Background Report, Ford, 1974-1981

BACKGROUND OF ALVIN BERNARD FORD
SCHEDULED TO BE EXECUTED

IN FLORIDA MAY 31, 1984

Table of Contents

I. Summary of the background of Alvin Ford

II. Newsclips and editorials re: race and the death penalty
in Florida

a. St. Petersburg Times editorial, 5/12/84

b. "Criticism of Death Penalty Centers on
Victim's Race," Neil Skene, St. Petersburg
Times, 5/13/84

c. "Do Away with Dis-rimination in Jury Selection,"
Neil Skene, St. Petersburg Times, 5/13/84

d. Tallahassee Democrat editorial, 5/13/84
III. Summary of "Patterns of Death: An Analysis of Racial
Disparities in Capital Sentencing and Homicide
Victimization

IV. Post-Furman death sentences in Florida

V. Testimony of psychiatrist David Taubel, presented at
Alvin Ford's trial in July, 1974

VI. Report of defense psychiatrist Jamal Amin, prepared
August 21, 1981

VII. Sentiment in the community where Alvin Ford's crime
occurred

a. Editorial cartoon, Fort Lauderdale News,
7/23/74

b. “I'm Glad i'm Not a Cop," George McEvoy,
Fort Lauderdale News, 7/23/74

VIII. Police killings in Dade County, Florida

a. Summary of cl¢ in Miami Herald,
“Deadly Force in Dade: Surprising Trends"

b. Article, Miami Herald, 3/27/83
"Deadly Force in Dade: Surprising Trends"

IX. Florida Statute $922.07, re: competency to be executed
a. copy of Florida Statute $922.07

b. Excerpts from petition for writ of habeas
corpus filed in the Florida Supreme Court
on behalf of Arthur Frederick Goode, III,
re: constitutional prohibition against
executing the insane and the right to due
process in sanity proceedings

continued

Table of Contents page 2

XI.

XII.

Defense Memorandum re: proceedings pursuant to Fla. Stat.
8 922.07 presented to Governor Graham on behalf of
Alvin Ford
Reports of defense psychiatrists
a. Dr. Jamal Amim, 6/9/83
b. Dr. Harold Kaufman, 12/14/83

Reports of psychiatrists appointed by Governor to
922.07 Commission

a. Dr. Walter Afield, 1/19/84
b. Dr. Umesh Mhatre, 12/28/83

c. Dr. Peter Ivory, 12/20/83

a
tua
Summary of the Background of Alvin Ford

Alvin Bernard Ford grew up in a warm, supportive, deeply
religious family in the small town of Palmetto, Florida. Alvin,
his parents, three sisters, and two brothers lived in the house
that Alvin and his father built ttiemselves. They were active
members of their church and involved in many community and school
projects.

When Alvin's parents' divorced Alvin took on the roll of father
substitute, providing financial and emotional support for his
mother and siblings. Alvin showed deep concern for others through-
out his life and was always a devoted, supportive son and brother.
He was a popular and well-respected member of the small, relatively
sheltered black community he. grew up in.

Alvin believed in the standard American values of hard work,
responsibility to ethers and success. When he graduated from
high school he moved to the Gainesville area, where more lucrative
employment opportunities existed. He visited his family in
Palmetto regularly and always sent money home to help with family
expenses.

Unfortunately Alvin suffered a series of bad breaks and
eventually found himself without work. He became extremely
depressed, even suicidal, and went for counseling. His sheltered,
loving upbringing had not prepared him for the cold reality of
life outside Palmetto, for disappointment, despair, and the
dissolution of his cherished dream of success.

Alvin was unable to resolve his problems outside of the
supportive network of family and community and fell in with an
older crowd whose social life revolved around fast cars, casual
sex and drugs. The young countxy boy, still an adolescent, was
caught up in a web of danger, fear and finally panic as events
quickly slipped beyond his control. ° :

In July of 1974 Alvin, then 19 years old, and two companions
in their mid-to-late twenties set out for Ft. Lauderdale to buy

cocaine from a third acquaintance. His companions decided to

Alvin Ford page 2

rob a Red Lobster restaurant there and, as fate would have it,
Alvin went along with their plans. The oue men set off ina
Volkswagon with a gun belonging to one of the co-defendant's
mothers. When they arrived at the restaurant several employees
were there setting up for the day's business. During the next
*several minutes a series of events occurred that led to the tragic
and unplanned death of Ft. Lauderdale police officer Walter
Ilyankoff. :

While Alvin and his three companions were in the restaurant
an employee escaped and called the police. When Aivin's companions
heard sirens in the distance the three of them fled in the only
car, leaving Alvin behind all alone with several panic~stricken
employees anda gun. Officer Ilyankoff approached the scene alone
and, without announcing his presence, walked to the back door of
the restaurant with his clipboard. At that moment Alvin, already
panicked because his companions had abandoned him, seeing only a
uniform and something metallic glinting in the light, became
hysterical and fired two shots. The wounded officer fell, Alvin
ran outside to the police car, failed to find the keys and, in
what one psychiatrist described as "a residual hysterical panicky
state," came back inside, found the officer struggling to get
something near him, and shot him once more. Officer Ilyankoff
died shortly thereafter and Alvin escaped in the police car.

Walter Ilyankoff was the first Ft. Lauderdale police officer
killed in the line of duty and the community was outraged. When
two of Alvin's co-defendant's were arrested later that day near
the crime scene one of them was so severely beaten by local police
that his friends could not recognize him. The emotions that always
surround police killings were even more intense than usual as both
the police and members of the community set about finding the culprit.
As is usually the case, the killing of a police officer by a civilian
was viewed with far more hostility and rage than a civilian killing
by a police officer (see VIII a, b). The fact that Alvin is black
and his victim was white only exacerbated an already hostile

situation.
Alvin Ford page 3

Alvin was later arrested at his home in Gainesville and
brought to Ft. Lauderdale to stand trial. He was singled out
to absorb the hostility and fear of the community. Two of his
co-defendants, George DeCosta and Alvin Ray Lewis, pled guilty
“to second degree murder and received life sentences in exchange
for their testimony against Alvin. The third co-defendant, Henry
Robinson, fled the country. Robinson was later captured in South
America and tried after Alvin Ford. Robinson was convicted of
first degree murder and received a life sentence with a 25 year
mandatory term served before eligibility for parole. All three
co-defendants are presently in state prisons. Only Alvin received
the death sentence.

Alvin Ford was tried before an all-white jury in an atmosphere
of fear, hatred and racial prejudice that was in part fueled by
heavy pre-trial publicity. The Issel papers ran front page stories
with lurid headlines, such as "Three Seized in Cop Killing Here,"
"Ilyankoff First City Cop Killed on Duty," "Little Bit of Each of
Us Died, Says Chief," and "Tempers Begin to Flare in Ilyankoff
Death Trial."

On July 23, 1974, the Ft. Lauderdale News ran a cartoon on
its editorial page of a large black ape, labeled "Killer," holding
a gun with barrels at both ends, one pointing toward the ape and
one pointing away. The gun was labeled "Death Penalty," and the
cartoon's caption read "A Life for a Life." (See VII a.) On the
same day a column by local writer Goerge McEvoy appeared on the
front page of the local section. McEvdéy's column was entitled
"I'm Glad I'm Not a Cop," and in it Alvin Ford was described as
“some piece of human garbage," a "murderous thug," a "sadistic
savage," and a "bloody-handed jers," among other things (see
VII b). Despite the heavy prejudicial publicity the trial judge
refused to grant defense motions for’sequestration of the jury,
remarking that he was doing so "even though there are emotional

attitudes, political implications . . . this isn't Watergate."

Alvin Ford page 4

There was heavy police presence in the courtroom throughout
Alvin's trial and tremendous hostility both inside and outside
the court. Alvin's trial attorney, Bob Adams, said he received
several threats for representing his client and, on two separate
occassions, the tires on Mr. Adams’ car ‘were flattened. poxeris
of references to race were made throughout the trial, and such
terms as "black male" and "colored boy" were frequently used.

Dr. David Taubel, a white psychiatrist, was retained to
present a psychological profile of Alvin Ford at sentencing.

The subtle, unconscious racism that is so pervasive in our society
and, in particular, the South, was amply evident in Dr. Taubel's
testimony to the all-white jury. Rather than understanding how
difficult it was for Alvin to escape, however briefly, the poverty
that is the tragic lot of so many black Americans, Dr. Taubel
concentrated on Alvin's “overstriving" and the "fact" that "in
the black culture a responsible male is not the same thing, it
is not as common as in the white culture, by any means." (See V.)
Dr. Taubel made the following statements during his testimony.

He (Alvin Ford) is the oldest son in a family of

six, a black family of perhaps better than average

ability and more drive for success and achievement

than I would estimate the average black family to

have had.

He comes from a family that is overstriving beyond
their means to achieve and accomplish.

Such comments could only have further diminished Alvin Ford in
estimation of the all-white jury. :

When the trial was over and Alvin was sentenced to death
the Ft. Lauderdale News ran a worried story captioned "Condemned
Slayer Ford May Never Die in Chair." In fact, members of that
community were so concerned that Alvin might not be electrocuted
that, at the time of his clemency hearing in October, 1981, local
police officers circulated a petition asking that he be executed

without further. delay.

Alvin Ford page 5

Alvin Ford's first death warrant was signed in November,
1981, and his execution was scheduled for December 8. On the
evening of December 7 he received a stay of execution from the
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. During
the period of his death warrant Alvin was put on "Death Watch,"
held in a special cell near the electric chair, and forced to
be part of a series of prison rituals designed to dehumanize
him and prepare prison officiais for his execution. Members of
Alvin's defense team visited him at Florida State Prison frequently
during his first death warrant to try to help him through that
difficult and terrifying time. Despite their best efforts Alvin
gradually sank into first depreseiion and then madness. Since
1981 his mental state has deteriorated significantly until he
lost all contact with reality (see X.)

Two of the major issues in Alvin Ford's case now are
racial discrimination in the imposition of Florida's death penalty
(see II a, b, c, d; III) and the constitutional prohibition
against executing the insane (see IX b). In December, 1983,

a panel of three psychiatrists was appointed by Governor Graham
to determine if Alvin met the minimal standards set forth in
Florida's death penalty statute regarding one's competency to be
executed (see IX a). Even though two of the three doctors found
Alvin to be psychotic all felt they were forced, by the statute's
wording, to say he is competent to be executed (see XII a, b, c).

Governor Graham had the information contained here, as well
as the reports of two other psychiatrists (see XI a, b) before
him when he signed Alvin Ford's second death warrant on April 30.
Mr. Ford is presently scheduled to be executed at 7:00 a.m. on

Thursday, May 31, 1984.

Alvin Ford, with his mother and two sisters,

outside the family home in Palmetto, Florida
* Paul Poynter, 1875-. oe

“editorials:

Gx Ie e PD ae Sah
“The policy of our papers is. very simple — merely to tell the truth.”

“Nelson Poynter, 1903- 1978 -

‘The bloodthirsty rush |

Onee | again Gov. Bob Graham has spoken
the fateful code words, “God save us all,” send-
ing a convicted killer to his own death in

Florida’s electric chair. This time, however, .

there were unusually strong doubts about the
man’s guilt. But the courts and the governor ei-
ther did not listen or did not hear. Did they
think Florida couldn’t make auch a mistake? If
so, what. arrogance! Or did they simply wash
their hands of it? If so, what shame!
.,  ircumstantial evidence — and that’s ail
‘ the evidence. there was — argued both for and
against James Adams’ guilt. Jewelry belonging
to the murder victim was found in Adams’
car, which had been seer earlier outside the vic-
tim’s.house. But had someone else borrowed
the car, as he claimed? A witness who had seen
someone fleeing from th >» house described a tall-

)

What senseless legalisms
allow some to die and others
to live while identical
constitutional arguiments a are
" weighed?.,

i

er, darker-skinned person with a clean-shaven

face (Adams wore a mustache) and couldn’t

identify Adams at his trial. The most impor-

tant evidence was a strand of hair found in the

. Vietim’s palm. It didn’t match Adams’ hair, but

nothing about it was made known to the de-
fense until after the trial.

The governor and the courts may have satis-_

fied themselves that this did not matter, but

there is no possible excuse for the way they fore-

closed’ Adams’ last’ desperate appeal. In his

» case, for the first time, a panel of the 11th U.S.

Circuit Court of Appeals had agreed to consider.

imposing new evidence that the death penalty
. is enforced“in racially discriminatory fashion. ©
No sooner had that court issued its 11th hour
stay: of execution than Attorney General dim

Smith — acting, pxeoumably, with the gover-
nor’s approval "rushed lawyers‘to Washing=~|
ton to persuade the Supreme Court to dissolve
the stay and let the execution proceed.

IT WAS A disgrace 5 Florida that they
“did that, and it was a disgrace to the nation
when the Supreme Court agreed — 5-4 — to let
Adams die before the lower court could decide
the serious issue he had raised.

Though Adams happened to be black, the is-
sue has more-to do with the races of the victims”
in whose behalf Florida exacts its supreme pen-
alty. Each of the five victims it has avenged un-
der the 1972 law was white. Most of the 217 peo-
ple remaining on Florida’s death row are there

~ for killing whites. Yet blacks are much more

~. likely than whites to be murder victims. If the

purpose of the death penalty is to declare socie-
ty’s respect for life, as Graham has said on
several occasions, then why is white life so.
pone: more deserving of that respect?

‘The new evidence that Graham and Smith
did “not want the 11th Circuit to consider is
found in a study produced at Stanford Univer-
sity last year which showed that people who kill
whites are eight: times more likely to be sen-
tenced to death in Florida than people who kill
* blacks. Blacks who kill whites are more than
twice as likely to be condemned ¢ as 5 whites who
kill whites. <-

_ ADAMS WAS the first black defendant
from Florida to present that issue to the 11th
Circuit. Indeed, the 11th circuit is still consider-.
“ing similar, though more detailed findings, in
behalf of three Georgia. defendants — one of
whom was granted a stay by the Supreme Court
‘itself? What senseless legalisms allow some to
die and others to live while identical con-
stitutional arguments are weighed?

Tt wouldn’t have offended Florida’s sover-
eignty to let Adams live a while longer so his ra-
cial discrimination appeal could be heard on its
merits. Especially in light of the legitimate
doubt'as to his guilt, one can only be aghast
that the governor and attorney general didn’t
welcome an oppertunity to postpone his death
a while longer. Why the bloodthirsty rush?

stay

ERSBURG, FLORIDA, SUNDAY, MAY 13, 198,

ett

Criticism of death penalty

“TALLAHASSEE — William Middle-
pS Ee cement lrrael tenet
for a long time at Gladys Johnson, who was
taking a nap on the sofa with her back to
‘him. He kept thinking about killing her.
When she stirred, he told police later, he

eis shotgun blast into the back of her

se that murder, William Middleton
went to death row.on Sept. 30,. 1980.

Though others may have gone to death row «

for murdering a black and a white together,
a researcher found that Middleton was the,
first. white person sentenced to death under

Sal daw for muarslareng nolely a baci pars :
oo The death law was eight years old. More “

than 125 men were.on death raw.at he

3 Middleton, 28, is still.on death row at
Florida State Prison,

and he is in no immi-:.

nent danger of execution. If his execution’ ~

er yer happens, ae might make Bator, be-
fed ts .

eH mee ”
cause in the 60 years that Florida has been
using that deadly three-legged chair, no’.
while peron bas ever eatin it fr Kling a t
black person. -

INDEED, relatively few men, black |
"or white, are sentenced to to death for killing

‘Although blacks are victims in.40 per-
cent of the homicides in this state, only 10 ~
percent of the 347 death sentences imposed |‘
in the last 11% years were for killing blacks..
Florida’s 1972 death law was supposed to. *

eliminate the
“grbitrary and capricious” infliction of capital punishment
that the U.S. Supreme Court condemned in Furman v.
Georgia. At least four studies have concluded that the law
has not succeeded.

