Opinion ID: 308716
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence of Mental Status for the Defendant

Text: 77 The first witness for the defendant was his mother, Mrs. Isabel Maria Nater, a social worker in Puerto Rico. The defendant was born September 24, 1946. He had been married four times. One marriage lasted nineteen days, one lasted two months, and a third lasted only a day. He was graduated from high school in Baja Vega, Puerto Rico, in 1963. As a child he was depressed because of the absence of his father, from whom his mother had been divorced when the defendant was three years of age. Defendant was obsessed with a desire to become a soldier and also to have a son. He enlisted in the Army, with her consent, 1964; trained at Fort Bliss, El Paso. He served in Korea and received an honorable discharge in 1966. He re-enlisted in 1967, shortly after he had married a girl in El Paso. Afterwards, he was in a military hospital in Columbus, Georgia, [for injuries sustained in a parachute jump]. He went AWOL and spent several months in Puerto Rico before the F.B.I. came for him. He went AWOL a second time and ultimately received a discharge under conditions other than honorable (undesirable). The mother took the son to a psychiatrist, Dr. Marcos Rosado Del Valle, in Puerto Rico, March 12, 1970. He disappeared on March 22 before he was to see the psychiatrist again on March 24. Mrs. Nater was of the opinion that on March 12, 1970, the defendant was of unsound mind. He came back to Puerto Rico in August, 1971 [right after the alleged bank robbery]. 78 On cross examination, Mrs. Nater testified: 79 Q. Mrs. Nater, did your son at any time discuss the examination conducted by the psychiatrist while he was in the Army? 80 A. I remember one occasion among many where he was examined by a psychiatrist in the Army. He talked to me something about it. 81 Q. All right. Can you tell this jury whether or not at that time the psychiatrist found him to be sane? 82 Defendant objects on the ground that the psychiatrist is not here to be examined. Objection overruled. 83 A. No, they found another disability, according to the doctor. 84 Q. What did your son tell you about that examination, Mrs. Nater? 85 A. My son was AWOL three or four times repeatedly after an accident, according to my information, because I was always seeking information from the Army. They would always take him to a psychiatrist of the Army and the psychiatrist of the Army would examine him and would treat him. At Puerto Rico he was seen by a psychiatrist as I have already said, at Ft. Buchanan. 86 Q. Mrs. Nater, I asked you one question, and the question was did your son ever tell you what the psychiatrist said about this mental capacity while he was in the Army? Did your son ever discuss this with you? 87 A. No, not that. 88 Q. That is all I am asking. Were you aware what the psychiatrists have said? Have you had a chance to see his Army medical records? 89 A. Yes, sir. 90 Q. All right. Your Honor at this point, I move Mr. Calamia tender to me the medical records he obtained from the District Clerk about his medical-may I have that, please? Counsel for defendant [Mr. Calamia]: 91 That is what we object to, Your Honor. We object to the reports signed by Kenneth M. Berc and Elmo M. Vinas, Jr., to the diagnosis and findings, because those are legal-those are medical conclusions and opinions that are not admissible and are hearsay since these people who made this report are not here to be cross examined. This portion of the report is hearsay and I move that it not be admitted. 92 THE COURT: This is proved up. The Court will admit the entire record, including this. 93 Whereupon, Government's Exhibit 4, duly certified by the National Archives and Record Service of the General Services Administration and by the Chief of the National Personnel Record Center at St. Louis was admitted into evidence. 94 Mrs. Nater was then asked whether she was able to identify Government Exhibit 4 as being personnel records of her son, Teodoro Davila-Nater. She stated that she had seen the records, including the report of Dr. Kenneth M. Berc, Psychiatrist. 95 The report, read to the jury, reads as follows: 96 . . . seen for psychiatric evaluation on 12 December, 1969. The subject related that he has been AWOL three times. He feels that he can't cope with the Army anymore because of his many problems back home. He has had three court martials and one Article 15. He has no civilian convictions. 97 Mental status examination reveals a well-oriented male with intact memory for recent, remote, and immediately past events. Judgment was intact in terms of simple actual situations. There was no evidence of fault disorder, delusions, or hallucinations. Affect was stable and appropriate. 98 Diagnosis: Emotionally unstable personality. 