Opinion ID: 853470
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Postconviction Testimony

Text: In preparation for the postconviction relief hearing, Prowell was examined by Dr. Thomas Liffick, a psychiatrist and Medical Director of the Southwestern Indiana Mental Health Center in Evansville, and Dr. Rahn Bailey, a psychiatrist and Director of the Division of Law and Psychiatry at the University of Texas. Based on clinical interviews, collateral source information, and social history records, both Liffick and Bailey diagnosed Prowell as presently suffering, and suffering at the time of the murders, from chronic schizophrenia. [4] At the postconviction relief hearing, Bailey testified that the murders were highly likely to be directly related to the significant influence of the most severe symptoms [of schizophrenia], including paranoia, hallucinations, delusional thought, and cognitive disorganization, and that the nexus between the homicides and Prowell's state of mind met Indiana's statutory criteria for mitigation. [5] When Liffick asked Prowell if he knew the victims, Prowell replied: He thought I was somebody come to visit her; they knew about my mother; everybody knew about it. Everything that goes on is tax free. He let me know he knew who I was. I wasn't the right element by saying two or three words. A lot of things in the system won't be changed. Deformity does exist. There's a lot of scientific crap in it. It was a mental confrontation. I would say insinuation, but I can't really. Liffick agreed with Bailey that it was highly likely that Prowell acted under paranoid delusions at the time of the shootings. Despite their testimony, the postconviction relief court found that Prowell's claims were without merit and denied his petition for postconviction relief.