“What we have now is no different from what we had
prior to Furman,” says Richard Greene, an assistant pub-
lic defender in West Palm Beach. He represented James
Adams, the black man who was executed last Thursday for
the murder of a white rancher.

‘There is still race discrimination in the death penalty,
according to death-penalty critics, but it is a different type.
No longer do the statistics suggest discrimination because
of the defendant’s race, but they do suggest discrimination’
because of the victim’s.

Blacks made up about 60 percent of the population of
death rews in Florida and other states before the Furman
decision in 1972. Blacks now make up.about 40 percent of
Fiorida’s death row. Although blacks are less than 20 per-
cent of Florida’s total population, even critics of capital ©
punishment acknowledge that blacks commit.a dispropor-
tionate number of homicides.

But study after study has suggested that society persists.
in punishing the murder of whites more severely than it.
does the murder of blacks.

‘This claim was vividly illustrated by the execution of
James Adams last Thursday. Adams, a black, was. convicted
of murdering a white rancher in St. Lucie County. He was
the first black to die in Florida’s electric chair in 20 years.

FOUR WHITE men had died in that chair since
1972. Like Adams, they were convicted of killing whites.

The string is likely to continue. Alvin Bernard Ford,
who is likely to die in the chair on May 31, killed a white
police officer. Carl Shriner, who seems to have reached the
end of his appeals and might be executed soon, killed a
white store clerk. Gary Alvord and J. D. Raulerson, two
men whose executions could happen this fall, killed white

people. :

Attorney General Jim Smith says there could be 12
executions in Florida this year, but only one defendant,
James Dupree Henry, who is black, seems in any danger of
execution the year for killing a black person. x

Race and the ‘family quarrel’
The U.S. Supreme Court, however, has not been moved“
by the discrimination claims. ° .
Last Wednesday night, by a 5-4 vote, the court appar-

ently concluded that the evidence of discrimination isnot [.

strong enough to explore further. Although the court did

» not explain its decision, it let James Adams die.

Indeed, in case after.case, courts have rejected claims
that Florida’s death penalty is applied in a discriminatory
way. The claim was raised and rejected in 1978 in the case
of John Spenkelink. With new studies in hand, lawyers
raised the claim again in the case of Robert A. Sullivan in
1983. Again it was rejected. .

STATE LAWYERS say the studies are faulty be-
cause they do not eliminate other, “non-racial” ex-
planations for the statistics. As one state lawyer put it, Not
that many blacks are killed in situations that have death
penalty stamped on it.”

‘Then-Attorney General Robert Shevin, after surveying
state attorneys around the state, argued in the Spenkelink
case that homicides with black victims generally are
“family quarrels, lovers quarrels, liquor quarrels, barroom

acl 4 F

Shevin also said that prosecutors’ discretion in deciding
the charge against a defendant could also explain the
results, and that those decisions could well be based noton
a defendant’s race but on the strength of the evidence.
Moreover, he said, murders of white victims for some reason
tended to be more violent, and they therefore were more
deserving of death sentences. :

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit bought the |

argument. Besides, said the court, even if the studies are
accurate, there would be a “myriad of difficult problems,
legal and otherwise,” if federal courts delved into Florida’s
sentencing process in the way Spenkelink was suggesting.

So Spenkelink went to the electric chair. s

WHEN SULLIVAN and Adams raised the same
claims with new studies, Attorney General Smith’s lawyers
made the same defense. The studies “did not present a
sufficient preliminary factual basis for relief,” said. Russell
Bohn, the assistant attorney general who won the Adams
case. “They didn’t take into account at alla lot of ‘variables
that are factors in many cases.” 7

Sullivan, who was white, lost quickly. He was executed
the next day. 4 a

In Adams’ case, two judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 11th Circuit, which now handleg appeals from
Florida, granted a stay so the court could ponder the dis-
crimination claims. But Bohn went to the Supreme Court,
and the stay was overturned. .

So Adams died, too.

Many studies, one result:
‘The preponderance of people on death row for killing

. whites was first noticed by University of Florida Law Pro-

fessor Stephen D. Stitt and Jacksonville paralegal Kay Isaly
as they worked on the Spenk-
elink appeal in 1977. There were 114 mez ox death row then,
and 94 percent of them had killed white people..

More studies followed. Professor Linda-Foley of the
University of North Florida studied every:indictment for

” first-degree murder in 21 counties between 1972 and 1978.

“Males and offenders accused of murder of a white victim
were . .. much more likely to receive the death penalty than
females and those accused of murder of a black victim,”
Foley concluded. :

(Only two women have ever been sentenced to death in
Florida; one had the sentence overturned on appeal, and

the other has not gotten a decision on her appeal. No one on *
-death row, howeyer, has ever raised a sex-discrimination -

claim.) . °
Foley “eliminated as a possibility” two of the non-racial
explanations relied on by state lawyers in the S it
case — the greater involvement of blacks in fighting and
drinking and the reduced likelihood that blacks are

murdered during a related felony, such as.robbery.

. wrote in a 2-1 decision, “is that the state of the law with re-

. and rejected the study as inadequte. But accepting a case

-now the public overwhelmingly supports capital punish-

PROFESSOR Michael Radelet of the University of
Florida said part of the problem is with initial decisions by
prosecutors. People who murder whites are more likely to
be indicted for first-degree murder — the only type of
snurder for which the death penalty is available. In a sepa-
rate study, he concluded that the Florida Supreme Court,
which automatically reviews all death sentences, has not
reduced racial disparity in capital sentencing and in fact
has ene it somewhat.

the most thorough study was by law professor
Samuel R. Gross and psychology professor Robert Mauro
of Stanford University. It was finished. last October, just
before Sullivan’s execution. In Florida, they found, people
who kill whites are eight times as likely to get the death
penalty than people who kill blacks. And with a so-
phisticated computer program, they claimed to have ruled
out the “non-racial” explanations put forth by state law-

yers.
Still, the state resists. There may bea lot of studies, says
Assistant Attorney General Bohn, but “they’re all walking
in each ‘other’s footprints, without breaking any new
ground. That’s the problem they’ve got right now.” °
He adds, “What more evidence are they going to bring?
. . Even in something as grave as the death penalty, there
, comes a point where you have to say, “Enough.” ”

Florida vs. Georgia

Only once has a court thought the evidence worth
pursuing. That was the three-judge panel of the 11th
Circuit, which granted Adams a stay of execution last
“Tuesday. afternoon so it could consider his race-

4 nation claim.

“The only thing we can say with confidence,” the judges

Spect cular ey: is unsettled.”.-

h ered the judges is that three executions in
Georgia had been stopped on the same basis that Adams |
was trying to stop his. Indeed, one of those three executions
had been stopped not by the 11th Circuit, which has enough
liberal judges to accomplish such things, but by the U.S.
Supreme Court, whose impatience with: death-penalty ap-

i athree-j

Lith Chute ordered @ Now heating en iondio Sarea Les
Spencer’s claim that Georgia’s death law discriminates. The
basis for that ruling was a study by University of lowa Law
Professor David Baldus. It was far more detailed than Gross
and Mauro’s but likewise concluded that Georgia condemns
killers of whites far more frequently than killers of blacks,
__ The 11th Circuit complained that the federal district
judge who first considered Spencer’s claim “rejected the
Baldus evidence out of hand” because it “left: untouched
countless racially neutral variables.” The appeals court
alder ihe 3 the, Jndge oad not have adequately analyzed
cause. no writ ”

seal bei bm web yoy Ei
‘THE COURT is now considering another case in
which the district judge did undertake a detailed analysis

criminatory are two entirely different things.

Gross and Mauro suggest that the courts will avoid such.
aruling because of the terrible problém of finding a remedy.
Courts would have to overturn all death sentences, just as
they did in 1972 after Furman. (And in 1972, public oppo-
sition to capital punishment was at an all-time high, while

for consideration and ruling that the death penalty is dis- °

ment.) we
Indeed, the Stanford professors suggest that the courts

Do away with
discrimination
in jury selection

‘TALLAHASSEE — We could forgive Robert Swain for

suspecting racial prejudice at his trial. He was.a black man,

, convicted of rape and sentenced to death by an all-white

jury. Eight blacks were in the courtroom to serve on his

jury, but two were exempt from jury duty and six were dis-
missed by the prosecutor.

This was Talladega County, Ala., and it was the early ”

1960s. Not only were there no blacks on Swain’s jury, but
there had been no blacks on any jury in that county for a
Seven seat Tae was FLORIDA
not enoug! prove
race discrimination, . Nell oo
though — not as far as
the U.S. Supreme Court ;
was Ol Swain
had not proven that it
was the prosecutors’
fault that blacks were
always excluded.
“The presumption:
in any particular case
must be that the prose-
cutor is using the state’s
challenges to obtain a
fair-and impartial jury
to try the case before
the court,” wrote Jus-
tice Byron White. Be-
sides, the system of peremptory challenges —- dismissing
potential jurors without giving 4 réason “has very old
credentials.”, : 4

A LOT of discrimination has:faded away in the 19
years since the Supreme Court ruled against Robert Swain.
Back then, the South was closing down its municipal pools
rather than let blacks swim with whites, and “freedom of
choice” was considered a drastic means of integration.

But the law on peremptory challenges has not changed.

Everybody imows jurors are excluded because of their
race, but there’s an institutional pretense that everyone is
honorable.

The result: All-white juries acquit white police officers
accused of killing black businessman Arthur McDuffie and
black ghetto youth Nevell Johnson. An all-white jury con-
victs black Dade School Superintendent Johnny L. Jones
of grand theft in the famous “gold-plumbing” case. A jury
with one black and five whites is seated in the trial of Jones’
accessory, black school principal Solomon Barnes, but only
after the trial judge rejected an all-white jury and required
jury selection to start over. Barnes was convicted.

‘Maybe the verdicts reflected the truth. But. when the
juries are stacked, people can’t be expected to have con-
fidence in their conclusions.

Not even the courts can pretend any longer that justice
is being done. -
In the words of Judge Wilkie Ferguson of the 3rd Dis-
trict Court of Appeal, the peremptory challenge has been
elevated “to a pasition of such jvrisprudential eminence
that it now transcends the right of any minority group not
to be systematically excluded from participation in the
administration of criminal justice.”

Yet Florida courts are still following the standard set

two decades ago in the Swain case: A defendant has to prove’

systematic exclusion of blacks, case aiter case, to win.g new

Finally, however, the Florida Supreme Court has the
chance to give blacks a little moré assurance that justice is
for everybody. The justices are considering the case of Jack
Neil, convicted of second-degree murder for killing a Hai-
tian immigrant in Miami. out of four blacks called for
jury duty in the case weré excluded by the prosecutor; the
fourth became an alternate juror but never took part in the
deliberations. 9.) Doenileae ane a

signa vie

SUNDAY, MAY 13, 1984
ET

NEIL’S LAWYER, Paul A. Louis, was more
flamboyant than helpful during oral arguments at the court
on Friday. He gave such roundabout answers to the justices’
questions that the justices several times impatiently
provided him with the right answers. :

The state’s lawyer, Assistant Attorney General Diane

"* Leeds, ching. to the tradition of peremptory challenges.

Once she argued that the standard set in the Swain case is
not “really that hard’a standard to meet,” then tried to
make an incredibly-tedious process sound simple: Look up
each Dade prosecutor on the county computer, find which
cases he handled, check court records of the jury pools, get.

voter registration records to discover race. Put. that all to~- i

gether, and you prove systematic exclusion.

“Just because it has not been met in many cases does not . - i

mean it cannot be met,” she said. The fact is that the
standard has been met in only two reported cases in 19
years, and both cases were from the same
Louisiana at about the same time. ,

parish, in «
Jesse McCrary, a black Miami lawyer who once served ©

as Florida’s secretary of state, handled the rebuttal for Jack

Neil. He was direct: Whatever the tradition might be, “
the hens of racé, you cannot discriminate pase lack
people.” ‘ : s
. Justice Leander Shaw, the only black justice, and Jus-
tice Parker Lee McDonald seemed firmly on Neil’s side.
dustices Raymond Ehrlich and Ben Overton also seemed
inclined to support some change in the old tradition. ~
Chief Justice James E. Alderman and Justice James C.
Adkins and Joseph Boyd seemed inclined to cling to the old
system. * t a :
But four votes is all it takes on that court. If oral argu-
ments are any indication, Florida may soon have a strong,
workable policy against jury discrimination. ,
« Its about time... ne

Neil Sxene is Tallahassee bureau chief for the St. Re- ,
*  tersburg Times.

Oi

Tallahassee Democrat/Sun., May 13, 1984

PINION

Bill Mansfield, editorial page editor

Ed Sherer, associate editor

Betsy Robertson, associate editor"

Susannah Yordon, associate editor", re

Bill Fuller, managing editor

_ The editorials below represent he opinion ofthis ectoral board i

~ Garrol Dadisman, publisher
__ Walker Lundy, executive editor

‘he state of Florida electrocuted
Jaiaes Adams last Thursday morning
the 1973 murder of Edgar Brown, a
uucie County rancher.

long-established resident of Ft. Pierce.

s to the rural area where the crime

In Florida, as a recent study indi-

¢atés, those profiles paired together in -

a homicide case meant that once Ad-
aing was arrested for Brown’s. murder,
he was almost surely headed for’ the
electric chair.

~-Adams, the first black to be execut-
ed in Florida since 1964, received a
temporary stay of execution Tuesday
from the Jith U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals i in Atlanta. In their brief, his
attorneys ‘presented new evidence,
which indicated that a key witness in
his trial lied, and cited recent studies,
which revealed that convicted murder-
éts are more likely to be sentenced ta
die in Florida if their victims were
white instead of black.
: Clearly, the evidence’ and studies
inerited more investigation before Ad-

ams was sent to his death. Yet despite ,

compelling reasons to halt the execu-
tion, Florida, with approyal of the U.S.
Supreme Court, coldly set about the

job of killing a man whose guilt. was”

questionable. »

3rown, was white, wealthy and a.

: “adams was poor, black and had no”

Death penalty —

Race still factor | in sentencing |

COn Cine

“Studies reveal bias
‘7 Tn research published last’ year,

Stanford University Professors Samu- . .

él: Gross and Robert Mauro studied the
homicides committed in Florida be-
tween 1976 and 1980. In their findings,
the researchers concluded: “Those who

kill white peopie are significantly more
likely to be sentenced to-death than *

those who. kill black people — regar-
diesss of the surrounding: circumstanc~
es.” A 198k study at the University of.
Florida supports this finding, and a
Study of homicides in Georgia 4ound a
similar situation there.

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled in Furman vs. Georgia that
déath-penalty iaws then in existence
violated the Eighth Amendment pro-
hibition of cruel and unusual punish-
ment. The court said “arbitrary and
capricious” standards were used in de-.
termining who lived and who died —
‘and that all too often blacks and poor
defendants were the first. to be con-
demned.

Following the Furman ruling, Flor-
_ ida passed a law designed to exclude
race as a factor in death-penalty cases.
Murder trials were split into two
phases: the first to determine guilt or
innocence, the second to. pass sentence.

