Dialogues
Page 11
“Number three. ‘Expressing anger to someone who annoys you is emotionally healthy.’”
“Hell, no. It’s not emotionally healthy, it’s goddamned dangerous.”
“You’re saying ‘false’?”
“Yes.”
“Number four. ‘It bothers me very much to be considered “second best.”’”
“No way. I remember this old Italian guy once told me that the secret to being happy was to be content with what you had, and with who you were. I’ll never forget that. He used to say—with an Italian accent, of course—‘There will-a always a-be people with a-more and a-less-a than you.’ That is so true.”
“False?”
“False.”
“Number five. ‘Most of the time, I am willing to fight for what I want.’”
“That’s probably true.”
“Is it, or isn’t it?”
“Okay. True.”
“Number six. ‘I would have no qualms talking back to an authority figure such as a guard or police officer.’”
“That is completely false. I don’t believe in mouthing off like that. It shows a lack of respect.”
“Number seven. ‘I like to direct the actions of others.’”
“Me a leader? No way. False.”
“Number eight. ‘I probably would try to get even with people who had been bossy or pushy toward me.’”
“Whoa.”
“What’s wrong?”
“That one hits a little close to home.”
“How so?”
“The whole ‘getting even with people’ thing—is that what I did? Did I ‘get even’ with the people I worked with?”
“Is that how you see it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, we can come back to that if it concerns you. For now why don’t we try to get through this test.”
“Okay. I’m going to say false.”
“All right. Number nine. ‘If I’m upset with someone, I don’t hesitate to let him or her know about it.’”
“I hold a lot of that stuff in, Doc. I’ll go with false.”
“Number ten. ‘People will take advantage of you if you’re humble.’”
“Sad, but true.”
“True?”
“Yes.”
“Number eleven. ‘A person who is spontaneous in releasing anger is better adjusted than one who is slow to express it.’”
“That is such bullshit. I think someone who is spontaneous in releasing anger is an out-of-control jerk.”
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that your answer is false?”
“Bingo.”
“And the final question, number twelve. ‘I would feel glad if someone told off a person I found obnoxious.’”
“That’s probably true. I would take pleasure in seeing some creep told off.”
“That’s it, then.”
“How’d I do?”
“Tory …”
“Oh, come on, Doc. That’s the last test, and you said you’d give me an idea of how I did when we were finished. Remember?”
“Well, I need to study the full results before coming to any conclusions, but I can tell you that on this test you scored a four, which indicates that you have an average degree of hostility that you’d be willing to vent against others.”
“Is that good?”
“The higher the score, the less control the person has of his or her social animosity. Thus, the lower the score the better.”
“So I am in control. Most of the time.”
“Apparently.”
“That’s pretty ironic, isn’t it, Doctor B?”
“How so?”
“The test says I can control my anger, and yet I am locked up for killing six people. Maybe that means I wasn’t angry when I killed them. Can someone commit murder without being angry at their victims?”
“That’s a good question. What do you think?”
“I think probably yes. After all, that’s what I did, right?”
“You were not angry at your coworkers? Even a little? Didn’t you say that it upset you that none of them—let me check my notes—realize how they earn their money?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Not much irony in manifesting anger through violence, now, is there, Tory?”
“No.”
“Are you all right?”
“So where are we, Doc? What happens next?”
“My testing is completed and I will now study the results. I do think I will need a few more sessions with you before I reach my decision on whether or not you are competent to stand trial, though. Also, there are a few more people I’d like to talk to.”
“How’s it looking, Doc?”
“I’m not allowed to say, Tory. You know that.”
“Well, you don’t have to, my friend. I know I’m competent and you know I’m competent. And you also know that no jury on earth is going to acquit me. I’m looking at a lethal injection in my future.”
“You should not presume anything, Tory. The resolution of situations like this are often stunningly surprising.”
“Perhaps. But if I was a bettin’ woman, I sure wouldn’t like my odds.”
“Are you a betting woman?”
“No. Never have been and probably never will be.”
“Well, then, my only advice is to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”
“Thanks, Doc. That’s exactly what I’ve been doing. Do you remember what I told you in our very first session?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’m still thinking about suicide. A lot.”
“Tory—”
“Time’s up, Doc. See you soon.”
“All right. See you soon.”
28
Dr. Baraku Bexley
Halle Bexley
“Did I tell you that Judge Becker was asking about you?”
“Yes.”
“Good. At least I’m not going completely senile.”
“You look tired.”
“I am. Today I told Tory Troy that I had completed my testing of her.”
“Did you?”
“I’m not sure. I’m tempted to give her the Fitness Interview Test.”
“In addition to the six tests you’ve already given her and on top of your personal interviews?”
“Yes.”
“Are you that ambivalent about your conclusion?”
“No. In fact, I’m utterly convinced she is mentally competent and fit to stand trial.”
