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State v. Flake8/5/2003
de Center bombing, and the Oklahoma City bombing.
Relying on the psychological test results, the defendant's history and treatment records, and the defendant's performance in the psychiatric unit, Dr. Craddock diagnosed the defendant with paranoid schizophrenia and opined that he had been suffering from this severe mental illness at the time of these shootings. Having so concluded, however, Dr. Craddock acknowledged that the defendant "had some test scores to say he might be malingering and I'm not going to rule out the possibility, at any time, that he might be malingering." Furthermore, Dr. Craddock was unable to answer to a reasonable degree of certainty whether or not the defendant could distinguish between right and wrong at the time he committed these crimes. Of the defendant's perceptions Dr. Craddock said, "Some things that he perceived would be right under our perceptions and other things would not be." Dr. Craddock gave the following example:
If I were to ask Mr. Flake, "Is it wrong to shoot or assault somebody, can you get arrested for it?" Without hesitation, he can recognize the criminality of his alleged actions. However, as he saw the world, not as it existed, but as he believed the world to be, he thought what he was doing was morally justified and essentially it was appropriate actions.
On cross-examination, Dr. Craddock acknowledged that the defendant's scores on the PAI and the MMPI-II were indicative of malingering and that when the defendant arrived at MTMHI, he indicated he intended to plead "not guilty by reason of insanity," stating, "I didn't think I'd get caught. I thought I was doing society a favor." Dr. Craddock agreed that the defendant's use of the word "caught" indicated that he had an understanding of right and wrong and realized the shootings were wrong. Dr. Craddock acknowledged that, despite ten years of prior mental health treatment, the defendant had not been diagnosed as schizophrenic and had not reported auditory hallucinations prior to his arrest. Dr. Craddock testified that the defendant had no good explanation for why he had never told other mental health professionals about hearing voices, stating only, "No, I didn't tell them, I felt it was their job, that's what they get paid for." Dr. Craddock further related that the defendant fears homosexuals, fears they will approach him because he is confused about his sexual identity, and believed the victims were homosexual. The defendant also told Dr. Craddock that he and Mike Fultz were initially friendly, but that he came to hate Fultz because the wages Fultz paid the defendant were never enough. Furthermore, Dr. Craddock agreed that the defendant's records reflected criminal convictions for vandalism, malicious mischief, and driving under the influence of an intoxicant and an arrest in 1992 for arguing with a bouncer at a nightclub. Finally, Dr. Craddock acknowledged that the defendant reported he had used illegal drugs and alcohol since the eighth grade, including marijuana, LSD, inhalants, and speed.
Testifying next for the defense was Dr. Rokeya Farooque, a psychiatrist employed by the State of Tennessee at MTMHI. In November and December of 1997, Dr. Farooque evaluated the defendant for a thirty-day period to determine his competency to stand trial and his mental state at the time of these offenses. Dr. Farooque stated that during this time she saw the defendant once every "two, three, or four days," that the defendant did not receive any medication, that he reported hearing voices, and that he experienced delusional thinking. The defendant also talked about receiving messages through the television. She confirmed that the defendant believed that one victim was responsible for
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