“In deciding whether to impose the |

: death penalty in capital cases, Florida
jufiés now weigh aggravating circum-
‘stances, such as past criminal record or
whether the death occurred in commis-
sion of another felony, against any mit-
igating ciremastance, such as mental
condition and age. . :

“The race of the defendant-or victim
is not supposed to affect the outcome.
As the law works now, however, killing
a white person becomes a de facto ag-
gtavating circumstance. Such discrimi.
najory application of any law —

particularly a law used to sentence
people to death — is intolerable.

“In their appeal for his life, Adams’
lawyers’ also raised 11th-! hour doubts
about his guilt with these facts:

. justice or if they were’only presented

@ Willie Orange, the only person to
positively identify Adams as the man
leaving the murder scene, testified that
he didn’t- know Adams before seeing
him the day of the murder. Yet before
the trial, Orange told three people he
wanted revenge because he believed
Adams: was having an affair with his

-wife. Recently, Orange failed: a: poly-

graph test about. his. testimony. ae =
} -@ A witness who was near Brown’s

“house shortly after the murder. saw a

man leave but was unable to identify ’“
Adams as that: man, both in:a police .

- line-up and at the time of the trial.

~.@ In his. closing statements. to the”
jury, the) prosecutor emphasized that °°
Adams —'a: black man —-had ‘been
convicted of raping a white woman in
Tennessee in 1962. Tennessee. law at’ ”
that time worked to-systematically ex-
clude blacks ‘from juries and Adams ~
‘was convicted, on the strength’of the «
woman’s testimony, by an all-white, _
air-male jury.

Guilt in doubt |

Perhaps James Adains was guilty
as charged of so brutally beating Edgar |

‘Brown with a fire poker that Brown

died the next-day. But it is doubtful
now. that we’ll éver. know whether the
new evidence about’ Adams’ trial had
merit. We won’t finally know if the»
facts pointed to a gross miscarriage of

by lawyers sesperstely trying to save a.

“life.

“But even if ania! wast, the man
who killed Edgar Brown 1Q' years
ago, he died Thursday more because ©

~ his vietim was. white and wealthy than

because of the crime he committed. If
Adams had killed a black man, statis-
tics show, the chances ‘are that he ‘
would be alive today.

Far from.being an. “ayenhanded
punishment or deterrent, imposition of -
the death penalty is merely a dice roll,
loaded against those whose’ victims °
happen -to be’ white instead of -black.

No matter. how they regard capital.»

punishment, no. Floridians can be
proud of that.”

-And regardless of how the law is
written, an execution always carries
with it the. tisk that an innocent man

will be killed.

Summary of “Patterns of Death:
An Analysis of Racial Disparities
in Capital Sentencing and
Homicide Victimization"

(By Professors Samuel R. Gross and Robert Mauro, Stanford
University, Pre-publication draft, October, 1983.)

Conclusion -

Racial discrimination continues in the imposition of
the death penalty under Florida's post-Furman statute. The
discrimination is based on the race of’ the victim, and it is
a remarkably stable and consistent phenomenon. Those who kill
white people are significantly more likely to be sentenced to
death than thoss who kill black people -- regardless of the

surrounding circumstances.

Methodology

Gross and Mauro studied all homicides in Florida that
occurred during 1976-1980. ‘Their data were drawn from two
sources: Supplemental Homicide Reports (SHR's) filed with the
FBI and Death Row U.S.A.,.a periodic publication of the NAACP
Legal Defense and Educational Fund. They analyzed data on
3,501 homicides and 130 death sentences. Their study took
into account: (1) sex, age and race of the victim; (2) sex,
age, and race of the suspect or defendant; (3) date and place
of the homicide; (4) weapon used; (5) commission of any
separate felony accompanying the homicide; (6) relationship
between victim and suspect or defendant.

Categories of Homicides

In addition to race of the victim, the study examined
six non-racial factors to determine-if these factors -- rather
than race of the victim -- influenced the decision to impose
death. The factors were: (1) commission of a homicide
during the course-of another felony; (2) filling of a
stranger; .(3) killing of multiple victims; (4) killing of
a female victim; (5) use of a gun, and (6) geographical
location of the homicide.

(1) Felony

Of felony homicides with white victims, 27.5% resulted
in death sentences. Of felony homicides with black victims,
7.0% resulted in death sentences. 3

Of non-felony homicides with white victims, 1.5% resulted
in death sentences.

Of non-felony homicides with black victims, 0.4% resulted
in death sentences. :

* A person killing a white victim was four times more
likely to be sentenced to death than a person killing a black
victim.

(2) "Stranger"

Of the “stranger" homicides involving white victims,
14.5% resulted in death sentences.

Of the “stranger" homicides involving black victims,
1.2% resulted in death sentences.

* When the victim was a stranger, a person killing a
white victim was twelve times more likely to be sentenced to
death than a person killing a black victim.

(3) Multiple victims

: Of the multiple victim homicides involving white persons,
20.4% resulted in death sentences.

Of the multiple victim hamicides‘involving black persons,
11.1% resulted in death sentences.

* When multiple victims were present, a person killing
white victims was two times more likely to be sentenced to
death.

(4) Female victim

Of the female victim homicides involving white victims,
10.8% resulted in death sentences. ,_

Of the female victim homicides involving black victims,
1.6% resulted in death sentences.

* A person killing a white female was eight times more
likely to be sentenced to death than a person killing a black
victim.

(5) Rural
Of rural homicides involving white victims, 8.5% resulted
in death sentences.

Of rural homicides involving black victims, 0.7% resulted
in death sentences. :

* When the homicide occurred in a rural area, a person
convicted of killing a white person was twelve times more
likely to be sentenced to death than a’person killing black
victims. ‘.

(6) Guns ,

. Of the "use of a gun" homicides involving white victims,
5.3% resuited in death sentences.

Of the "use of a gun" homicides involving black victims,
0.7% resulted in death sentences.

* A person killing a white victim was nearly eight times
more likely to be sentenced: to death than a person killing a
black victim.
Capital Punishme: — Project . arch 1, 1964
University of Florida :

POST-FURMAN DEATH SENTENCES IN FLORIDA

347 death sentences have been imposed under Florida's post-Furman
law. 342 of those were for murder, and 5 were for the rape of
a minor.

Only 2 of the 347 death sentences were imposed upon a woman.

Of the 342 death sentences for murder, 200 have been imposed upon
white defendants, and 142 upon black defendants.

Of the 342 death sentences for murder, only 36 have been imposed
on defendants who killed black victims. 31 of the 36 defendants
condemned for the death of black victims were themselves black.

46 minors have been sentenced to death under Florida's current
law. Their ages at the time of the crime are as follows:

15 years old 2
16 years old 2
17 years old 5
18 years old 7
19 years old 13
20 years old 17

In 85 cases, trial judges have overridden ‘jury recommendations,
and have imposed death sentences despite a jury vote for life
imprisonment. .

Death sentences for murder have beer imposed by year in Florida
as follows: .

1972 “1
i373 mh
1974 . 26
1975 29
1976 32
1977 29.
1978 36
1979 : 30
1980 34
1981 30
1982 “40
1983 39
1984 (as of

: 3/1/84) 4

The Florida Supreme Court has made decisions on direct appeal in
247 death penalty cases. The dispcsitions of those cases follow:

affirmed 131
reduced to life 46
new trial 35

new sentencing 33
reduced to second a

degree or

dismissed 2 .

Post-Furman Deat Sentences in Floriaa

Six men have received executive clemency. Two have died natural
deaths, and three have committed suicide while on death row. John
Spenkelink, Robert Sullivan, Anthony Antone, and Arthur F. Goode,
III were executed under the present law.

75 death warrants have been signed under the post-Furman law, 1
by Governor Askew, and 74 by Governor Graham. The number of °

death warrants signed per year is as follows:

1977 1
1978 a,
1979 6
1980 6
1981 10
1982 23
1983 20

1984 (as of
March 1) 8

209 persons are currently under sentence of death.

3

tog cuba bs a, Hire hdd oo

|. THE COURT: ; ; ‘Thank you.

a .
Thersupon, the defendant herein, further to
wanneads' the issues = his part to be maintained, called as a
witness. pocToR DAVID ) TAUEZE, aan bets first duly sworn, was:

exanined end testified upon his oath ae followe: . . in
THE WITNESS; Judge Lee, could I <--
THE COURT: - Doctor Taubel has asked

whether he cw tape his own testimony.

_ MR, SATZ: He can tape his own
testimony? . fae: i
te 4 eres For" hia: <own personal us¢
\e e +,

unusual request, I have no chdectinn,, Your Honor, and I " nderecind,

THE COURT: -——«—«No obJectin, Doctor, |-.
Go right ahead.
Pokey aats ceey THE WITNESS 3 , Tt da a little unugual

and I ‘appreciate it.very much, Ie will take a few seconds here

to get ny. Jepanese invention working.. me etn arnt Pee

THE COURT, ¢ - we Ready to proceed?

Wty MRE ADAMS 1 Is it. working, Doctor?

“THE WETNESS :- Ie's working.

— 1323

BY MB, ADAIS:

* pmect exaMENATION.

Doctor, you are @ medical doctor licensed ‘and

with a splatter here in the cate of Florida, am I correct?

eo & & WD YH

Yes, that's “correct; Mew Adams.

Have "you testified before im this courthouse?
: Yes, many tines. . fH
As auch as a.hundred times?
t'd say in excess of that, Mr.Adams, yes, 81x.
With regard to your specialty of psychiatry?
Yes, thac's right. ;

4 ADAIS's be Your’ Honor, this being

a diferent cectention, I can go shead and lay the predicate.

MR, SAT2Z: : That is not necessary,

Whatever Mr. Adams wants Co offer him for, fine.

Your Honoz,

4 know we all diss

Tae COURT: I know Doctor Taubel,

aad as fax, as. “t an concerned he is qualified |

as an expert in the field of psychiatry.

MR, ADAIGS :.: _° Z would submit him as

sie COTE "= mm roo instruct the Jury
‘the Doctor is an expert in the field of peychiatry. State your|...

quE WITNESS: .wp- _, Ye8, David E, Taubel,

MR, ADAIG: - . Thank you, Your Honor.

‘oa, him and for: japproximately | how long? _ et

} Zepart’ “peapated yest

what atte Da

oe THE COURT:
a neg
ina your specialty of medical practice?

lets

Yes, tee

Doctor Taubel, how long have you been practic-

7, Twenty-four years, Mre Adans, .

How. ‘Long ‘here in Broward Conley

Ta Broward County, eighteen years this couing

March.

“Q
perhaps reach some conclusions in the ‘form of a psychiatric

Did you have an occasion to interview and

profile on a young wan who you see here in the courtroom, Alvin

Ford?

ome

7 be
Yes, I did.”

Was that at my request? |.

Yes, it was; Mr. Adams,

Will you tell these folks of the jury when you

A Isaw him on this past saxceay., Saturday ...

‘afternoon,. I spent three to threé and @ half hours talking with :

him here in the Broward County Jail.

:

mak SG

cad
‘ cA fis T have, Se course, ay handwritten notes

which are just about illegisle torenyone but me;but' I have j.-+

‘prepared ao  wittten report, ‘and ia’ fact I have never been

& = eg et et o ce tet

_ 1325 —

wtiiee a you: :ment ioned earlier your request to. tare

od

“leet oars * i

“you, tell these: folks mee W798 gaan by ‘that?

che. is, and why he is, what he, 18," and how one can understand the

| of. people in attempting to understand and predict what their | |

EMR eR cae aa ee on cee uta Die

ae asked to ‘do this type of an evaluation and “this type
| of paychiatric profile, which is why I am particularly interested” ?

in perhaps having some record of it to review and reflect upon

myself,

“Doster, * "you widerstand, having b been here te ‘out -
county about eighteen years: and testified more than a “hundred ,
times, thet we are not involved in this instance in insanity
ag an {ssue in 4 trial? .

A Yes, sir, I understand that,

Q : . ad when you mentioned the word, emI repeated

it back, of course, ‘paycliabebe Profile; what is that? Will

wee
is

-A- We man, it.is sidenEtalty x an evaluation of the
individual’ in terms of his functioning in life, his goels, bis=

purposes,his directions, an understanding of how he is, what 2

life. style and the behavior, and the attitudes of the individual

wie me one

"The tera, “I guesa, was coined fairly recently

when there had been constructive uses of this type of analysis

motives and ‘behavior may ba. - : a ee wet
For example, paychiatric profiles are sometimes

er
constructed on isdecoacecn aTond, ; (389s on foreign leaders,
finan “effort to understand what: “they. are thinking maybe, and -~_

jean

“how thay quay act in the fueurs, so thet oe teaders) can deal

— 1326—.

savings

20

21

a bit more tatelligently with ‘thea,
Q- ‘Thank-you, Doctor, With regard to this. profile »
and the opportunity you had to talk with this young black man,
would you tell the jurors exactly what, you talked about and
what you learned, and if you reached any conclusions that you :

can rolate to them with eome certainty in your own field?

i

4 Yes, aix, I'd ba very happy to, It's a
privilege to tell you, honestly, to do this, We ere fortunate
to haves different new law so that it is a little more informa
than it nay have been in the past. That I respect because

this is the: type of testinony ‘that a, psychiatrist likes to give
because f feel that Z can’ elt, you more of what my specialty”
‘can understand and arrive’ at ‘and not be tied to specific rules

‘and questions of procedure in a cour troom, Me

ey

Let me begin by telling you that Alvin Ford
knew why I was talking with hin; what I planned to do; that I

wanted to learn all I could about hia and that I might, I might
not, depending upon his attorney's wishes testify in this
fashion. He was cooperative entirely. I cannot vouch for the
‘accuracy ‘of evexyentng thec-he told mse. L-have no way of know=| _
dag whether he may have told me some lies or whether he told
me sous a! oat, in general - was gy inpresaton that ost

,

of what he told oe was eruhéul,

There were 2 he oreas where he specifically ..

wand not to be ques tioned ‘and ‘Twapected his wishes not. to be

— 1327

oy ae

~ A

oe oengg

Moepglits :
PREP Gre sea ae Laer ED whale oo eae

weusiond.’ exe, Alvin Ford is @ twenty year old black ‘oan

t don't know, I know sons ‘things about his that you doa'c know
‘and these ae the things that I think I'd like to share with.
you, Tocpivy ma if ot tines £ am saying things sbout chings
that you know end I do not because I'd have no way of knowing
that, 7

He is the oldest son in a family of six, a
black family of perhaps better than aversge ability end more

drive oe success and achLawgnent than T would estimate the
sister, who is 4 regiatered nurse, His mother finished, he-

going to, aight school, and ‘Ls now ‘working | ia some nursing
Jcapscity. - wention these things.’ . They ‘show soma initiative,
fay Re is the oldest son; had felt responsibility
in the “tantly for ‘pany years: The fatter he described as an
alcoholic, mean, belligerces, didn't get along well with eny
manbers of. the -fanily but wes at) tines a fairly qoua provider.
He worked ag a coment’ caanere somstinss drove @. truck, and

“did ‘provide {ncoms,” but there - no good, relationship between-:

yee ate, Satte O

sod you know from your sitting here and Listening for many days|.
now meny things ebout him, You know gany things about him thet

‘niecake black. fanily. to have’ “nad. z 7 Be. hes ‘@. sister, an older. : :

belisves,” the eleventh grade and.thea got: further in school by

alvia Fo d’and his father, alchough h be tried working yith him

seeded Spa piers at,
” alvin Yord felt responsibility for the younger

for“a-while.- -

| in @ local restaurant, ta Bradenton, near his home in Palmetto.

children aad he cried to help” riiieistaAy and worked oo"
his high school years, first as @ dighwasher and then as @ cook

