Opinion ID: 165223
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Testimony of Dr. Harrison Pope (for the Government)

Text: 15 The district court certified Dr. Harrison Pope, a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist, as an expert in psychotic disorders. ( Id. at 74) As a professor of psychiatry, Dr. Pope helped draft the diagnostic criteria for psychotic disorders used in the DSM-III and DSM-IV, and has written and lectured on the psychiatric effects of steroid use. ( Id. at 77, 96) In preparation for his testimony, Dr. Pope interviewed Weed by phone, read reports on his condition, watched the videotape taken after Weed's arrest, and reviewed testimony of people who had been with Weed just prior to his psychotic episode. ( Id. at 81, 93) In addition, he listened to conversations Weed had with his mother while he was in jail. ( Id. at 81, 92) 16 At the hearing, Dr. Pope testified that Weed had a brief psychotic disorder with prominent manic features. ( Id. at 95, 106) In Dr. Pope's opinion, Weed's previous steroid use and participation in an exhaustive self-awareness program the week prior to the shooting could be ruled out as causes of the psychotic break, leaving only very rare possibilities as the triggering factors. ( Id. at 97, 98) According to Dr. Pope's hypothesis, Weed's psychotic episode may have developed from a seizure deep in the brain called a complex partial seizure. ( Id. at 99) However, he could not with reasonable medical certainty say that this was the cause. ( Id. at 111-12) If seizure was in fact the cause, Dr. Pope testified that Weed is more vulnerable than the average person to having another seizure, but he also stated that the odds of recurrence lessen as time passes. ( Id. at 102-03) Finally, although Dr. Pope testified that Weed does not currently exhibit any symptoms of psychosis, he clarified, that [statement] should not be interpreted that I'm guaranteeing that he will never again have symptoms because I cannot say that with confidence. ( Id. at 121-22) 17