“Then why waste time with more tests?”
“I guess I’m just nervous about my findings being challenged on appeal.”
“Honey, listen to me. You know you’re correct. And you know she’s fit. You know you’ve done your job. Am I right?”
“Yes, you are.”
“Then write your report, and move on.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“You know I am.”
“All right, then. I’ll call the judge in the morning and tell him I’ll have a report for him within a few days. I’m going to sleep.”
“Good night, honey.”
“Good night.”
29
Dr. Baraku Bexley
Lester Jackson
Psychological Report for Victoria Troy
“Good morning, Dr. Bexley.”
“Good morning, Lester.”
“You finished the Troy evaluation?”
“Yes. I’d like to dictate the report to you, and I’m hoping you can get me a formatted copy within the next couple of days.”
“Not a problem. I can drop it off at the house Wednesday—two days after Labor Day? That all right?”
“That’d be great.”
“It’s done.”
“Okay. Shall we get started?”
“Fire away, Doc.”
“Psychological Evaluation, Woodward Knolls Psychiatric Institute, Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Name: Victoria parenthesis Tory close parenth
esis Abigail Troy—”
“You’re using Victoria … or Tory?”
“Except for here, I decided to use Tory when I cite her full name. She hardly ever uses Victoria.”
“Okay.”
“Dates of evaluation: August fifth through eighth, twelfth through fourteenth, nineteenth through twenty-first, 2002. Case number 71653-90262. Building number two. Ward nine. Admission date: Friday, 2 August, 2002. Date of report: Monday, 26 August, 2002.”
“All standard format, right?”
“Yes. Use the template in the Word Project Gallery.”
“Okay.”
“Purpose for evaluation: This is the first admission to this facility for this twenty-eight-year-old single female who has a college degree, a certificate in Animal Euthanasia, and who works for the Waterbridge Animal Shelter. She attended St. Francis of Assisi Grammar School in New Haven, Connecticut—graduated 1988; St. Mary’s High School in New Haven, Connecticut—graduated 1992; and the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut—graduated 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts in American Literature and a minor in Psychology. She successfully completed an Animal Euthanasia Technician course—funded by the shelter—and received certification from the state of Connecticut.”
“She minored in Psych?”
“Yes.”
“Did that affect the interviews? Did she see through any of the questions?”
“Yes to both. She was very sharp.”
“Okay. Go on.”
“She was remanded to the custody of the facility after being arrested and charged with the felony murder of her six animal-shelter coworkers. She has been held in the locked detention ward of the facility since her admission on 2 August 2002. The purpose of this court-ordered evaluation was to determine the patient’s fitness to stand trial for the above-mentioned felony charges. The question that needed to be answered was, Is Tory Troy mentally competent to a degree rendering her capable of understanding the charges against her and participating in her own defense?”
“Do you want me to answer the phone?”
“No, let the service take it. We need to get through this.”
“Okay.”
“Preliminary results were reported in the patient’s progress notes on 8 August 2002. The current report will supplement and elaborate upon those preliminary findings.”
“Do you want the August eighth report attached to this?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
“Assessment procedures. Patient was examined physically upon admission to the facility and was found to be in good health, although slightly underweight—five feet five inches, one hundred nine pounds. Blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and temperature were all normal. Medical reports attached.”
“She’s tiny.”
“Yes, she’s very petite.”
“Where are the medical files?”
“In the locked folder Med Reports on my hard drive.”
“The password still Hippocrates?”
“Yes. But all lowercase.”
“Okay.”
“Continuing on. The patient is highly intelligent, perceptive, and very verbal. She is aware of her situation and acknowledges the possibility of standing trial and being found guilty. She fully understands that she might be sentenced to death under current Connecticut state sentencing laws if she stands trial and is found guilty. Since her admission, patient has been administered alprazolam—Xanax—two milligrams b.i.d., and zolpidem—Ambien—ten milligrams at bedtime. Six psychological tests were administered verbally to the patient over a period of four days, combined with a clinical interview and a mental status examination. Tests were administered by Dr. Baraku Bexley and interpreted by same.”
“Do you want any of the tests reproduced in this report?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
“Background information. Tory Troy was sexually and physically abused by her biological father until her early teens. She lashed out physically against her father toward the end of the period of abuse and stabbed him in the eye with a nail file. The father lost the eye. Her mother, Mrs. Viviana Troy, also a victim of physical abuse, divorced her husband fifteen years ago. Mrs. Troy and the patient have continued to live together. Mr. Crouch Troy, Ms. Troy’s biological father, was interviewed for this evaluation but was noncooperative.”
“Daddy wouldn’t talk to you, eh?”
“We spoke briefly, but I knew we’d be going nowhere when he showed up for the meeting with a lawyer.”
“Really? Guess you made him nervous.”