Be did fatcly well in school, I don't know .
abate his ach ‘yrades were, He did not sensaber too well. "
He was vather vague about it, Ha was on @ championship high”
school team, played defensive back, although he was a small
boys weighed about 140 pounds, about five foot aine inches,

After finishing high school, he worked at a
Red Lobster. Restaurant and apparently did sufficiently well
and was thought well exsuyk af that ae was placed on what was _

called the. opening. tean,: and: thie’ was. a * gt oup “of “employees’ :
of the Red Lobeter chain who would travel around through ©

Florida, Georgia, and perhapé other neighboring states, ‘to open nN

xestaurants and to train the new personnel that would be coming

in to"opexate the new restaurants: ini the franchise,: He did 5
“th

this for quite sometime, He felt that this was sort wn an

honor to.be om that team at such an early age. wp
: He bad one brush with the law, When he waa

a teenager, he vas placed on probation for: four years for being

‘Aavolved dia stealing? me “guto.parts. How much involved he was,

7 did not learn, but be was: plated ¢ on peaactas The stealing |

of auto parts had to do with his hobby at that time which was

“yefurbishing cars, building ‘saotgie cars; ‘things ‘thet boys" *

Ne

appareatly do with automobiles and engines, et cetera, * |

— 1329-—

2s
*
Set SO 7 Or re

He was sutfteteatty — a@¢ his job with the |

‘Red Lobster chain thac 4 oo whom be knew through that chain ‘
davitec hia to Gainesville to help open @ restaurant there
ko os the Italian Fishernan... t have eaten in the restaurant
ievasel times aad be cust have Geen the ‘assistant manager there
at that Cine when I was visiting wy deughter in Geinesville,
and if was a well rus restaurant with Eeesonsbly goad food,
buc he.weot there and he worked for perhaps as much as two years
as aseistent manager. He worked vary hard often even there
two to three o'clock in the morning, but had an awful lot of
troubla in managing things. Be had ‘rouble putting the cash

> pega tar{receiptel cogether’ ud had’ “to Fesoncile two cash wy ©
xveogisters wich another ee me res the hookwork, the

eyes

pressure of ‘tha hassle of!eho "Jou! just began to get to him. .
He felt. he coulda’s handle ite He was making $190.00 a weck

pod

and Big” percent ‘pet * Sbocken wetldedies, Pretty good pay, I ,
thought, and be thought, too, for: an eightesg year old black
gan in Gainesville, Pretty good pay, but he quit the job
bpenyeg be couldn't, Danita ic. i ;

I enw going: to: digress a little bit because r™

‘woudered¥by ba could not bandie ‘Le vot went off into snother
Gaede Of the ‘@xamination. Lacexf but z ‘want’to’ explain” to” you” ca
why I think he coulda’s handle “the job. Ha is an come
“ betghe, wan, Alvin Ford® ts, acy tate he has minimsl braia *

| damage, monaching that you read about ia the newspapers called

— i330—,

Oo". oO ww

Weer oe gt as et a Tet OB Ve tea
Dyslexia. He cannct handle numbers.” :%- asked him how auch was
aix times seven. Es said, "Thee! a forty-nine."

_ ALL vighe, . rel. as how much is four tines
eight? ‘ ‘

“ aioe :
‘ med a a

“tacts, “wienty-four, si

He should know this. mhird " eeaae student, —
fourth grade student would know bis sultiplicacion tables by
rote and he is-a bright msa, He did not know them, He made
obvious mistakes. ,

; I asked him thea to subtract a series of
numbers, Serial sevens we call it... Start at ons hundred, sub-
tract seven. © : Subtract’ seven’ ‘from your ‘anawer, ninety-three, ©
dowa to eighty-six, don to seventyenins, -You cen all do chis-
in your head and the average person will doit with probably: !
not @ mistake, usybe one mistake. He got four consecutive
correct answers coming down the line and then asked me, "Did
you say six or seven?" He had been subtracting seven all along |

, I said, “Sevea."-
3 Then he went shead wd subtracted seven a

couple of. Cimes “ad thea as added and subtracted six and got a

couple of wrong answers, got flustered, ‘finally straightened

‘I asked him ig amas sight ox left handed
‘because left-handeduess, the. aixed handedness is. oftea present
da people with Dyslexia. He said he thought he was kind of both

— 1331—.

ea s web

more, He quit the job. . *
ee, «w,, Floxida Employment sent him around on a few i

: 8 ‘
ether jobs, He again did act, think it was enough responsibilicy |

application. They may secept you." Ae

/

Bros en “ # ie

4 8 ly Bags nls!

that he could write with both 1a lefc waa his Hight hands,

He tried to write with his right hand for us but his fingernails

wexe so long he coulda'e grip the pea and got flustered end
sould woe. go any, imines: ‘doing, this. In fact, this was the one
‘cime be seally got frustrated, suring, the examination and

woulda't go “ahead, woulda’ eiscdparace, when he was asked to
deal with writing io numbera,,.
for the.problem that he had in dealing with this good Job up

T think this is the explanation

io Gainesville,
He cananct handle writing and numbers, although
be is otherwise a bright young man and his employers must have
thought 30, Hs left the 'job.-. He got a job in a paint store,

da Gainesville; worked there as a galegman for a while; didn't

think it was enough responsibility, He had been used to a lot "

and wasn't paying as much ashe had been getting at the Italian
Fisherman, ,

st ae Then he was sent to Raiford for a job as a
correctional officer, ox @ guard, He wasn't gure whether he :
“should put on bis application a fact that He was” on provations ”--
for a theft in Palmetto, f0 he oaate with his probation

“officer. ‘The probation officer said, "Yes, put. it down on the

— 32+,

the past end wasn't sure exactly what feeling depressed was “Like.
a life: dace: “policy on Sinselé and made it payable to his
! ‘man of. day golor, who ia not matted, to buy a@ life insurance

whe uF ete more or less advised to do chia, : But he did.-

ms DAS a) Se oe at
They did secepe hin: ead he worked as @ getxen

“
Res
‘

guard, Ha Liked the work. ~ He liked tt sufficiently that he : é
wanted to go iato corrections work and he enrolled at the Santa ,
ie Junior College, in Gainesville, to begin this summer in ae .
course that is leading to be a correctica. officer, He was -
pleased, He was accepted, le purchased his books for his
courses end ebout this time’ bis automobile began breaking down,
He had to ride fifty milea from Gainesville to Raiford, each
way, for the job, and he couldn't make it to the job sometimes
ead bis superior there, a white man, said that, "You are putting
on. You are faking. --You just don't want to come to work,"

[This ‘got him mad because ‘he. aid want to go to

work, He thought he had been trying hard. So he quit the job.

Now he didn't have a job. He didn't ‘have any .
: mn ORS
money; he couldn't go te c:2 Junior College. He began feeling

7 ae en ee: Ae

depressed, , é ;
" # Wows He ‘had felt: depressed @ little bic in \

ee
. .

but when he wes ) working at the Italian Fisherman, he bought

mother,. This io" stat 2 for “an “eighteen ox nineteen year old

policy payable to his aother, | unless he 4s in the service

“But thea, after losing the job, he began to

edge

_— 33,

24

1

2

3
+

‘.

7

‘ore

feel depressed, restless, He dida'’t know quite what was wrong
with bim, He thougiit maybe he‘ ought to die and even commit
suicide, This was in the back of his mind.

Then a rather strange thing happened. He

recognize it as atrange but I sure recognized it as

dida'

strange, This man's behavior pattern suddenly roversed itself
aad instead of being an essentially Fesponsible persona who
worked hard, long hours, was rewarded with good pay and respon-
sible jobs, he suddenly became a real fat cat in Gainesville,
He is auinging. Man, but is he swinging, He is going horse-
back riding in the morniog, Now, that is 4 bit unusual.

Jot a lot of gixl frienda.*. Doesn't hava any men friends,

except one wan at the University of Florida that he is close

to, but women, horseback riding, cars, out all night, spending

a lot of money.

. "He is acting, I said to myself -- he didn't

say this to ue -- he is acting as if he were eating, drinking,
and being merry for tomorrow you may die, He 1s acting as 74

izresponsibly as all get out.

Pa

.s'"..°He-de on cocaine, He meets sous fellows up -

there who-are dealing cocaine. He starts snorting cocaine.

He doesn't dxill it in his vein: because. he ts scared to death
of needles, He wouldn't even lecem:doctor put a needle in his
arn, let: along put a‘necdle ‘ta his own “arm, He sniffed heroin
a couple of times but that: doesn't do ‘much good to sniff,

— 1334-——

*

19

g

_ &4

eo ew & we ,

: ‘ wilTLe, Clemaons, ’ ‘an Lisa‘! agent's in "Filestta; making the

2 wets ies Aas
Pa ee aoa

You got to drill. But he did snifé cocaine and eae wae hin
feel better, It made him feel high. It stimulated him, He
did not feel depressed,
. : _ He went on living this recklessly high life
with he "Boland iin wee ‘davelved ix cocaine, He made money
and he spent money sad he got involved in tobberies. He got
iuvolved in the robbery that you heard about down here,
oo What you didn’t hear about, and what he Just
told me, incidentally, is a feu days before the robbery here
about which you know everything and I know very little, he
_tried to me a 925, 000. 00 insurance paldey a ‘his life from

policy payable to his mother for the support of his brothers

a aoe Paes oe tel He

a prenium payment to the agent and he told me he talked with
the agent a lot to try and find out how you could collect on
this policy. He didn't know whether the agent knew what he das,’
talkiog about but be did ask him, Well, be found out thac

suicide. -- you ‘coulda't collect on the policy if you committed
suicide, The policy would be no goad; that he'd have to have

a natural death fa order ‘to collect on that.” ain
Well, he didn! ecw ‘exactly how he could
work out or do something about a‘natural death but it was in

‘the beck of his mind that somehow or other that is how he

>

— 1335—-

and sisters, ue * Soo ty
. : . *
After he had asked to buy this policy, he gavel. ~
Ca ra ar) wn ee

Sore

was going to have to wick it cite ‘Ie would _— to be s , natural
“death te order for thee $25,000.00 to go to his mother...

He dida’e know at the tims that he was here

ac the "sobbery thas the agent ‘had ee. placed the policy. He

learned later from his ‘mother | that the pagent’ had ‘returned ‘the ©
prealus and given it te. his mother vho had used it for other
expenses, but at tha timo ke was here be thought the policy
was in.eifest. —

The fact that he was depressed may have been
shown by @ referral from a vocational Fehabilitation counsellor}
in Gainesville to « psychiatrist, He didn't remember the name
ef: ‘che ‘payehtacriec, but ‘ba! ‘described the building in which he

was socerats ie is fatsly standard af, ‘the counsellor thinks

thes Sacks ta! dae’ a. of aa eacthansx! problea, He had gone.

at Senta Fe, end the, paychietr ist had said o~ he thinks the.
paychiacrist wu, myall, y you are depressed but that's ally:
The oly pelos there is." and had written @ letter to the
eseaenetpaet rebabilitation, counsellor, cet sg “ eee
Cos last thing. How did he act after the

~"Sepbazy andafter the’ shooting? This is-what-be-teld-se.-~

I asked him, "Did you chink of escaping? Did you think of
* aseuming @ disguise, of going souswhere? + Did you realize
that lots of people get eway with crimes in this country and

1336—

_ bo vecacional rehabilitation aahing fox some possible ftnanctad
ossistance, “sobs, would: pay’. bis. tuition aad get into the school |t .

By ope

| i eg BARE r * . “PU teem ome es te sop on eh a

SER oH

mmergeminin gah miminaines  "YQMy 2 Legh sto: ia I ‘gealiy” “feel good; ele

: because T'shook his band and 1° Gaidy ‘Alvin, you‘have been

are never caught? You can go to Mexico, the Bahamas. You can |°.
becomes farmer in Kansas.’ Who knows? There are lots of placea -
you can go where nobody is going to catch you. Did you think -
of 901g hist"

st ea “ALS

“ad 7 _ _ No, he hadn't even thought of it.

“What did you think of doing?

"I went “hous to see ‘uy mother,"

He drove to Palmecto to see his mother, She
was working, 80, instead, he sew bis girl friend, visited for
@ shore while, went to Gainesville, where he was arrested at
his + SESE RaRRE a Gainesville. a _ :
wt “asxed hist sig! "Did you aot think thac the

police would surely believe you were ia one of these two places

the most Likely place to look for "you in one of your two homes? ‘

Yes, he did not care. He didn't care. I a
oked ‘ody another quegtica. I said, "How do you feel right I
how, Satusday afternoon? Last Saturday afeernoons the nee }

going on, How do you feel right now compared to the way yeu hols.
felt whea you were depresssd?

’

viny ME Beek Simeon

"You ere ckay now?

awe ate

Okay. i guess maybe ‘I dida't Look soo good

very cooperative," T said, ay want to. tell you whac I am going
. : ‘ .
mr $357,

voy

“Wchat ts ‘ qverstriving —— their ‘poens ‘to ‘achieve and accomplish.

|| He can *g. handle: ‘che seading and writing as. adequately as a man |

| dn the, Sype of eke, _fhag & he tried to ‘bandle, . that he sapized ta,

Me oie thet gt chet ED.

co'say to the Jusy if T'u esked to aay to the jury. IT think

you ought: bo know, You eoeae: three and 8. helg hours with me.
You oughtto‘kngw what. 1/w-thinking.” ~
sot ‘told | bis “just whag 2 = seacribing for

We PR Oa ded jo at

- cadey wal’ When, Twas finished, Tt shook hands and ssid”
goodbye, and he Said,he-seidy-"E'm' tins, Doc. Don't worry”
about we, I'm juss fine," and we pated that way. Ob, he seid,
"You're s:nice aan, Doc. Don't worry ebout as,"
That's the way Alvis Ford bas been. That's the ;
way he's lived. ol. . a
, : : — My evaluation of its He comes from 4 family
totey isk
He took the fecher's role as @ young man, became the responsible
wale in’ tha family. One bes’ ‘to realize that in the black <>.

cultura a responsible wale ds not the same thing, is act as
common 56 is the white culture, ‘by sny means, buc he coak that
‘tole. He weated the tole. He accepted it. He did quits well
io it but he didn't heve all the ability: to handle it because;
fe tas, think, Dyslexia, end, he can't bendle the arithmetic| ft

of his” “tneelligence or as Sdequetely ‘~ & men would have to do

‘Be becage: frustrated at progressive’ failures
that ‘be coulda! tvhandle,- He’ ‘didn tb. ‘under tand why:he couldn’ t°

handle hinge. . ‘poe gore frustrated, “more aDBr ys Bot depressqd

5
* —1338—+

ce

10

Car)

’ het

asl — goon he ected as & oan -_ wasa 'e going to live ~

}

auch longer and seid, Well, the hell with it. Eat, drink and ~ 4

noe $

be merry for tomorrow Iwill die," and from that point on his
life led to the conclusion that.we see in this courtroom.

ee

That is the way I see his life. “
Q Doctor Taubel, one last thing. What about a

bope or the future of Alvin Ford?

i 4& . .. You would want me to say what--

& I€ you <

A Well, — woulda! t went to say what gy personal
feelings would be, I want to be @ psychiatrist, a professional
Is there a possibility of rehabilitation of this man; is that
what Fou are asking? Yes, I would gay that the man has potential
fox rehabilitation. That is’ @ guarded opinion,: It would have
to be over’ many years but he does have the poteatial. He haz
iid AOSwISyendse He Wed 466 DECKGEOURE, Ha his the ability

to xeceive insight, . . eh

Q Does he have the moral acandards that \ we aml

are within most of ue? vt “ oe et
He: hes. the pen staadarde; jean He has'a.- i

degree of neurotic hostility inside’ of bia that can be eithel” he
homicidal or suicidal, Ther would have to be resolved, That
wcnid have coi be the’ xetablileacive aspect, Until that was
resolved, thea be. conti: be rehabilitated. =i. ise

2 .Q This is only potential? “

so a . '

— 13

Acd then cal after many years, in your anal:
Thank. yous k Doster, z i
“Yous & Honor, ‘I have so 5
—_ Taubel, thank gy
Toenk you en
“ aa | - fs —_ i THE counts ~ “. You may be excused, sir,
tlt Any. fu tbex witnesses: te. Adams? ...;, : a i ws
ia ||” “AS: ~ T heve nothing further,
14 |] your Hooor. _ a oe ote
1s THE COURT: Any rebuttal of any scct,
16 |! we, Sate? . ‘Lass
a7 ; . MR, SATZ2 0 No, eit, *
ae npc, BBE GouRRS Ladies and gentlemen
2 of the jury. you, have heard the exiindi aod axgumencs of souns 1
. o I beg your paee I am premature. : a. ‘Satz, are: you ready: "£0 }
ax proceed with your argument. ; a 6
‘ i MR, SATZ: / | Yes, oir, I am, oir. |
= _— THE COURT: : _ Thank you, sir. |
; 24 gee ce MR SATE "cde, kaddas and gentleman,
1 an going to be very brief onze again. The Court is going to
as ss # : ; :

o

a -— 1340—

TO: Laurin &. Wollan, Jr., Attorney at Law
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida 32306

FROM: Jamal A. Amin, M.D. Fe

DATE OF REPORT: August 21, 1981”

PURPOSE AND METHODOLOGY

Mr. Alvin Ford is a twenty-eight year old Black male
(date of birth, 9/22/53) seen in psychiatric evaluation at
Florida State Prison in order to offer professional opinion
concerning his past and present mental status, particularily
Quring an eighteen month period when he left his home in
Palmetto, Florida to live, work’ and go to school in Gaines-
ville, Florida. - Particular emphasis’ waa. placed upon socio-
Cultural factors which the examiner Could review with a
different perspective from other mental health professionals.

ax

ya j
In addition to interviewing Mr. Ford, an extensive
review was done of his legal records,‘ records of Past psy-
chiatric and psychological evaluations as well as reports
from relatives and friends. .

