Competency-mental state of offenders-forensic psychologist
Read the scenario below and respond with a 4 – 5 page paper that addresses the following:
Explain the factors involved in determining the competency and mental state of offenders.
Scenario: You Are a Forensic Psychologist
You are a forensic psychologist employed in a state psychiatric facility. The client was committed to your facility for restoration of competency after the judge determined him incompetent to stand trial. He has been a patient at the facility for 3 months, and you have been ordered by the judge to complete a new competency evaluation.
According to a police report, on Feb. 4, 2004, officers responded to a reported shooting at the residence of John and Jane Wilson. When officers arrived at the scene, they observed the body of John Wilson leaning against the house on the steps that enter into the kitchen. His wife, Jane Wilson, was lying with her head in her husband’s lap. Both victims were bloodied and had no apparent life signs. Evidence indicated that Mrs. Wilson had been shot while sitting in the right front passenger side of her vehicle, and dragged by her feet to where her body was left lying beside her husband.
The witnesses at the scene, who discovered the bodies and called police, stated that they were going to the Wilson’s home to visit and when they drove up, the Wilson’s 25-year-old son Edward came out and confronted them and told them to leave – that something had happened there and to call an ambulance.
Edward Wilson was subsequently arrested and charged with two counts of first degree murder. His I.Q. is in the range of mild mental retardation. He has a history of mental health treatment beginning at the age of 17, when he was hospitalized following a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the mouth. At the age of 19, he reportedly became enraged at the family dining room table and tried to choke his younger sister, while screaming at his mother that she “should have been destroyed years ago.” He was again referred for mental health treatment, and presented with delusions and hallucinations. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and put on medication, which stabilized his symptoms.
Since his admission to your facility for the murder charges, Wilson reported that as a teen, he discovered the “Lost Rock of Creation,” which had “five animal faces carved into it, and he sent it to the mayor who was in the CIA.” He also stated that at the time of his parents’ deaths, he believed his father was in the KGB and his mother was a witch. Wilson lived with his parents at the time of their deaths and was unemployed. He also admitted that at the time of the alleged murders, he was not taking his psychotropic medication. He was appointed a public defender, who met with him once for 10 minutes prior to his first court appearance. The public defender asked the judge to order a competency evaluation due to Wilson’s alleged crime and past bizarre behavior. The judge subsequently ordered him to your facility for competency restoration and another evaluation.
Questions
In your paper, you must address the following questions:
1.Given the information provided, what else would you want to know about Wilson?
2.Who would you want to interview for collateral contact about him?
3.Does he appear to meet the criteria for competency to stand trial? Why or why not?
4.What questions would you ask him in order to assess his competency to stand trial?
5.If the judge asked you on the stand to assess his risk for future violence, how would you answer?
