Forensic Services

Often a comprehensive psycho-diagnostic evaluation is the first step to an attorney understanding the mental health factors that may be be relevant to a case. Our expert psychologists utilize diagnostic and collateral interviews, psychological testing focused on psychiatric symptoms and personality traits, and review medical, school, and legal records to provide information regarding the individual's functioning, symptoms, and to determine whether the person meets criteria for a mental disorder. Psycho-diagnostic evaluations can be helpful in better understanding attorney-client communication dynamics. These evaluations are often used as a springboard to determine if additional psycholegal issues are present.  

These evaluations focus on the potential impact of mental health factors on an individual's ability to meet legal competency standards (e.g., competency  to proceed to trial, to waive legal counsel, to confess or to plead guilty). Competency evaluations involve clinical interviewing to assess the defendant's mental state, the current impact of any psychiatric symptoms, and cognitive functioning.  The competency assessments conducted by Forensic Minds Consulting stand out due to their comprehensive nature. The client's current mental status is considered in the context of their past functioning and mental health history as revealed by records and/or collateral sources. Structured interviews are used to assess the individual's abilities to navigate legal realm and understand pertinent legal concepts. Psychological testing is often performed to assess the defendant's cognitive abilities, memory, and decision-making skills. The thorough nature of the competency evaluations conducted at Forensic Minds Consulting allows the detection of more subtle issues that may be missed by less experienced clinicians or those who follow briefer competency evaluation protocols.

North Carolina diminished capacity defenses involve intent crimes and focus on the defendant's ability to form the mental state (premeditation and deliberation) required for conviction of the crime.  Psychological evaluations for diminished capacity address whether a defendant was impacted by a mental illness, substance use, or intellectual disability around the time of the alleged offense and, if so, whether these mental health factors impaired the defendant's ability to make or carry out plans.  A comprehensive review of past treatment and criminal discovery records, interviews, and diagnostic psychological testing with the client are essential components of diminished capacity evaluations.  

In North Carolina, one is found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity, or not criminally responsible, if “laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease or deficiency of the mind as to be incapable of knowing the nature and quality of his act, or if he did know this, of distinguishing between right and wrong in relation to such act.” Thus, these evaluations are two-fold. First, it is important to determine if the criminal defendant had a mental health diagnosis or cognitive impairment at the time of the alleged offense, and if so, if the diagnosis or cognitive impairment impacted their understanding of the wrongfulness of their actions at the time. These evaluations rely heavily on any and all information that can help to determine a defendant's state of mind at the time of the offense. This includes review of medical and mental health treatment records as well as legal records to gain a better understanding of the client’s history and psychological functioning. Extensive psychological testing and interviewing with the defendant will help determine the defendant's mental health symptoms and diagnoses. Collateral interviews can also be an important step in gathering details regarding the defendant's history and mental health status at the time of the alleged offense.

These evaluations aim to uncover and present information about an individual’s background, circumstances, and personal history that may help to lessen the gravity of their legal consequences. Often requested by defense attorneys, mitigation evaluations can provide a more humanizing narrative of the defendant’s life. A forensic mitigation evaluation seeks to provide a more nuanced understanding of the individual’s life experiences and challenges, which can influence decisions regarding sentencing, penalties, or other legal outcomes. Unlike criminal responsibility evaluations, which asses the criminal culpability of the  defendant, mitigation evaluations are conducted to determine if a defendant’s life history and mental status may reduce his or her moral culpability and need for punishment.

These evaluations are typically designed to assess the risk of recidivism, or in other words, to provide an informed estimate of an individual's re-offense potential. These evaluations are appropriate for pretrial defendants who are accused of a sex offense, presentence offenders who have been  convicted of a sex offense, and post-sentence offenders petitioning for relief from the North Carolina Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry. These evaluations involve extensive interviewing of the defendant or offender to obtain general history and psychosexual functioning (sexual history, interests, behaviors, etc.) as well as collateral interviews. Psychological testing is also conducted focusing on cognitive functioning (if relevant), personality functioning, and psychosexual functioning (sexual attraction, behaviors, beliefs, deviance, etc.). A review of legal records is necessary (including any records remaining on a case even years following sentencing) as well as psychiatric, educational, and medical records (as relevant). By conducting a thorough research guided review of static and dynamic risk factors related to sexual offending behavior, these evaluations can inform management needs of each individual client, beyond an assessment of actuarial risk alone (e.g., Static-99R). 