CURRENT STTUATION

Mr. Ford is currently incarcerated on Death Row at

Florida State Prison. He is not being treated for any specific

physical or mental condition. He spends most of his time
reading the Bible and writing to: numerous correspondents.

He searches news accounts for reports of persons in stressful
situations and writes to give them advice and encouragement.
He has few visitors, although both he and his family report
that it is ecopomics rather than lack of concern that pre-
vents their visiting. Although he has several disciplinary
reports from his initial incarceration, he is perceived by
prison officials as a good and quiet prisoner for the past
two years. Most of Mr. Ford's initial problems with prison
can be attributed to the unusual attention focused upon him
since he had formerly been a member of the Prison Guard est-
ablishment. :

SIGNIFICANT HISTORY

Mr. Fora is the oldest male of six children raised in a

Ag
segregated but stable, strongly religious and patriotic family.
His father, though hard working as a self-employed, free-
lance construction worker, finally succumbed to alcohol as it
became increasingly difficult to find enough work in a dep-
ressed construction industry to support.an ever-enlarging family-
Mc. Ford began to work at a young age to cover for his
father on construction jobs. As the oldest male he became

‘ prematurely viewed by himself and the rest of the family as a

father figure’ with enormous responsibilities for which he

was ill-equipped. Positive male identity figures were par-
ticularly lacking in Mr. Ford's development and as his par-
ents became more estranged his unusual closeness to his mother
intensified to the extent that he felt personally responsible
for any of his alcoholic father's shortcomings. His desire

.to care for his mother and younger siblings served as a moti-

vating theme which, in spite of the instability at home,
helped him'to successfully complete high. school and to be-
come gainfully employed with an eye toward saving money for
college. .

Mc. Ford's developmental history is certainly consis-

“tent with that of a small town, hard working, church going

all American. boy who had unselfish visions of being occup-
ationally successful so that his hard-working mother could
"rest" and his younger siblings could go to college. It

was with this noble goal in mind that Mr. Ford left the fam-
iliar protective enviornment of his hometown to seek his
fame and fortune in the big college town of Gainesville,
where he felt a young Black male stood a better chance.

When he left his hometown- approximately eighteen
months prior to the crime in Fort Lauderdale- he strongly
believed that education and hard work would pay off if he
kept upwardly striving. In retrospect -he talks regretfully
of being overly ambitious, naivé and too impatient. His
work record reflects a significant degree of stability when
one considers his age and socio-economic backround. He
usually rose to the top very fast and perhaps his ultimate
frustrations resulted from rising faster than his abilities.
As Mr. Ford's upward mobility progressed he often found him-
self in positions of responsibility which no other Black
men had held before and-once. again he prematurely felt
compelled to succeed,’ even though he was definitely lacking
in experience and self-confidence. Additional peer pressures
of great significance resulted from the fact that Mr. Ford
was constantly receiving feedback from his two best friends

4

se

who were highly successful in their chosen endeavors.

F. THE CRIME

It is significant to note that the only past history of
a conviction for a crime calie’at age séventeen for breaking
and entering. When one analyzes this episode in Mr. Ford's
life, one is left with the impression that this was harin-
less, youthful, non-violent offense so insignificant that
the Department of Corrections ignered it when hiring him as
@ prison guard approximately six months before the crime in
Fort Lauderdale. : .

Leading up to incident in Fort Lauderdale, Mr. Ford's
life underwent the following changes which would have placed
him under extreme mental or emotional disturbance:

1. Increasing exposure to drugs, aggressive women and
fast, easy money, which his young, impressionable
lifestyle in Palmetto had not Prepared him for.

i

2. Ah increasingly overwhelming sense of failure and

P disappointment over-ni “inability to be successful
in college or his jobs as a prison guard and rest-
aurdnt manager.

He went to great lengths to conceal the true downward
Spiraling picture from his family and still sent funds to
his mother and siblings.

Ford was contacted by older, urbane peers to partici-
paty in the Red’ Lobster robbery ‘because of his intimate
knewledge of the internal workings of this type of restaur-
ant. His leading role was related to his familiarity with

.the restaurant: and certainly not his experience in such crimes.

At this point with drugs, especially angel dust and cocaine,
impairing his judgement, he decided that money was his only
Problem and that he could get back on his career target if

he could obtain a. significant ‘amount in one act. The picture
I have formulated of the scene of the crime reveals a norm-
ally non-violent teenager (Mr. Ford), who proudly boasted of
his prison guard career and had a profound respect and fear of
law enforcement authorities. He suddenly found himself aband-
oned and frightened. Realizing that the robbery attempt was
botched he rushed to join his accomplices in escaping when

he was surprisingly confronted by a policeman. The startled

young man pahiicked and in what would appear to be an instinc-
tive, automatic response, fired at the officer before him’
twice without any premeditation.” The third shot was per-
petrated in a residual, hysterical, panicky state which still
viewed the fallen officer's attempt to retrieve his gun as
threatening. °° “¢

MENTAL STATUS EXAMINATION

Geneally friendly. Good rapport and repeatedly expressed
satisfaction.at seeing a “Black psychiatrist." Appropriately
dressed in néat prison clothing. Normal facial expressions.
Poor eye contact consistent with feelings of shame. His speech
was productive. Thought content examination revealed no overt
thought disorder at the time cf the interview.

He was oriented to time, place, person and situations and
had good contact with reality. Recent memory was intact but
renote memory appeared somewhat impaired. He appears to be
of above average intelligence. He wept openly during parts
of the interview. He repeatedly expressed his sorrow and
regret about his actions and*hire-affect’ was consistent with
these feelyngs. His mood was one of. despair and worthlessness.

FORMULATIONS AND IMPRESSTONS

Alvin Ford's life, with the exception of approximately
eighteen months leading up to the crime in Fort Lauderdale,
was marked by a stable, uneventful maternal development
whereby he was always known as a hardworking, enterprising,
upwardly mobile young man. He had no significant positive
male identification figures. 2

‘It is significant to note that he never resorted to the
use of drugs or violence as outlets for an increasingly over-
whelming situation for all but approximately eighteen months
of his life. His desire for money appears to have been un-
selfishly motivated by his concern for his divorced mother
and four other brothers and sisters. However, the stress he
utimately faced in 1974 was intolerable to him: no work,
no income,. uunting personal bills, escalating demands from
his family, “increasing difficulty in concealing his failures
from his hometown friends, and a cocaine and PCP alteration
of his mental capacity.

:

At the time of the crimé, mr. Ford suffered an overwhelm-
ing anxiety reaction which triggered a violent dissociative

ti4e

hysteria. ‘He acted out his fear and rage, Protesting the
destruction of himself and his goals in life. Although at
some level By knew this criminal act was wrong, he felt
internally ¢ompelled to comic these acts in order to
“catch up."? He experienced uncontrollable rage and subse-
quent amnesia for explicit details of the shooting, which
was consistent with an hysterical, dissociative reaction.

During this uncharacteri§tic eighteen month period mr.
Ford experienced depression which was suicidal in character,
a8 evidenced by his obtaining e tife insurance policy with his
mother and oldest sisters as beneficiaries. Symbolically,

was surely an impending death from his newly acquired life-
style. Mr. Ford appeared to be suffering from a syndrome
similar to battle fatigue, commonly called “shell shock."
Sufficient stress can Produce this aberrant behavior in
otherwise normal people. There is an extreme vulnerability
to psychotic acting out during which time theru is a temp-
Orery absence of the usual human sensitivities.

CONCLUSION

oy

Mr. Ford is a man of above average intelligence and of
@ non-violent history. The crime in Fort Lauderdale was
Senseless, but a powerful ana scmewhat cathartic act during

He suffered, extreme emotional -and mental distress which re-
iolent hysterica) dissociative reaction.

Thank you for this most interesting referral.

Respectfully Submitted,

; er

Jamal A. Amin, M.D.
... Psychiatrist

oomehe,

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VI

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Summary of Article in Miami Herald, 3/27/83

“Deadly Force in Dade: Surprising Trends"

Blacks comprise about 17.3% of Dade County’ Ss general population,
yet 47% of all police shooting victims since June, 1980, have
been black.

During the past 27 years (1956 - 1983) the majority of victims
of fatal police shootings in Dade County, Florida was black.

102 black men and 90 white men were killed by police officers

during that period.

Fatal police shootings in Dade County more than doubled in
1979 and 1980, coinciding with increased racial conflict in
the area.

Four black men -- Nevell Johnson, Jr., Ernest Kirkland, Donald
Hay and Anthony Nelson -- were killed by white police officers
in Dade County in a single six-month period during 1982-83.

Police researcher James Fyfe stated that, until recently,
prosecutors and grand juries "generally maintained a hands-off
policy" regarding fatal police shootings of civilians. Prosecu-
tions did not begin until the black community pressured county

and city officials to do so. Even then, most police officers

who were actually tried were acquitted of any criminal wrong-doing.
In 1971 Miami police officer David Waud was charged in the
shooting death of a former mental patient. It was the first

such indictment in Dade County in 45 years. Officer Waud was
acquitted.

In 1977 Opa Locka police officer Thomas Mitchell was convicted
of manslaughter in the shooting death of a civilian, but his
conviction was overturned on appeal.

Four Miami Metro and Dade County police officers were indicted
in the beating death of black insurance salesman Arthur McDuffie
in 1979. All were acquitted.

The most recent Dade County indictment of a police officer in
a fatal shooting was that of Luis Alvarez in 1983. Alvarez
was tried before an all-white jury for the shooting death of
Nevell Johnson, Jr., a young black man from the Liberty City
area. Alvarez was acquitted in March, 1984.

+
I
t
!
:
i
f
5
i
i

y, March 27, 1983. -

Jeadly force in Dade:

* ARL HLAASEN

ing trends

Surpris

Ambbery suspect saddenly wheels

street, bis hand # blur with z

Renewed concern may stem less’

police in recent years. Since June 1980, a case-by-case
study shows, 51 whites and 45 Slacks have been shot

by police. Of those, 30 victims died of their wouads —
LS blacks 1S whist.

‘a Southwest

from the frequency of police

Bur oaeks sur is is
Af police shooting vetims— ere

shootings than from the disputed

shoots at police officers and cries if
ca urrounding four
& .

“Kill me! I want
aple get shot by police in Dade Coum .  *

circumstances s

National statisucs. While blacks represent oaly about
17,3 per cent of the county's population, about 47 per
cent of ail those shot by police since June 1980 have

n black.
* te wend ts further dramauzed by a 27-year sare

---le raw, Riphrspeed ute teen nee dm —_
' ecient haces, traffic ‘a
OF Tear and T-

from a detailed study of Dade versial killin

‘et patterns emerge

four black, m hite potice offi-
ity pollee of em by w! © police offi

wey = Stee
have deed killed by potice officers in Dade County. Of
6 20h BE Balt iLO ltd LOD igo Bhi ten

@ While recent killings and the unprecedented in-

bthe ="
partments, the Medical Examiner and the State Attor- dictments of four white officers have brought pu :

|g3 — patterns that surprise some cers during the

last six months.
zed by the contro.

ney’s Office show that:
Records compiled from the county's 26 police de-

and community leaders sensiti: © More whites than blacks have Seen shot by local ae

Please tum ta SHOOTINGS/ [4A
Surprising

trends found

in shootings
ans sa eal

Crease in the rate of fatal shootings

ware police Bere.
fa tact, the rate of shootings has
aot kept pace e “county's
population growth — 9 20-year ex-
that otherwise has Drought
huge suryes in homicides, Tapes and
aber violent crimen.

@ Although some have Suggesi«
ed thet shogtings ate increasing be-
Cause more young olficera are pa-
Wolling Dade streets, the Herald

‘survey shows that youth or inexpe-
fence was not a Prevailing factor

—ar

A_majority of those police alli”
Tr Fune Ore Thaw
aly years’ expenence. Only 12 Neted
less thea one vear's experience, .
while 43 olficers had speat one to
five years ona police raster.
Sinee 1936. fatal pouce shootings
~ have follewed s Tagged. unpredicts-
ble pauern — high in some years.
tow Ia others. PoliceSuities more
Peepie between 1969 and 1971 —

tarot _the Liberty. Euy nots,

billed a
HOUMEF BURT TS wh
shootings has nol climbed ‘with pop-
ulation growth. Between -196) and
1970. 63 people “were! shot and
billed by loca! police. Between 1971
and 1980, 82 were killed
So. while Dade's population ex-
Danded by neariy 64 per cent. the |
. fate of police killings over these_|
Iwo decades rose by only 30 per

“No matter what the stausiics
May. there are a amall miaority of
police officers who. if you Just look
at them. they'll blow you “away
They're giving the (police depart.
ment a black eye.” says Leroy
Thompson, president ‘of “Ine Opa>
lochs chapter af tne NAACP

‘The survey findings indicate that
‘Wenewed coacera over the use of
@eadly force may siem less from the
frequency of police shootings than
* feem the dispuled circumsunces
surrounding the deaths of Nevell
donason Je., Ernest Kirkland, Don-
~eld Harp and Apthony Nelson <= gil
Bilachs shot by white policemen.

been shaped by the very coatrover-

Die have-come to conclusions that
; fe Completely uawarranied.” says
* Robey Jomm, director of Metro po-

bce.
“te < iv ice ause thev
we

Bamber of arrest situations

doave asys he is surprises that

the rate of all fatal shootings has

(eat Sccelerpied, bis depaeriment hes

eédnd 600 ailicers during the last
* taree yeers. "It stows.” he says.