99 Findings: This man was and is mentally responsible both to distinguish right from wrong and adhere to the right. This man has the mental capacity to understand and participate in the board proceedings. This man has no disqualifying mental or physical disease or defect sufficient to warrant discharge through medical channels. This condition is not amenable to hospitalization, treatment, disciplinary action, training, or reclassification to another type of duty. This enlisted man will continue to be a noneffective soldier throughout his tour of duty. 100 Recommendations: 1. Psychiatrically cleared for any administrative or disciplinary action. 101 2. It is recommended that Teodoro Davila-Nater, Private, 482 84 8825 be separated from the service under the provisions of AR 635-212. 102 The next witness for the defendant was his sister, Mrs. Isabel Maria Davila, age twenty-seven, the divorced mother of three, then living with her mother in Puerto Rico. She testified that in November, 1969, she found her brother trying to hang himself with a rope to a tree of their yard in Puerto Rico. She called her grandmother and they got him down. Later, he told his sister that he had killed her mother [untrue]. The sister was later recalled to testify to another hanging episode in the laundry of the home, in which he was again saved by his sister and grandmother. She said she forgot about this incident when she was first on the witness stand. 103 [When Davila was examined at Springfield in February, 1972, he denied ever attempting suicide, as will be seen later]. 104 At this point, Dr. Marcos Rosado Del Valle, age 46, took the stand. He was a graduate in medicine of the University of Mexico and had completed a three year residency in psychiatry at the University of Puerto Rico. He saw the defendant on March 12, 1970, for one hour. He diagnosed him as a borderline patient, disorder of the character. On May 12, and May 14, 1972, nine months after the robbery, for a total of two and one half hours, he saw the defendant in jail at El Paso. No psychological tests were administered, but the doctor had the benefit of the Army report (Government's Exhibit 4) already alluded to. From his observation, and despite anything contained in that report, the psychiatrist was of the opinion, to a reasonable medical certainty, that on May 14, 1972, Davila had a disturbance of the personality with anti-social conduct, with a reaction of depressive-manic, an effective psychotic. 105 He was further of the opinion that on August 5, 1971, Davila was psychotic and going through an episode of mania-was mentally ill within the requirements of Blake. 106 The next witness called by the defense was Dr. R. G. Bennett, a board certified psychiatrist, who, from 1943 to 1951, had been a consultant psychiatrist for McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary. Dr. Bennett had interviewed members of the family, including the former in-laws and the ex-wife. He saw Davila September 30, 1971, October 3, 1971, and December 9, 1971. He had studied Davila's military and hospital records. He thought that on September 30 the defendant was perhaps mildly depressed to near normal, no illusion of systems. By December 9 he considered that Davila had a sociopathic personality disorder, but this may have just been the symptom of something more. He felt that Davila had been manic depressive, with periods of remission since 1967. Dr. Bennett's testimony concluded: 107 I feel it is highly probable that he was ill at that time [August 5, 1971] and he lacked substantial capacity to either appreciate the criminality or wrongfulness of his conduct or conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. 2 108 On cross examination, the doctor testified: 109 No, I did not find him psychotic at the time I saw him [September 30, 1971]. 110 It was at this point that the defense took a highly significant step. Counsel for Davila, on redirect, asked Dr. Bennett if he had had an opportunity to look at Dr. Fain's report from Spring-field, Missouri, in this case? He responded in the affirmative and said that he disagreed with the diagnosis. 111 On re-cross, Dr. Bennett said he had also considered Government's Exhibit 4 [the military records; the report of Dr. Kenneth Berc] but that Davila might have been in remission at that time. 112 The next witness called by the defense was Dr. Milton Raskin, board certified psychiatrist, who had examined Davila the week before [May 11, 1972]. He had looked at the military hospital records. He found Nater to be a manic depressive. His opinion was that on August 5, 1971, the defendant suffered from a mental disease or defect, within the rule of Blake. 113 On cross examination, Dr. Raskin stated that he had seen the report from the Bureau of Prisons, Springfield, Missouri, that of Dr. Fain and the other doctors that examined this defendant at Springfield, as well as the Berc report of December 17, 1969, and that Davila told him of his arrest for rape in Chicago on October 18, 1966, a bum rap. 114 At this point the defense rested. 115