Attorneys raise questions about psychological reports

March 02, 2012 1:43 PM

PHILIPSBURG--Attorneys representing so-called "gypsy taxi bandits" Curtley A. Richards (32) and Sherwan Roberts (20) during Thursday's appeal hearing raised questions concerning the reliability of expert reports on their clients' state of mind.

Both men were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Court of First Instance in December 2011 for eight crimes involving aggravated manslaughter, rape and theft, theft with violence and severe mistreatment, all committed between 13 February and 4 March 2011.

In less than three weeks no fewer than three persons fell victim and lost their lives to the two men who had posed as gypsy taxi drivers.

Their victims were beaten, stabbed with a knife and stoned. The shirt of one of the victims was set on fire while he was still alive, causing third-degree burns to approximately five per cent of his body. They also raped a young woman several times and severely mistreated another woman.

Both men's state of mind had been subjected to observation by a psychiatrist and psychologist of the Forensic Observation Unit FOBA of the Detention and Correction Centre in Curaçao.

The forensic experts had found an "antisocial development with psychopathic tendencies" in Roberts, whom they considered less accountable for his acts. This would explain the excessive violence of the robberies and rape, the experts stated in their report to the Court of First Instance, but did not mean that Roberts had not been of sound mind when he committed his crimes.

The experts indicated that Roberts had continued his robbing of people as a way to obtain "easy" money without scruples. Stating that they considered recidivism highly likely, they advised the Court to impose a lengthy sentence.

The forensic assessment of Richards' state of mind found low intelligence and antisocial traits, as well as a severe addiction to alcohol. It was also found that Richards had attempted to put co-suspect Roberts in a bad light by attempting to put all the blame on him while posing as a "stool pigeon."

The psychiatrist came to the conclusion that Richards could be held fully accountable and that in his case also there would remain a chance of recidivism.

Immediately after the verdict, Roberts' attorney Shaira Bommel had already stated her client would appeal his conviction and said she would request a contra-expertise by the Pieter Baan Centrum forensic psychiatric observation clinic in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Bommel's colleague Geert Hatzmann backed the request on Richard's behalf during Thursday's hearing by the Court of Appeals.

Both attorneys expressed their doubts about the reliability of the FOBA reports. "The examinations were not properly executed and the conclusions are insufficiently motivated," said Bommel, who also pointed at the high stakes involved, considering her client's youthful age.

Hatzmann also pointed at the importance of a "crystal-clear image" of his client's intelligence and conscience.

Solicitor General Leomar Angela said the requests for a second opinion were insufficiently substantiated, and should therefore be turned down. He said both convicts had been observed for one month. He, however, made the suggestion to allow the attorneys the chance to ask additional questions to the experts in Curaçao.

The three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals said it would not be legally possible to refer both men to a clinic in The Netherlands, which would also not be very practical.

The Court turned down the request for a second opinion, because it was "insufficiently motivated and would not fit within the legal possibilities." Instead, the lawyers were granted the opportunity to ask additional questions to the FOBA experts before March 9.

The experts are to submit their responds to the lawyers, the Solicitor General and the Court of Appeals no later than May 11. The hearing of the appeal itself was postponed until May 23.

(The Daily Herald)

2 March 2012