Opinion ID: 4514756
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Cognitive Deficits in Executive

Text: Functioning Related to Competency 7 ¶13. Dickerson argues that Dr. Storer incorrectly stated that cognitive deficits in executive functioning are irrelevant and not accepted as mental defects that significantly interfere with competency-related abilities. The State argues that Dickerson’s claim is barred because he failed to cite relevant legal authority to support it, because he failed to object to Dr. Storer’s being allowed to testify as an expert in the fields of clinical and forensic psychology and because the doctrine of res judicata bars his contention that his cognitive deficits in executive functioning render him incompetent. ¶14. Notwithstanding the procedural bars, Dr. Storer was accepted as an expert in the fields of clinical and forensic psychology and actually refused to testify to what Dickerson claims. At the competency hearing, Dr. Storer refused to testify that cognitive deficits in executive functioning are irrelevant to a court’s finding of competency. Instead, he testified that cognitive deficits in executive functioning, alone, are not recognized as “a sufficient foundation for a finding of [in]competence” in any jurisdiction of which he is aware. Even so, Dr. Storer explained that the severity of the dysfunction should determine whether the deficit in executive functioning alone could support a finding of incompetence and offered an example of severe memory impairment due to head trauma as an instance in which a cognitive deficit in executive functioning could support a determination of incompetency on its own. Those circumstances, however, are not present in Dickerson’s case. ¶15. Dr. Storer noted that executive functioning is one part of many to be considered in a finding of competency. He listed criteria for determining whether a person has a cognitive 8 deficit in executive functioning. He further testified that the mere presence of a deficit in executive functioning in a person does not automatically mean that the person will also have deficits in their competency-related abilities. ¶16. Dr. Storer also pointed out that at the hearing held before Dickerson’s trial to determine his competency to stand trial, Dr. Lott testified that, despite Dickerson’s having cognitive deficits, he was competent to stand trial. According to the standard of competency Dickerson asserts should apply in post-conviction proceedings, coupled with his failure to offer any evidence that his cognitive deficits in executive functioning have changed since his pretrial competency hearing, this contention is barred by the doctrine of res judicata. ¶17. The trial court’s finding that Dickerson did not have deficits in executive functioning severe enough to render him incompetent to proceed in post-conviction proceedings was not manifestly against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.