Areas of Expertise
Areas of Expertise
Competency to Stand Trial
Competency to Stand Trial, also known as Fitness to Stand Trial, is imperative for ensuring that a defendant can comprehend the nature and objective of the legal actions against them and actively cooperate with their defense attorney.
Psychosexual Evaluations
Psychosexual evaluations of sex offenders incorporate a comprehensive risk assessment utilizing actuarial instruments and other research-supported risk and protective factors. Notably, recidivism rates vary among sex offenders, with a significant portion never being re-convicted post-initial conviction.
Criminal Responsibility
Criminal responsibility or sanity evaluations are critical when a defendant’s mental state at the time of committing an offense is in question. These evaluations can be initiated by the court, defense, or prosecution to establish a clear understanding of the defendant’s mental condition during the crime.
Independent Medical Exam
An Independent Medical Exam is conducted by a psychologist without prior involvement in the individual’s care, ensuring an objective assessment without a therapist-patient relationship.
Miranda Rights & Confession Issues
The role of confessions and self-incriminating statements in criminal cases cannot be understated. Confessions are produced in about 50% of criminal cases, where suspects who provide self-incriminating statements are 26% more likely to be found guilty and convicted (Leo, 2006).
Malingering and Deception
In the legal realm, psychological assessments can be compromised by malingering or deception, with individuals potentially presenting themselves dishonestly during interviews and tests to influence the outcome.
Mitigating Factors
Mitigating factors consider the defendant’s mental state and historical mental disorders or psychological trauma, even when these do not qualify for an insanity defense, to argue for a reduced sentence. The contributions of evaluations and reports by experts like Dr. Steven Gaskell are vital for presenting such evidence.
Guilty But Mentally Ill (GBMI)
Introduced first in Michigan in 1975, the GBMI verdict was proposed to diminish the success rate of insanity defenses, offering a compromise verdict that, while seemingly compassionate, subjects the defendant to the same penalties as a guilty verdict.
Forensic Psychologist, Dr. Steven Gaskell provides comprehensive, objective, thorough and credible forensic psychological evaluations for state and federal courts. He has over 25 years of extensive expertise as an expert witness in forensic psychology, has completed over 2700 forensic psychological evaluations and given expert witness testimony on over 185 occasions. Dr. Gaskell is credentialed by the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology and he is license eligible in all 50 states. Dr. Gaskell is currently a licensed psychologist in Illinois, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, and Kansas.
Evaluations can now be completed by videoconference through Doxy.me, which is as easy to use as Zoom, Skype or FaceTime, but is secure and HIPAA compliant and no app is necessary.
More About Dr. Steven Gaskell
Video Conferencing Available!
Psychological evaluations are now able to be completed by HIPAA compliant video conferencing.
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