05-31-2014, 08:23 PM
PISTORIUS PSYCH EVAL UNDERWAY
Oscar Pistorius' murder trial began a new phase Monday when the Olympic athlete arrived at a state psychiatric hospital for a monthlong evaluation whose terms have been described by some as favorable to the double-amputee runner.
The judge who will deliver a verdict in the case asked the hospital to determine whether Pistorius had a mental disorder at the time of the shooting, which could affect whether he should be held criminally responsible.
Pistorius must arrive by 9 a.m. and can leave by 4 p.m. each weekday, and has weekends off under an order from Judge Thokozile Masipa. Pistorius, who is free on bail, has been staying at the upscale Pretoria home of his uncle.
Pistorius' outpatient status troubles some experts who say 24-hour observation is common in state psychiatric facilities. In the evenings, nursing staff can get additional insights into a patient's mental state that complement formal questioning and other tests during the day, the experts say.
"There is a benefit" to the after-hours observation, said Lee-Ann Hartman, a clinical psychologist who has worked in state psychiatric facilities.
Masipa's instruction came after a psychiatrist testified that Pistorius, who has said he feels particularly vulnerable because of his disability and long-held worry about crime, had an anxiety disorder that could have contributed to his shooting of Steenkamp on Feb. 14, 2013. The judge was responding to a prosecution request for an independent inquiry, based on concern the defense would argue Pistorius was not guilty because of mental illness.
There is a long waiting list for observation cases at state psychiatric hospitals, and Pistorius' assessment will be faster because he does not need a hospital bed, said Gerhard Grundling, chair of the Clinical Psychology Forum, a South African group. He said the observation likely will include blood tests and possible brain scans and that more specialists, including a neurologist, can get involved as needed.
Additionally, in such observations, social workers gather "collateral information" in interviews with friends, family and others, according to Grundling.
Full story: http://espn.go.com/olympics/trackandfiel...evaluation
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Seems it would be harder to malinger under 24-hour observation than via limited outpatient observation. I wish Pistorius was undergoing an in-patient evaluation.
If Pisotrius and his team believed that he had a good chance of getting off scot free or getting a very light sentence for culpable homicide before the eval was ordered, I can see him wanting to come across as having no mental illness.
If instead Pistorius and his team believed that he a had good chance of being convicted of murder (mandatory 25 years) or receiving a long sentence for culpable homicide before the eval was ordered, I can see him wanting to come across as in fact having a mental illness. In that case, getting sentenced to a psychiatric facility where the doctors were responsible for determining his release -- contingent on their perception of his safeness to society -- would likely be the better option for the defense team.
I think Pistorius is a proven liar. I don't trust him to be honest in any context or environment and psychiatrists and psychologists sometimes get fooled. In any case, I don't expect that the brain scans and blood tests are going to show any physical signs of mental illness. We'll see.
He's got 3 more weeks of evaluation and then there will probably be an additional few weeks necessary for results interpretation and compilation. I'll be surprised if the trial resumes earlier than mid July.
Oscar Pistorius' murder trial began a new phase Monday when the Olympic athlete arrived at a state psychiatric hospital for a monthlong evaluation whose terms have been described by some as favorable to the double-amputee runner.
The judge who will deliver a verdict in the case asked the hospital to determine whether Pistorius had a mental disorder at the time of the shooting, which could affect whether he should be held criminally responsible.
Pistorius must arrive by 9 a.m. and can leave by 4 p.m. each weekday, and has weekends off under an order from Judge Thokozile Masipa. Pistorius, who is free on bail, has been staying at the upscale Pretoria home of his uncle.
Pistorius' outpatient status troubles some experts who say 24-hour observation is common in state psychiatric facilities. In the evenings, nursing staff can get additional insights into a patient's mental state that complement formal questioning and other tests during the day, the experts say.
"There is a benefit" to the after-hours observation, said Lee-Ann Hartman, a clinical psychologist who has worked in state psychiatric facilities.
Masipa's instruction came after a psychiatrist testified that Pistorius, who has said he feels particularly vulnerable because of his disability and long-held worry about crime, had an anxiety disorder that could have contributed to his shooting of Steenkamp on Feb. 14, 2013. The judge was responding to a prosecution request for an independent inquiry, based on concern the defense would argue Pistorius was not guilty because of mental illness.
There is a long waiting list for observation cases at state psychiatric hospitals, and Pistorius' assessment will be faster because he does not need a hospital bed, said Gerhard Grundling, chair of the Clinical Psychology Forum, a South African group. He said the observation likely will include blood tests and possible brain scans and that more specialists, including a neurologist, can get involved as needed.
Additionally, in such observations, social workers gather "collateral information" in interviews with friends, family and others, according to Grundling.
Full story: http://espn.go.com/olympics/trackandfiel...evaluation
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Seems it would be harder to malinger under 24-hour observation than via limited outpatient observation. I wish Pistorius was undergoing an in-patient evaluation.
If Pisotrius and his team believed that he had a good chance of getting off scot free or getting a very light sentence for culpable homicide before the eval was ordered, I can see him wanting to come across as having no mental illness.
If instead Pistorius and his team believed that he a had good chance of being convicted of murder (mandatory 25 years) or receiving a long sentence for culpable homicide before the eval was ordered, I can see him wanting to come across as in fact having a mental illness. In that case, getting sentenced to a psychiatric facility where the doctors were responsible for determining his release -- contingent on their perception of his safeness to society -- would likely be the better option for the defense team.
I think Pistorius is a proven liar. I don't trust him to be honest in any context or environment and psychiatrists and psychologists sometimes get fooled. In any case, I don't expect that the brain scans and blood tests are going to show any physical signs of mental illness. We'll see.
He's got 3 more weeks of evaluation and then there will probably be an additional few weeks necessary for results interpretation and compilation. I'll be surprised if the trial resumes earlier than mid July.