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State v. Flake8/5/2003
In diagnosing the defendant with paranoid schizophrenia, Dr. Craddock explained that the defendant's symptoms evolved over a period of years:
[The defendant] had not been diagnosed schizophrenic before he came to our facility. A frequent diagnosis in his past was depression. He also had a diagnosis of abusing alcohol, or other substances. I think it's well known in the literature, there's good literature out there. I think it very well describes [the defendant's] evolving symptoms that finally came to be recognized as schizophrenia.
Dr. Craddock concluded that the defendant suffered from this serious mental illness at the time of the shootings on April 5, 1997. Although he could not address the issue of whether the defendant appreciated the wrongfulness of his conduct, Dr. Craddock testified that the defendant "perceived [that] the shootings were right" and that he felt "morally justified" because he falsely believed the victims were terrorists.
Also testifying for the defense was Dr. Rokeya Farooque, the psychiatrist at Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute who evaluated the defendant along with Dr. Craddock and the team of mental health professionals. Dr. Farooque reviewed the defendant's medical records, which indicated the defendant had experienced prior hallucinations associated with drug abuse, blackouts, major depression, an anxiety disorder, and an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Dr. Farooque noted that the defendant had received psychiatric treatment, including hospitalization, for his prior conditions.
Dr. Farooque testified that the defendant suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and described the defendant's delusional thinking:
is delusional thinking was that the victims of his charges, one of them was responsible for the Oklahoma bombing. One of the them was responsible for the World Trade Center bombing and [the defendant] worked for FBI, so he's going to take care of them and that's not wrong, because he's doing society a favor by taking care of the terrorists. . . . And that was fixed in his mind that whatever he did, that was not wrong, because they are terrorists.
Dr. Farooque concluded that the defendant suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and was incapable of appreciating the nature or wrongfulness of his acts in committing the offenses on April 5, 1997.
The next expert witness on behalf of the defense was Dr. John Aday, a state-employed psychologist on the forensic unit of the Western Mental Health Institute. Dr. Aday testified that the defendant was transferred to his facility in November of 1998, and that he was evaluated for his competency in February of 1999. Although found to be competent to stand trial, the defendant "had a major thought disorder[,] continue to actively hallucinate and delusions concerning the victims remain intact." Dr. Aday concluded that the defendant suffered from paranoid schizophrenia based on his hallucinations, delusions, flat affect, and speech. The defendant indicated that he was a government agent and that he did not believe that shooting the victims was wrong.
Dr. Hilary Linder, a practicing psychiatrist for thirty-three years employed by the State at Western Mental Health Institute, also testified for the defense. He testified that the defendant had been his patient since being transferred from Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute in November of 1998. Dr. Linder concluded that the defendant suffered from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the offenses on April 5, 1997, and that the defendant did not know it was wrong to shoot the victims. Dr. Linder said that he observed the defendant five days a week for nearly two and a
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