never mentioned anything about some philosophy along the lines of the aliens in human form taking over the world? A. He did not mention it to me nor did I see it mentioned to anybody in the jail. On recross-examination, defense counsel resumed her efforts to explore why Dr. Gitter did not have prior knowledge of Plichta's fear of aliens: Q. Do you have any information whether you or anyone who examined [Plichta] has ever sat down and just said tell us what happened and what you were feeling and given him the floor for a length of time? A. No.