“eur alficere are usieg good pidg-

tacnt to Une Gecherge of thew fire-
- orm”

F Yot the recent wile oo bik
_ Milluagi Rave reiatorced the percep.
~ hiteg ave Dlacks Thai shootings
Were aitea casera eee
Ty OVER eer

"tbo ractem tsi come of Ube pobce-
e “Boe are lowes bo exomplily wrn-

LO eemncenene a
“cout reprimand,” says Ray Fauatroy, *
oprscicest of the Southern Christian
derahip Coaference.
"Thy "The Herald. white officete shor
black Victims. In49 per cent of the

ums. .
“And black officers, who repre.
sent about 9 per ceat of ail Dade po-

the shootings.

that no white person who was un-
“artied Bas everpa@ipmot>t am-sore=
no while person who was doing
what he Was told was ever shot.” -
* Yet that 1 precuely what hap--
- Pened in the early morning hours of
Mov. 19, 1981. when Mam: police
olficer Joka Sprague killed 21-
Vear-old secynty guard Rosendo
Saavedra.
Seavédra was being searched
standing against his car when Spra-
x The State.

es shotgun discharged.
ait se Others V the-filling

Autorney's Otfice tu
<=

rah drew bitte attention com:
Deied WUR to the Billing of Nevell

“toed Uy ays W
Dallas, a black former Metro-Dade
sources coordinator for the depart-

ment..“I don't think there's any-"
thing wrong with our system: The

the officers is good.” --
. Two years ago Dallt olan
ct

Some eases seem indisputably

33h went for a shiny obpct in his Dade compare with those around
ck feck: and the officer shot the country? _. a
him.” recalls Metro-Dade the mumber

f

tobe Dade police killed at a rate of 0.70 °
second. in 1982. That's more often than prs
dice in New York (0.85) and Che

ob,
ir of pliers. In that split
ie officer didn't know.”

Burger King and was gunned down
.-after shooting at two Metro offi-
cers. Pedro Morales shot up a bar-

hides an armed robbery sus:
whohses EDS Rink People Conta

realize these Ghings bappen ip a
split second.” &e Bays. “You're so
chose you can smell each other.
You've got to do something and do
_ itfast. | ye

The fastest way to get shot bya
policeman in Dade aty is to
point a gun at Rim, shoot at him. try

Of those 30° persons shot ani
killed by police since June 1980, at
feast 12 had felony arrest records in
Dade County. 1

victim.

shot and wounded 1S-year-old Cline But the use of deadly force usual- >
fon Banks when the youth spun ly ix Beadly serious ~- and that is
sudderly and punched him. Adlet Row a worried black Community re-
later resigned when officials decid- gards it. ¥

“ed he had lied about the shooting. Leroy Thompson says if will take
and his gun hag gone off by BCC gore than numbers to convince the

to run him down with sear, or run 1 : -
_ trom the scene of acrime. |” *A shiny object’ cases liko this Police tay such ep We react on,” be says.
For example, in” 25 of 96 shoot- ae gl
=

feportediy atmed er

:

Gen midve or ie ward
“We had one last y

ear where 2

ao HES Ee RET
How bo fatal police shootings in aly contributed to this reper, a
eal Seth teen AGIA g. Bite noc E ee Nou Inpy ope LP —

Hetedt in 1971 for shonti Whether the scrutiny of police centunes-ol@ = “any-feloa™ rule. That was true in Dade County ne
ed. were punishable feath. TE means ingy DLMy were trresttgarer

ear had heen charged for afatal___Mi

lany_blacks and civil liberties am officer cam shoot a fleeing felom questa, informal heanngs Sefore

Indictmentsreveal dramatic shift fs

in scrutiny of police shootings

By ERIC RIEDER -

in shooting. They could gun dow ow another. or if It's oecessary tn ar- a hands-off policy” on shootings hv
5 writes ames Fy a wating

rest a felon

‘he first time in 43 years that an of+ put

@ for killing a black mam after a

_iberty City auto chase, he became

be fourth Dade policeman indicted

“or a fatal sMooting in the past five
% ;

The contrast points to the um
wecedented anture of the recent soo
es OF indictments. it also illuy
ates a dramatic change over the
aet-10-years in how police shoot.
\ge are viewed”
Indictments for shootings by po

iternaional Association of Chiefs
| Police. *
Untib recently killings by Dade
‘slice were rarely invesugated vigs
sly. Between the 197] case-and
“series Of Tour indictments ove

it deadly Tarce today. eer 7 see Grete for vrotating: the matt ecret 20)
te five months. only one other While much has changed, the The change ia how the criminal rights: a federal court jury acquit:
eliceman Was indicted lor a fai fori won police shootings syste: sl
hooting.

And up to hve’ ye Fy

1g.

number of dlack victims. The Dade
County Grand Jury is now investi
galing police deadty-force policy
and training. ° E

+ But ever some critics of law ea
forcement agree ‘ontrols on police
shootiigs are in/proved. “It's ine
credible that the system operates ag
such a poor level.” says Dade Publie
Defender Bennett Brummer, “but

“at's much better than it was." *
“1 think we're getting more ew

“The last 10 years have seee a
“major revotution in police depart-
meats,”.says Mike Cosgrove, an ame
sistant Miami, police chief. “We are
trucll more accoyntable ia our use

v ne_hack...armed, of _unarmed.__judges with liclted cross-exaruaa-
Ne March 15, whea Metro Pa- by the recent fatal shootings of murderer or house burglar.

reform their laws. the Florida Leg-
islature reined ra that broad discre-
tom — and then gave it back to po
lice the next year.

Ovsprte that. the Metro force in
1978 adopted a stricter policy. Most

important, it sud officers could -
shoot fleeing ‘eloas oaly if they

posed a danger to life.

la 1980 of the second day of the
Liberty City riots, the city of Miami
police adopted a similar policy

David Goodhart. who as a senior
Prosecutor im the’ late 1960s ind
early "70s presented,-cases at -in-
quests. defended the
lie: attacks. Today he .
emticison was prodadly ja:

The only policemas charge
ing Goodhart’s tenure was David

Waud, a Miami officer who in 197)

shot a black former mental patient
he waa trying to arrest. and then

, Fatal shootings by year rast =
and population 2 Re
18 : 2 Op yes
: vr Gabe
. POPULATION,
i 16) g a Oar
ah) e . ’
E ing we ake
police a Sap NUMBERS set
a OR EATAL ~ ee _
TCS: Tf - rants
bay r mG s * ' 07.792
Tet at tet »
5) _. Fi ae ‘sb oy
tiog thas almogt invariably clearee | oT : —~ { _
alficer. boop =
Cnucs called them whitewashes { oP

to

“ wf: tS
Ores <0 cet cae state 7 Setar ‘ge ete Carnent Spe. **
TEE AW? De aN Oke Oem mrrad Sree

ie 78 BO ad |

city-depart im
Tepresented ia the Dade County
Chiefs of Potice Association adopted.
@ unified policy with the same bane
restrictions. It also prohibits warn-

ing shots, and shooting that might _

eceed-and age

ea

endanger bystanders:

aud was in.

1961 and 1970 to 8.2 per year from 1971 to 1980. arse f about
30 pes cant. ; E “

cath cee
he had stopped for questioning. The wasn't committing one 7
AVIetION was Overturn nl : 5
peal. Mitchell was accused of a par- charged with killing on the poh

Ted him agaia.

hasn't It says am officer cam use ings has deen dramatic.

te 1977, Opa-locka policeman

Dade deadly force i he reasonably be te the“ past, prosecutors: mé— Thomas Mitchell was cormvicted of

(ficers were given Great discretion lleves it’s needed to defend himself grand juries “generally maintained manslaughter after shooting a man

ticular type of u, vo Ne S bans
ing only 10 killings of people en- Miamw officers accused of the fatal
gaged m fetonies, and the appeats~ beating of Arthur McDrut tre em t978

Fatal police shootings since 1956

During the past 27 vears. most victims at tatal police shootings in Dade County have heen black —
despite the fact that blacks have composed less than [sper cent af the population.

court ruled the mam he killed They ton were acquitted.

YEAR_____1956 1957 195, ° c
= 98-1959 1960 196119621963 19641985 1966.1967.1968* 1969 1970.19711972 19721974 1975 1976 1977 19781979 1980° 13 4192
pe ee a a wea f 2 et 6 Yh on eS a ee ee
5 a So ees ee “ng ¢ : 3 2 2 4 ee
Sent SOR 2 SPIN ARS 5 2 PUTRI Dre Beas Sa vee Be BE? FoGD IO

fo weman hes ever been killed by nabee ain

Hrm@ Remeting dm wae 00 ae

Aenelmeatacinee %

8 Oras veers

oF, -Different-stories,.

ie

same tragic

By SUZANNE SPRING
2 Hemid Start Writer

Se MEMMNERADU Evander ect te

ote ieeces
—sfe and told her he was driving tela hearhy conve

ab-apartment-« few mile amy Mh Police Of

John Kelly quietly rolled ouz of bed, careful not to wake a
wife. He slipped on his uniform and cooked a fast breakfast. *

At 9:30 a.m., Crum and Kelly crossed paths at the Pak ‘n
Sak at the corner of 207th Street and NW ist Avenue, where
Kelly had stopped on routine patrol. a

Fifteen minutes later, Kelly, his hack hadly bruised,
collapsed on Crum’s front lawn in Carol City. Crum lay inside
the house, his groin pierced by a bullet from the officer's 257
Magnum : ce eu,

ep

CARR GUIV Mere sereid Silt

morning Crecory Crum

and John Kelly say they will never he the same. y OFC TORS Kelly

& ast

aweasdde BE ww

He calis the shooung “udprovoked —
just crazy.” Gregory Crum, a 2¢-year-ald
father of three daughters, shekes his head

[stands outside the Hollywood bakery
‘pal.

bullet,” he saya pointing to where the
slug is still lodged. “Now, I'm what they
calla felon. I'm no criminal. Um
somebody. | make $17,400 a year.”

Crum recalls Kelly approaching him in
the Pais ‘n Sak parking lot and asking ais
name. He figured the cop was just

__basaling him
“T didn't answer him. 1 admit it.” Crum
‘one clubbed dim in the back of the head

with a shotgun and calied him a “nigger”
i978.

Dunng that incident. Crum was
arresied for aagrevaed batleryous , ——
police officer. The charges were
dismissed, he says. The juvenile count
records are confidential.

Crum says he and Oilicer Kelly
exchanged» ‘no ather words that June
morning.

“L wouldn't swear at a cop — [ know
that will get you shot.” he says. “I'l take
1,000 polygraph testa and swear on my

Officer John Kelly, the aon, grandson
and nephew ci palicemen, says he shot
Gregory Crum to save his own life.”

moving 40 miles an hour? He was trying

Kelly, 24, remembers his encounter
with Crum chs way: Driving through the
Aeighborhasd on routine patrol, he saw
Crum situng on-the hood of a car in the
the Pak ‘n Sak lot. The store was closed.
Kelly decided tornvestigate.

“its my yo — my duty — to he

asa foot patrol policeman in suburban

Metro Lwo years ago.
Kelly says he introduced himself and
| asked Crum his name.
f “He was very abusive and belligerent.
He called me a mather - - - - severai
tumes.” Kelly says. “When I asked for his
identification, he got in his car, put itin
reverse and said, ‘Bye, mother - - - -
Thea he floored it. “I'd say he dragged
me 100 feet,” Kelly says. “I thought I was”
© gong to die. ‘fh felt if I did not shoot. he
* would have dragged me further and
finished me oft.”

jhe says. “How would you feel if —_doia;

oad jue teeny

mother's grave, Idida't al Unal guy any
..bames, | wasn't molent.”
Wheo Crum Fealized wie patrolman

the radio, he decided to leave.
the rend

it up real slow and IT over and see the
iecad,” Crum says.

Crum says he shifted his car into
reverse and tried to back out of the lot at
about 16 miles per hour. He says he didn't
realize his open car door had knocked the
aificer to the ground.

The next thing he felt was a bullet
Tipping into his side, he says. He kept
~ @riving. Keily followed on foot for two ~~

__. while Crum lay bleeding on his living
. Toom carpet. pplice arrived to arrest him.
He was convicted of resisting arrest and

aggravated battery on 8 police officer.

Doctors decided not to operate because
the bullet was lodged too close to Crum's
,Feproductive organs.

Crum is serving 164 days. He sieeps at
jail. He works six afternoons ¢ week.

He says he wants to sue the police and
clear hie name. “Every day I have thie
bullet Inside to remind me that | was
wronged.” he says. “Totally wronged"

TT

The cop: a | thought I'd die’

+ The officer drew his gun with is night
band ‘and fired three times.
“| don't like violence. All 1 wanted tn

I did everything to avaud confrontation

Keily was interviewed by a Metro.
Homicide detective and two internal ©
secusicy investigators, according to police
procedure. His case was reviewed by the
State Attorney's Office. The shooting was
raied stifiable and Kelly returned to the

Toad.
|___ Suspicious,” Says the officer, who worked _ ——”.He says the feelings of fear remain._—__. -

The shooting cost him his year-old

‘He would talk about the episode
constantly, and would awake in the
middle of the night after dreaming about
it. His wife, Kelly says, couidn’t stand the

They were divorced recently.
These days on patrol, John Kelly says

-he does t get out of his car unless (here

~" ig another officer nearby.

“| didn't want to shoot that man.” he
aay’ “He forced me to.
“I'm more cautious now | hope and
pray I never have to use my gun again.”

at

EXECUTION

422.06. Stuy of execution of death sentence

‘The execution of a death sentence may be
ayed ouly by the Governor of incident te an ap

pe

Derivation:
wes 170, © TO

Cronn Referencer® |:
ae g: f,

Eg.
922.07. Proceedings when person under sen-
lence of death agpéarsto be insane

(1) When the Governor is inférmed that a per-
son under sentence of death may be insane, he shall
stay execution of the sentence And. appoint a com
nussion of three psychiatrisgs t¢ examine the con: ”
wieted pet The Governdr shall notify the psy-
Chiatrists in writing that they dre“to examine the
convicted person to determiag whether he under-
stands the nature and effecttof ithe death pe
and why itas to be imposed upor.him. The
dation of the eonvieted perso sligil take place with
all three psychiatrists present at the same time.
Counsel for the convicted person ind the state
attorney nay be present at the examination. Uf the
convicted person doen not have counsel, the court
that imposed Uhe sentence shall appoint counsel lo
represeut him,

Stay upon tung appeal, see

(2) After receiving the report of Lhe commis:
sion, if the Governor decides that the convicted
person has the mental capacity to understand the
nature of the death penalty and the reasons why it
was mnposed upon him, he shail issue a warrant Wo
the warden directing him lo execute the sentence at
a time designated in the warrant.

(3) If the Governor decides that the convicted
person does not have the mental capacity to under-
Stand the nature af the death penalty and why it
was impased on him, he shall have him committed to
Uhe stile hospital for Ube insane.

(4) When a person under sentence of death has
been committed lo the state hspital for the insane,
he shall he kept there until the proper official of the
hospital determines: that he thus heen restored to

sanity. ‘The hospital official. shall notify the Gover:
nor of his delermination, and the Governor shall
For Annotate Matenais, soe

§ 922.09

appemt another commission to proceed as provided
in subsection (1).

(5) The Governor shall allow rei sonable fees to
psychiatrists appointed under the provisions of this
avetion which shall be paid by the state.

