Opinion ID: 1058311
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Competency and the Court-Appointed Expert

Text: The defendant next argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a new competency proceeding on the ground that the court-appointed expert, Dr. Cynthia Turner-Graham, allegedly knew one of the victims. The State maintains that there was no evidence establishing that Dr. Turner-Graham had a conflict of interest or that the defendant was prejudiced in any way. As part of a motion for a new trial, the defendant introduced the affidavit of an Assistant Public Defender, Gary C. Tamkin. The affidavit stated that Tamkin and Dr. Turner-Graham were friends and that the latter had told him she believed she had met one of the victims. According to Tamkin's affidavit, Dr. Turner-Graham said that her son knew one of the victims and that the victim had been to her house. In denying the motion for new trial, the trial court found it inconceivable that an assistant public defender in possession of such information would wait until after trial to reveal it to his colleagues. The trial court further noted that the defense had presented no testimony in support of the issue and had failed to establish when, how well, or for how long Dr. Turner-Graham knew one of the victims. The Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the trial court's ruling. In our view, the record supports the trial court's ruling. The defendant failed to show that Dr. Turner-Graham had a conflict of interest or that her testimony was affected by allegedly meeting one of the victims. The defendant failed to produce any facts with regard to Dr. Turner-Graham's knowledge of the victim and failed to establish any prejudice resulting from Dr. Turner-Graham's testimony. Moreover, the record reveals that the trial court conducted a full and fair competency proceeding and fully considered the extensive evidence presented by both the defendant and the prosecution. We conclude that the trial court did not err in denying the motion for a new trial and a new competency hearing.