These evaluations, which may be appropriate at any phase of the adjudication process, vary given the unique needs of juveniles involved in the juvenile justice system. The goal of the juvenile justice system is to consider the juvenile's best interest to inform rehabilitation, not to punish. There is greater emphasis on treatment, therapy, and education in the juvenile justice system.

Psychological Evaluation. A juvenile may benefit from a comprehensive psychological evaluation of to assess intellectual ability, neurodevelopmental disorder, learning disorder, behavioral disorder, etc. with the goal of informing treatment needs. The evaluation involves the juvenile's family to gain an in depth understanding of developmental, educational, medical, and trauma history, family dynamics,  ability to support the juvenile in treatment, ability to provide adequate supervision, etc.    

Capacity to Proceed Evaluation. North Carolina General Statute  § 15A-1001, Incapacity to Proceed, does not distinguish between juveniles and adults, although the highly trained forensic evaluators at Forensic Minds Consulting are attune to the unique needs of juveniles whose adjudicative capacity is in question. It is imperative to utilize the unique psychological and forensic tools designed to assess capacity in the juvenile population. These evaluations must be approached in a developmentally appropriate manner and typically inform a broader clinical picture and treatment needs of the juvenile as opposed to the more focused nature of adult evaluations. Considerations include mental age, maturity, neurodevelopment, learning, intellect, etc.  

Transfer or Waiver to Adult Court Evaluation. North Carolina General Statute § 7B-2200.5, Transfer of jurisdiction of juveniles to adult court, outlines the special circumstances when juveniles are treated as adults by transferring them to the criminal justice system. This may include juveniles as young as 13, who are accused of a Class A felony (e.g., first degree murder) or juveniles age 16 or 17, who are accused of Class B through G felonies. When discretionary, a forensic psychological evaluation may assist the Judge with determining “whether the protection of the public and the needs of the juvenile will be served by transfer of the case to superior court" by considering the following factors, with the evaluation's emphasis on factors with psychological underpinnings: 

(1)   Age of the juvenile 

(2)   Maturity of the juvenile

(3)   Intellectual functioning of the juvenile

(4)   Prior record of the juvenile

(5)   Prior attempts at rehabilitation of the juvenile

(6)   Facilities and programs available to the juvenile court and the likelihood the juvenile would benefit from treatment or rehabilitative efforts

(7)   Whether the offense was committed in a violent, aggressive, premeditated, or willful manner

(8)   Seriousness of the offense, and whether protection of the public requires that the juvenile be prosecuted as an adult

Psychosexual or Sex Offense Risk Evaluations. Similar to adult evaluations, these evaluations may be appropriate at any time during the adjudication process to inform risk of recidivism. However, understanding the unique contributors to adolescent sexual offending behavior as well as the distinct risk factors with this population is paramount. These evaluations focus on psychosexual functioning within the developmental context of the adolescent as well as consideration of the impact of family dynamics, trauma, exposures, sex education, etc. These evaluations provide insight into the global needs of the adolescent outside of just offending behavior, and recommendations often extend beyond risk management to also the adolescent's treatment needs in addition to those of the family. 

Consultation services allow the experts at Forensic Minds Consulting to align with the goals of the defense or prosecution team. These individually designed services may include pretrial and trial consultation (direct and cross examination testimony strategies, access to research), case analysis and development (review of evidence and records, applying relevant psychological factors to a particular case), review or critique of expert reports or testimony, interpretation of forensic psychological reports and raw data, education on forensic psychology topics, etc.