Derivation:
Haws HTH, ¢ 1
Camp.Gens Lawn
Lavon BUH, «Mid,

Crone Heferences
inental combtion of efendant, are

Proceedings ta determine
noinal Procedure Rule L210 et eq,

we for aut prenvuncing, dee Criminal
Procedure Rube 3.740. ~

_ 922.08. Proceedings when person under ven-

tence of death appears to be prex-
nant

(1) When the Governor is informed that # per-
son under sentence of death may be pregnant, he
xhall slay execution of the sentence and appoint a
qualified physician Wo examine the convicted person
and_ determine if she is pregnant.

(2) After receiving the report of the physician,
if the Governor determines that the convicted per:
son dscaal pregnant, hé shall issue a warrant to the
digesting him io execule the sentence at a
time designated in the'wurrant. .

(3) If the Governor determines thal a convicted
person whose execution has been stayed because of
pregnancy is no longer pregnant, he shall issue a
ant tu the. warden directing, him to execute the
‘al a time designated in the warrant,

(4) ‘The Governor shall allow a reasonable fee
to the physician ‘appointed under the provisions. of
this section which shall be paid by the state.

Derivation:
Laows
Comp.
Laas JY, €. 19854, 8

Croan References

Pregauney, procedure for delay of pronouncement of sentence, see
re Grimnal Procedure Rule 3.710.

wart
seAlene

922.09. Capital cases
‘When a person is sentenced to death, the clerk
of the court:shall prepare @ certified copy of the
record of the conviction and sentence, and the sher-
iff shall send the record to the Governor. The
sentence shall not be executed until the Governor
issues a/warrant, attaches it to the copy of the
West's Flonda Statujes Annotaied
499 7 .

sexist SCN abi caciteer’ ~ ai iene remiss seth:

EXCerpt from Goode v. Walawsigie Uf cons cecucronal peonsbition
against executing the insane and the right to due process in
sanity proceedings.

A. Federal And Florida Law Prohibit Execution
Of Prisoners Who Are Presently Insane.

Federal and Florida law, as well as the law of the
other forty-nine states, recognize that. execution of a prisoner

insane at the time of execution ig ‘repugnant and represents a

fundamental, universally cecognized wrong. See Note, The Eighth

Anendméent and the) Execution of the Presently Incompetent, 32 .

tan. b. kev, 765 (1980); Note, Insanity of the Condemned, 88 Yale

Lid. 533° (1979), Accordingly, execution of presently insane
bersoners violates fundamental rizhss tong known cto the common
law, as well as rights to due process and to be Spared “cruel and |

unusual punishment" under the Fourteenth and Eighth Amendments to

the U.S. Constitution. See Solesbee ‘v. Balkcom, 339 U.S. 9

(1950) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting): Gray v. Lucas, 710 F.2d
1048 (Sth Cir. 1983); Perkins v. Hayo,. 92.So0.2d 641 (Fla. 1957);
Ex Parte Chesser, 111 So. 720 (Fla. 1927); Hysler v. State, 187

So. 261 (Fla. 1936); See generally, Note, The Eighth Amendment

and the Execution of the Presently Incompetent, supra.

« De Execution of presently incompetent
. Peisoners is cruel and unusual
. punishment under che Eighth Amendmenc.

Execution ‘of this Peticioner, who is presently insane,
1S punishment which’ is cruel and unusual under the ‘Eighth Amend-
ment to the U.S. Consticucion. Spacifically, executing the
Petitioner at a time. when he lacks the mental capacity to under-
stand his fate and to challenge is ulcimace imposition fails to
Satisfy the U.S. Supreme Court's two part Eighth Amendment analy-
3LS, since it violates “contemporary standards of decency" as

vetlected by our cultural mores ang is repugnant to "concepts of

~5

THOMSON 2CLOER BORMER WERTH AOORNO & AAI00K, 1900 SOUTHEAST SAMA BUILDING, miams, FLORIDA 33:21
a ence la een OI.

seme Geely” we ec eset eu uw, peeve e@bacws 2 auDatencive and

procedural components. Gregg v. Georgia, 429 U.S. 153 (1976),

See generally Note, The Eighth Amendment ‘and the Execution of che

Presently Incompetent, 32 Stan.L.Rev. 765 (1980). .

Execution of the Petitioner while he is insane violates
these constitucional! standards. Contemporary moral values do not
tolerate execution of the presently insane; such a practice has
been consistently rejected for centuries. Moreover, placing an
insane person in the irrevocable pracess rewards execution, while
that person is unable to meaningfully pursue any "last minute"
Opportunities to forestall his execution by reason of his insan-

ity, is facially intonsistent with any concept of "human dignity"

as reflected in decisions of our courts.

6 : e

(a) Contemporary Values abhor exe-
Cution of the presently insane,

Contemporary values rejecc oucright any notion of
execution of che insane. In fact, the idea ‘has been repugnant to
Che common law for centuries. The execution of a mentally dis-
ordered persan offends’ the most basic human precepts embodied in

our legal history. : In 1644, Coke wrote that in earlier years it

had been provided that: ‘

“. . . if @ man attainted of treason become
mad, that notwithstanding he should be exe-
cuted which cruel and inhuman law lived not
long, buc was repealed, for. in that poinc
also it was against the common law, because
by intendment of law the ‘execution of the
offender is for example ut poena ad paucos,
metus ad omnes perveniat, as before is said:
but so it is not when a mad‘man is executed,
but should be a miserable Spectacle, both
against law, and of extreme inhumanity and
cruelty, and can be no example to others."

COKE, THIRD INSTITUTE (1644), 6. The British Royal Commission
on Capital Punishment concluded that:
"Ic has for centuries been a principle of the

Common law that no person who is insane
should be executed . . . ae :

ROYAL COMMISSION ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT 1949-1953, REPORT (H.M.S.O.

(1953) [Cmd. 8932] 13.

rs
A/ See also, L HAWKINS, PLEAS OF THE cRowH (1716), 2; BLACKSTONE, COMMEN-
TARIES (1803), 26; Hawles, Rewarks on the Trial of Mr. Charles Bateman, 11
Howell State Trials 474, 476 (1816); CHITTY, CRIMIWAL Law. (Earle Ed. 1819),
525; 1 HALE, PLEAS OF THE CROWN (1678), 35, 370. :

THOMSON ZEGER BONRER WERTH SCORNG & MAZOOR, 1000 SOUTHEAST Gann @UILOING, miami: FLOMIDA 33131

sn sansil
, ong epee ane ine RRL ea
ssa ~~ orc NSS

A meer « Acar feet ae | FOES

have been varied. . They include the-actions that an insane person
cannot bring evidence on his own behel! to defeat the sentence ,2/
——- execution of an insane person cannot reasonably be

chought co deter others ,2/ that ean insane person is not legally

“present, "24 thee an insane person is not mentally fit to make

/

Peace with his maker, thet he has already been punished suf fi-

ciently by God or by the devi and chat the execution of an

insane person would not satisfy the extreme judgment inflicted on

him. 24 However, “[wlhatever the reason of the law is, ic is

Plain the law is so." Hawles, Remarks on the Trial of Mr. Charles
Bateman, 11 Howell State Trials 474, 477 (1816).

When we ‘seek the purpose cf the rule we are
met with. divers explanations. of varying
pbersuasiveness. The very multiplicity of
explanations suggest that the cule may have
been devised to meet an earlier cheoretical
oc practical need or special consensus and
has Survived the obsolescence of the original

cause."
Ee gE

Hazard & Louisell, ‘Death, the State and the. Insane: Stay of
Execution, 9 U.C.L.A. L. REV. 381. 383 (1962). Its survival
manifests @ common and unwavering recognition of Coke's basic
observation that the execution of the. mentally ill] constitutes "a
miserable spectacle," smacking of “extreme ‘inhumanity and cruelty."
The Fifth Circuit recently observed that "the law in
all American state jurisdictions, as well as the ancient common

law, does not’ permit the execution of a person who is presently

2/ See, ¢.g-, 4 BLACKSTONE, COMMENTARIES (1803), 24-25 Hawles, Remarks on
the Trial of Mr. Charles. Bateman, 11 Howell Stace Trials 474, 476-477 (1868).

3/ See, ¢.g., COKE, THIRD INSTITUTE (1644) at 6.
4/ See, ¢.g., Thomas v.,Cunsingham, 313.F.24°936, 938 (CA & 1963).

S/ See, e.g., Hawles, Reaarks on the Trial of Mr. Chacles Bateman, 11 Howell
State Trials 474, 677 (1868): "[It} is inconsisteat with religion, as being
against Christian charity to send a great offender quick, as it is atiled,
aato another world, when be is aot of s capacity to fit himself for it."

: F
6/ Ehrenzweig, A Psychoanalysis of the Insanity Plea -~ Clues to the Problems
of Criminal Responsibility and Insanity ia the Death Cell, 1 CRIM. L. BULL.
(No. 9) 3, 21 (1965). .,

J/ See, e.g., Musselwhite v. State, 215 Mise. 363, 367, 60 So.2d 807, 809
(1952): "it is revealed that if he were tsken to the electric chair he would
not quail or take account of its significance." See also Ehrenzweig, at
14-15, oote 15, supra.

fs

THOMSON TEDER BOMMER WERTH AOORNO & RALOOK, 1900 SOUTHEAST BANK BUILDING, HAM, FLOMIOA 33:2)

sq few HONG, ane he ees 4903).

Execution of the insane was in fact forbidden at the cime che

Eighth Amendment was added to the Constitution. Clearly, the
framers believed auch 6 be cruel and unusual; such values accord-
ingly translate freely into @ finding thact the Eighth Amendment
Proscribes such executions. Solesbee v. Balkcom, 339 U.S. at 20

(Frankfucther, J., dissenting); Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. ac

329-33 (Marshall,: g., concurring); McGautha v. California, 402

U.S. at 226 (Black, J., concurring)... a survey of present legis-
lative enactments reveals that “virtually “every state that auchor-
izes the death penalty has adopted by case law, statute, or
implication, the common law rule prohibiting the use of thac
Sanction against an insane prisoner.” Note, Insanity of the
Condemned, 88 Yale L.J. 533, 533 (1979).

(b) Execution of the presently insane

is repugnant cto the U.S. Supreme
Court's "concepts of human dig-

In addition “to being a practice which society has
abhorred for centuries, execution of the presently insane is
repugnant to basic "human dignity", as that is construed by the
U.S. Supreme Court. Two major factors support this conclusion.
First, Petitioner's insanity prevents him from Pursuing any
available “last minute" remedies. Fundamental indicia of basic
human dignity ‘in our legal system include ‘the rights to defend
one's "Life interest” from forfeiture only while competent, as
well as the right £o meaningful access to the judiciary. Second,
basic concepts of human dignity require the punishment as meted
out Co serve recognized penologicai interests. Execution of the
insane serves no such interest, and is accordingly afoul of the
Eighth Amendment's requirements.

Throughout the criminal law, our Constitucion requires

that defendants and convicted persons be competent to understand
their risks of forfeiting life, liberty or property and have the
Capacity to defend those interests againse forfeiture. A person

may not be forced te stand trial who is mentally incapable of

Bs

TMOMSON LEOEA BOMAER WERTH ACORND & RALOON, 1000 SOUTHEAST BANK BUILDING. MIAMI, FLOMIOA 33/91

him, and of assisting counsel in preparing his defense. Drope v.

Missouri, 420 U.S. 162, 172 (1975); Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S.
375, 378 (1966). And, as a matter of law, one cannot be sen-
Cenced if he is insane. See, ¢.g., Rule 3.720(c)(1), Fla.R.Crim.P.
By analogy, allowing the execution process to proceed while the
condemned is insane also offends the Constitution: if the state
cannot constitutionally proceed against a ‘person when incapacity
deprives him of meaningfully pursuing his rights before trial,
during trial and through sentenciig, “che state also is forbidden
from proceeding to execution of a death sentence while the con-
demned is incapable of understanding if He ig erititled to chal-
lenge che Legality, of his sentence.” Condemned Prisoners have
federal and state statutory rights of direct and colleteral

review of sentences protected by che due process on equal protec-

tion clauses. See c.g. Wolff v. Meonnell, 418 U.S. 539 (1974)

(due process); Griffin v. Illinois; SSL U.S. 12 (1956) (equal

Protection). As noted by one commentator, the special (and
tinal) nature of @ death penalty mandates a "Super due process"
consideration to make certain the penalty is lawfully carried

through. See Rubin, Cruel, Punishment and Respect. for Persons:

Super Due Process for Death, 53 So.Cal.L.Rev. 1143 (1980). The

constitutional rights of an insane condemned prisoner are thus
fatally compromised, since an insane prisaner cannot meaningfully
pursue available rights to defend against improper execution of
his death sentence.

Moreover, meaningful "access to courts" by prisoners is
a right of constitutional dimension. Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S.
817 (1977). Bounds ‘recognizes that inmates have a federal consti-
Cucional right to “adequate, effective, and meaningful" access to
courts to pursue available judicial relief. Since @ person
incapable of understanding his fate and of defending himself
cannot meaningfully have access to available rights, executing
the presently incompetent is a deprivation of constitutional

Significance, and thus repugnant co “concepts of human dignity".

-9-

THOMSON TEOEM BOMAEA WERTH 4OORNO 6 AAIOOR, 1000 SOUTHEAST BANK BUILDING, MIAMI, FLORIOA 33131
Execuca we

CNe s5anc 22 wass u mNSliiucronal de-

Cause ic serves no valid societal interesc. The death penalty is

constitutional only because it serves specifically identifiable

goals of punishment. The Supreme Court in Gregg ve Georgia found

that “the death penalty is said to serve two social purposes:

retribution and deterrence of capital crimes by prospective

offenders." 428 U.S. at 183. The Court in Enmund v. Florida,

458 U.S. 782 (1982). recently reminded us* \thac unless the death
penalty as applied “measurably. contributes to one or both of

these goals, it is ‘nothing more than the purposeless and need-
less imposition of pain and suffering', and hence an unconsci-
tutional punishment." Edmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782 (1982)

quoting Coker v. Georgia, 433 U.S. ac 592.

Execution of the presently insane does not measurably
contribute cto "deterrence". Petitioner's insanity does not
ubsoluctely relieve him of his fare, and in fact remains under a
sentence of death, irrespective of" his" insanity. Petitioner's
“deterrence” role .remains an example to ‘others ‘that they too
Might suffer a deain. sentence if they take human life is not
diminished. Whether. Petitioner's ultimate face is delayed by his
insanity does not vitiate the deterrence value of the sentence; a
prospective murderer who would be deterred by the death penalty
would not become more eager to murder because ultimate execution
of the death senteace may be delayed if he is found insane.

Retribution is similarly not materially served by
execution of the insane. Again, the presently insane prisoner
under a death sentence remains condemned. His ultimate "debt" to
society remains unchanged; he remains under punishment. See
Super

generally Radin, Cruel Punishment and.Respect for Persons:

Due Process For Death, supra, at 1164-1169. To the extent society's

need for retribution or "vengeance! aay be served by execution of
murderers, society clearly has sent ‘a different message when it
comes Co execution of insane condemned prisoners. As noted
previously, society gonsistently has not permitted the execution
of ‘the insane, despite the historical role of retribution in

punishmenc.

oe

FMOMSON LEOLA BORREA WEATH ADORNO & RAZOOR, 1000 SOUTHEAST BANK BUILOING, srmet, FLORIDA 33135
BxeestiGn Ob ue peo eMCLY, cee 48 DOLA Cepugnant co

Contemporary values as expressed in our history and by the legis-
latures of each state: in che Union. Moreover, execution of the
death sentence where the condemned ‘is insane does nothing to
contribure materially to the "goals" of punishment. Because of
this, execution cf Petitioner while insane would violate his

rights under the Eighth Amendment co be-spared cruel and unusual

Punishment.