“She watched him like a mother hen. After she told him not to answer a couple of questions, I cut the interview short. I’ve had no more contact with Crouch Troy.”
“Was he wearing an eye patch?”
“Yes. And I asked him about it.”
“About the patch?”
“No, about why he didn’t have a prosthetic eye.”
“Really? What did he say?”
“He said he didn’t get one because he never wanted to forget why he was wearing the patch.”
“How noble. Hey, maybe there’s hope for the guy yet.”
“Maybe. Continuing on. Ms. Troy had been working at the Waterbridge Animal Shelter for eleven months when the murders occurred.”
“Ms.?”
“No … change that to … just delete the Ms. and refer to her as Troy.”
“Okay.”
“Troy does not have a history of serious substance abuse, although she has experimented with illicit drugs. Her experiences with drugs and alcohol were mostly random and short-lived, in a pattern known as ‘recreational,’ although at the time of her arrest, she was not deliberately abstaining from either alcohol or drugs. She has acknowledged smoking marijuana and experimenting with pharmaceuticals. She has acknowledged purchasing prescription painkillers—Percocet, Vicodin, Oxycontin—from friends and also being given prescription pain medications as a gift from friends. All were used to get high, and the patient did not mix the drugs with alcohol or take an excessive or dangerous amount. Troy has no history of ‘doctor shopping’ drug-seeking behavior, and there are no reports of emergency-department visits for acute drug intoxication.”
“Your typical party girl?”
“Not really. I got the sense she experimented more out of curiosity than out of an urge to get … wasted. She’s a writer, and maybe she was looking for new artistic horizons.”
“I thought writers were mostly alcoholics.”
“Some were … and still are, I suppose. She never abused alcohol, though.”
“Okay. Go on.”
“At the beginning of her evaluation, Tory Troy admitted to having a supply of eighty-seven hydrocodone hcl pills—trade name Vicodin—hidden somewhere known only to her. She has admitted thinking about taking the entire lot of pills to commit suicide. She manifested intermittent signs of depression during the evaluation but seemed to be able to return to a positive state of mind, and was even quite cheerful at times.”
“She was suicidal? So was Hemingway.”
“In addition to determining the patient’s fitness to stand trial, her suicidal ideations prompted this evaluator to determine whether or not the patient was self-destructive. The conclusion of this evaluator is that the patient is posturing and would be unlikely to actually commit suicide. She was placed under a suicide watch for the first week of her admission, but it was subsequently canceled. Since there is no possibility of Troy being released on bond, any suicide attempts would occur within the Woodward Knolls Institute. Staff observations of the patient, all of which were compiled during the course of this evaluation, reported that Tory Troy is polite, cooperative, and pleasant. She obeys all instructions, takes all medication as instructed, and does not act out or verbally abuse the staff.”
“Sounds like a good patient.”
“She is. Mental-status examination. Results of mental status examination revealed an alert, attentive individual who was able to
maintain cohesive conversation and who was not easily distracted. The patient was well-groomed. Patient was oriented perfectly to time, place, and date. Patient seemed to avoid excessive eye contact. Her deportment was appropriate for a face-to-face interview. She sat comfortably upright with her back against the back of the chair and her hands clasped on the table in front of her. Her speech was appropriate in volume, rate, modulation, prosody, and tone. Her grammar and vocabulary were suggestive of above-average intelligence, and her interaction with this evaluator suggested above-average social skills. At various times throughout the questioning, the patient manifested a clever sense of humor.”
“Hang on a minute, Dr. Bexley. I have to change pads.”
“All right.”
“Okay. Sorry. Go on.”
“The patient’s attitude was candid and compliant. Her mood was stable. Her memory functions were intact. Her thought process was sound, and her thinking was well-organized. Her expression of her ideas and thoughts was focused and complete. She manifested no perceptual disorders. She manifested no delusion or paranoia. She did manifest and discuss suicidal ideations. Her level of personal insight was higher than normal. She seemed to understand and be able to identify her significant stressors. Her social judgment was good, although this contrasts markedly with the charges against her.”
“I have to interrupt, Doc, to tell you that this girl does not sound like a cold-blooded killer. Is there any chance she didn’t do it?”
“She admitted the murders.”
“Oh. Okay. Sorry. Go on.”
“Summary and recommendations. Results of psychological evaluation reveal a history of physical and sexual abuse against the patient perpetrated by her biological father. Any psychosocial scarring from this abuse seems to have been repressed by the patient for the past fifteen years. A further assessment of the patient’s mental state at the time of the murders with which she is charged, and how this state of mind was modulated by the patient’s past, is not the purview of this report. Defense counsel will be required to support a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. The answer to the question, Is Tory Troy mentally competent to a degree rendering her capable of understanding the charges against her and participating in her own defense? is yes. This report is to determine the patient’s mental competence for trial, and it is the finding that she is competent to stand trial. Okay. That’s it.”