Opinion ID: 3163175
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Lunacy Commission

Text: McWilliams’s mental health has been frequently contested and repeatedly examined throughout the long history of his case, but the central cause for most of the speculation stems from McWilliams’s tendency to malinger, or fake symptoms of his alleged mental illness. 2 Dr. Davis’s reports were entered into evidence during the penalty phase. 4 Case: 13-13906 Date Filed: 12/16/2015 Page: 5 of 46 McWilliams’s counsel began investigating McWilliams’s mental health less than a month after he was arrested for murdering Ms. Reynolds. On January 21, 1986, counsel petitioned the Circuit Court of Tuscaloosa County to provide a psychiatric assessment of McWilliams, including an evaluation of his sanity, his competency, and any mitigating circumstances.3 The court granted the petition and ordered the State of Alabama (State) to create a “Lunacy Commission” to evaluate McWilliams’s mental health at the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility (Taylor Hardin). The Lunacy Commission reported directly to the court. On June 4, 1986, the Lunacy Commission presented the court with a threeand-a-half-page report summarizing the conclusions of three doctors serving on the Commission.4 All three doctors concluded McWilliams was competent to stand trial, free of mental illness at the time of the crime, and faking psychotic symptoms.