CAPITAL SENTENCING, CAPITAL MITIGATION...

These evaluations are usually requested by the defense, and occasionally by the prosecution for a "rebuttal", or to assure the objectivity of the defense witness.
The reports reflect local case law or statutory requirements and are performed in accordance to the decisions in Coker v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 280 (1976); Locket v. Ohio, 487 U.S. 586 (1978); Edmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782 (1982); Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68 S.Ct. 1087 (1985); Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815 (1988); Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302 (1989); Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361, 109 S.Ct. (1989); Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304; 122 S. Ct. 2242 (2002); Ring v. Arizona, 200 Ariz. 267, 25 P .3d 1139 (2002); Panetti v.Quarterman, 2007...
These evaluations require a considerable amount of time for interviewing the defendant, reviewing collateral information and assisting the defense attorney in preparation to the trial. The reports can include, but are not limited to:

• Source of referral
  
• Dates and places of the evaluation, and time spent in the preparation of the report.
  
• Statement of non-confidentiality.
  
• List of reference materials and of interviews utilized in the preparation of the report.
  
• Detailed background information of the defendant.
  
• Past psychiatric history
  
• Medical history
  
• Substance abuse history.
  
• Description of the offense in question by the defendant.
  
• Review of collateral information to reconstruct the mental state of the defendant at the time of the offense, and the time proximate to the offense. These usually include police reports, witness accounts, notes and discharge summaries from recent hospitalizations, accounts of communications of the defendant with others, etc.
  
• Diagnostic Impression
  
• Detailed account as to how the given diagnosis has been reached.
  
• Past Criminal History of the defendant
  
• Whether or not the offence was committed under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance
  
• To what extent if any the victim was a participant in the defendant's conduct or consented to the act.
  
• Whether or not at the time of commission of the capital felony the defendant had impaired capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.
  
• Assessment of the risk factors of violent behavior.
  
• Issue of malingering (feigning signs or symptoms of mental illness). The evaluator should provide the basis to his conclusion.
  
• Summary, integrating all pertinent mitigating and/or aggravating factors.
  

The party making the referral is responsible for the provision of the necessary collateral information for the preparation of the repot.