2..- Florida law prohibits execution of
presently insane prisoners.

Irrespective of the federal infirmities associated with
execution of the insane, Florida law clearly prohibits execution
of insane prisoners. That Florida™ grants condemned inmates a
substantial right not to be executed while insane is clear both
trom Florida statute and case law. The relevant statute, Section
922.07 of the Florida Statutes, uses mandatory language: a
condemned prisoner ‘Lacking Capacity “shall" be committed to a
mental institution ance his capacity is restored. Similarly,
under the common Law of Florida, “one cannot be . . . executed

while insane." Perkins v. Mayo, 92 So. 2d 641, 644 (Fla. 1957).
See also Ex parte Chesser, 111 So. 720, 721 (Fla. 1927) (a person

condemned to die, "if found to be insane", shall be "committed
uncil his return to sanity is duly determined"); Hysler v. State,
187 So. 261, 262 (Fla. 1936) (if prisoner.is "found to be insane,
an appropriate order should be made for his custody until his
return to sanity is appropriately adjudicated when: the sentence
should be executed“), ce ,

Thus, Florida law recognizes a right not to be executed
while insane. This right is cognizable under the Fourteenth
Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, which must be
satisfied whenever the government places in jeopardy a substan-
Cial interest in life, liberty or property. Alchough the present
Nature of the condemned prisoner's interest may be uncertain, it
May properly be Categorized as an interest in “life", due to the

expectation created under Florida law.

5 -ll-

MOMION LEOEA BOMAER WERTH ACORN 6 AAL00K, 1000 SOUTHEAST BANK BUILDING, MIAM), FLORIDA 3313
pe~ use ‘Ihe wctermsiccion Gi .° stner
He 8 Insane Was Made Withouc | :cording
Petitioner Procedural Due Process.

1. ‘ Procedural due process must be
accorded Petitioner in the process
of determining whether he is insane

By virtue of the state created right not to be executed

while insane, see Perkins v. Mayo, supra; Hysler v. State, supra,

Florida recognizes an interest which warrants. protection under
he due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. See Green-
; 7 een

holtz v. Inmates of Nebraska Penal and Cotrectional Complex, 442

U.S. 1°(1979); Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564 (1972); cE.
Solesbee v. Balkcom, 339 U.S. 9 (1950). Due process protections
no longer depend upon a determination of whether a "right" or
“privilege” is extended by the state, Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 7

254, 262-263 (1970); Shapiro v. Thompson, 396 U.S. 618, 627 n.6

(1969); and see wolff v. McDonnell, ‘supra, 4618 U.S. at 555-556;
Goss v. Lopez, supra, 419 U.S. ac 573. The mere expectation of
benefit is enough te vest due process protections; whether such a
rule is a "right" or a "privilege" is irrelevanc. "(W)hether any
procedural protections are due depends, on the extent to which an.
individyal will be ‘condemned to suffer grievious loss.'" Mor-

rissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 481 (1972).

Irrespective of whether it be a cight ora privilege
not to be executed while insane, for the purposes of procedural
due process, che magnitude of a decision to take a human life is
probably unpéralleled in the human experience of a member of a
civilized society," Marion v. Beto, 434 F.2d 29, 32 (Sth Cir.
1970). The Suprena Couct of the United States has recently
emphasized that “the penalty of death is qualitatively different
from a sentence of imprisonment, however long .°. . [and] there
1S a corresponding difference in the need for reliability in the
determination that death is the appropriate punishment in a
specific case." Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280, 305
(1976) (footnote omitted) (opinion of Mr. Justice Stewart, an-
nouncing the judgment of che Court). ‘As such, the due process to
be accorded in death cases is what one commentator describes as

-12-

THOMSON EEOER BOMRER WERTH AOORNO & RAZOCK, 1000 SOUTHEAST BANK BUILDING, MIAMI, FLORIDA 33131

at ie

Process for Death, 53 ...Cal.L.Rev. 1153

Persons: Super . 2

(1980). .

2. Petitioner has not been accorded
procedural due process in the
determination of his sanity to
be executed. i

Chapter 922 provides no due Process for Petitioner or
other condemned persons who are insane. . More percicularly, che
Governor, in determining whether Pecitioner is insane under
Chapter 922, applied his public policy of excluding all input
from or on behalf of the condemned person. Thus the Governor
refuses to permit any evidence, argument, or cross-examinarion by
or on behalf of Petitioner. ‘Bluntly, the Governor's "process" of
determining Petitioner's sanity is a fotal absence of procedural
ue process for Petitioner. Thus,

1. Petitioner was prohibited by the Gover-
nor from questioning, criticizing, or comment-
ing upon the manner in which che “commission"
"examined" Petitioner. Thus, Petitioner was
unable cto explain to the Governor why the
30-minute examination before .an audience of
people whose ‘presence is prohibited by Sec-
Cion 922.07(1), Florida Statutes (1983) was
insufficisnr, incomplete or otherwise unlaw-
ful.

Die Petitioner was Prohibited from even
knowing the "results" of the “commission's"
exemination until after the death warrant was
signed. Thus the validity of the commission
members' findings and conclusions went un-
questionéd; indeed were undisclosed until
after the Governor determined Petitioner to
be sane. For Petitioner, tarcugh counsel, to
have any meaningful input into the determi-
nation of his sanity, it musc be-before the
Governor makes that determination.

3. Petitioner was not permitted to hire his
own psychiatrist whose report would be con-
Sidered by the Governor Prior to the Gover-
nNor's determining Petitioner's sanity. In
this case, the Governor advised Petitioner's
counsel he "mighc" consider Dr. Barnard's
report.

4. The Governor refused to afford Peti-
tioner any hearing - evidentiary or other-
wise - at which Petitioner could:

(a) present evidence of his insanity,

(b) Stoss-examine the commission mem-
bers, er

-13-

THOMSON ZEQER BOMRER WERIn 4G0RNO & MAz00%, 1000 zen! Barn BULOING, MIAMI, FLOMIDA 23191

ais Lidity and other deticiea es in che
findings and conclusions of the commis-
sion appoinced by the Governor.

These procedures are arbitrary, and "(t]he touchstone
of due process is protection of the individual against avbitrary
action of governmenc," Wolff v. McDonnell, Supra, 418 U.S. ac
5538. Where the loss @ citizen may suffer due to the action of
the State is as "grievious" as the loss of life, there is a need
for “extreme caution in fact finding," Ink ce Winship, 397 u.s.

358, 365 (1970). See also Johnson v. New Jersey, 384 U.s. 719,

729 (1966). Moreover, "(flairness can varely be obtained by
Secret, one-sided determination of facts decisive of rights,"
Goss v. Lopez, supra, 419 U.S. act 580. The process employed by
the Governor could not be more “secret” and "one-sided". The
safeguards against che execuCion of tie insane surely cannot be
less stringent than those against the wrongful suspension of «@
high school student for ten days. cf. Goss, supra.

Fundamental fairness is denied unless "{nJotice and
opportunity for a hearing appropriate to the nature of the case,"
are afforded. Boddie Rs Connecticut, 401 U.S, 371, 371 (1971).
See also Goss v. Lopez, supra, 419 U.S- at 579. A condemned
defendant must have notice of the standards and evidence to be
relied upon in making the determination of his sanity, Armstrong

Vv. Manzo, 380 U.S. 55 (1964); Morgan v. United States, 304 U.S. 1,

18-19 (1938), -an Opportunity to respond "at a meaningful time and

in a meaningful manner," Armstrong’ v. Manzo, supra, 380 U.S. at

552. The Governor would have this Court hold it is "fundamental
fairness" to have’ no notice or oppertunity to be heard. He

freely admits he refuses even to dcisclese the teports upon which
he finds sanicy uncil after he makes his determination and signs
the death warrant. Petitioner had no notice, ho opportunity to
be heard, and no Oppertunity to respond in ‘any manner, much less

+, 8e¢ Armstrong,

“ata meaningful time and in 2. Beaningful manner’

supra. .

The Supreme Court of the United States permits no room
for error in its Ca@8es Construing application of the death sen-

tence. It has systematically scrutinized’ fact finding processes

714. SOE

THOMSON TEOEA BOMAEA WERTH SOOANO & RA200K, 1000 SOUTHEAST BANK BULLOING, MIAMI, FLORIDA 23131

LU eee Le Sdeucacici. sek! haces dns Lactlinder,

especially facts of mitigation or which mandate a result other

than death. See Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972); Gregg v.
Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976); Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586
(1978).

"(Djue process is flexible and calls for such proced-
ural protections as the particular situation demands," Morrissey
v. Brewer, supra, 408 U.S. at 48l, and see id. at 489. Peci-
Cloner submits cthact che following minimal: due process safeguards
are required to be afforded by the Governor or anyone else in

determining whether a condemned inmate is sane and can therefore

be executed:

. (i) a right to effective assistance and
Participation by counsel at all stages of the
determination process; 5

(ii) @ right of access to the commission
members’ reports prior to che Governor making
his decermination as cto Sanity, with a corres-
ponding right to comment-cn, challenge, or
present rebuttal evidence to those reports;

(iii) . a right co retain his own psychia-
trist whose report will be considered by the
Governor prior to the Governor making his
determination as to sanity; ~

(iv) an evidentiary hearing before the
Governor at which the condemned person is
given the Opportunity upon adequate notice to
present evidence, cross-examine adverse
witnesses (including commission members), and
obtain a decision with findings of face that
are adequate to provide the basis for meaning-~-
ful judicial review; and ‘

-(v) judicial review.
CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, this Court should enter an
order staying Petitioner's execution until. such time he be shown
to be competent. In.the event the Court declines to rule that

Petitioner is insane based upon the record, this Court should

-15-

THOMSON TEOEM SOMAER WERTH AOORNG & @azc0R, "COO SOUTHEAST BANK SUILOING, MIAMI, FLORIDA 33:3)

vere Chee

fe eee,

a ed be See eS Sati,

before the Governor, upon notice, together with the minimum due

Process rights enumerated herein,

2040-T

‘ THOMSON ZEDER BOHRER: WERTH

“ ADORNO & RAZOOK

Sanford L.- Bohrer

Cherlee V. Senatore

100C Sauckheast Bank Building
Miami, Florida 33131

(305) 350-1100

Attorneys for Petitioner

-16-

TROMSON LEGER BORER WEATH ACANO & AAIOOR,

1000 SOUTHEAST BANA BUILDING, MIAH, FLOMIDA 33131
BEFORE THE GOVERNOR
OP THE STATE OF FLORIDA

In re_

ALVIN BERNARD FORD

PROCEEDINGS PURSUANT TO PLA. STAT.
£922.07 TO DETERMINE SANITY ~~

MEMORANDUM.
FROM COUNSEL FOR MR. FORD

RICHARD H. BURR, III

224 Datura Street, 13th Floor
West Palm Beach, Florida 33401
(305) 837-2150

LAURIN A. WOLLAN, JR.

1515 Hickory Avenue
Tallahassee, Florida 32303
(904) 222-4245
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE

INTRODUCTION oes ceecceeeeeecencncencscescceccccsessece

THE TEST OF INSANITY UNDER SECTION 922.07 ...cccccecceee 3

THE PACTS MATERIAL TO THE 922.07 DETERMINATION ...ecee0- 4

A. Trial Testimony .....

Son ea |

B. Mr. Ford's Correspondence cece cecceceeccceceeee 5
C. The Interview By Dr. AMIN cecsccccccccvecccsses 370
D. The Interview By Dr. Kaufman ..ececccccceccccee 38

E. The Interview By Wollan, Rowland, and
VANGIVEL wee e een sec cre cec cs snscceseeccvecvecevs 4)

F. The Interview By The Commission. of
POYCHLALCASES coseccrccceccccescesvecccescscece 46

G. The Commission's Observation of
MEe FOTG'S Cell ceccsecccncccsvccevececessasese 47

H. The Reported Observations of Correctional
OLELCETH soccer scnreesccsssecsccccscccscsccesees AT

THE EVALUATIONS. OF MR. FORD'S SANITY ..ccccccccsccccsees 48

A. Mr. Pord- Suffers From A Disorder That
Coul@ -Affect His 922.07 Sanity ee cecceccceseves 48

B. Mr. Ford's Disorder Kas <aused Him To Be
Insane Under Section 922.07's Test Of
Sanity cocccsccccccccccecseccvcccccccascscceses 58

CONCLUSION cccccccccccevsecesesenecssessenevcversecseses OF
INTRODUCTION

On December 9, 1983, the Governor ordered the psychiatric
examination of ALVIN BERNARD FORD pursuant to.Fla. Stat. $922.07,
to evaluate whether Mr. Ford was sufficiently sane to be execut-
ed, That examination has now been completed. It still remains,
however, for the Governor to decide “whether [Mr. Ford} under-
Stands the nature and effect of the death Penalty and why it is
to be imposed upon him...." $922.07 (emphasis supplied).

Significantly, the Statute leaves to. the Governor the
decision concerning sanity after he has received the report of
the commission. of psychiatrists whom he has appointed. He is
thus not bound by the report but is encouraged to evaluate all
the facts independently, while abviously giving the report the
deference it is due under the circumstances of a particular case.
In Me. Ford's case, it is crucially important that the Governor
carry out his statutory duty and view the commission's report in
the context of all the facts bearing upon. the sanity issue, for
the commission‘s report provides ne easy answers. Two of the
three psychiatrists comprising the commission found that Mr. Ford
suffers from psychosis, a serious mental illness that could cause
“insanity,” as that term is defined in Section 922.07. The two
psychiatrists who previously evaluated Mr. Ford, at the request
of counsel for Mr. Ford, alsa reached the same conclusion.
Moreover, one of these psychiatrists, Dr. Harold Kaufman,
concluded ae veil that Mr. Ford's psychosis caused him to be
insane under ihe test provided by 922.07. (The second of these
psychiatrists was not asked to provide his opinion concerning
922.07 zanaeys because he had already rendered hia opinion before
Mr. Pord's 922.07 sanity became an issue.) Despite their views
that Mr. Ford was psychotic, however, the two members of the
psychiatric commission nevertheless concluded that Mc. Ford was
sane under Section 922.07. Thus, while there is near unanimity
that Mc. Ford suffers from psychosis, there is sharp conflict

about the consequences under Section 922.07 of this illness. Only

si tee

by carefully reviewing all the available facts in light of these
varying expert opinions, therefore, can the Governor fairly
determine Mr. Ford's 922.07 sanity.

In this memorandum, counsel will provide ‘an analysis of the
material facts and varying expert opinions which guarantees a
fair resolution of the question of Mr. Ford's sanity. In
Summary, counsel will demonstrate.not only that Mr. Ford is
psychotic, but that the nature of his psychosis compels the
conclusion that he is insane. The psychosis, from which four of
the five psychiatrists who have evaluated Mr. Ford have concluded
he suffers, has. caused Mr. Ford to. be severely delusional --
i.e., to entertain, “false personal belief[s] about external
reality [which are] firmly sustained in spite of what constitutes
incontrovertible and obvious proof or evidence. to the contrary, ")
One of Mr. Ford's delusions is that-he no longer is under
sentence of death and thus, cannot be executed, a8 was strikingly
demonstrated during the evaluation of Mr. Ford on November 3,
1983, by Dr. Kaufman: a

Q [pr. Kaufman] Are you going to be executed?
A [Mr. Ford] I can't because of the landmark

case. TI. won. Ford v. State will prevent
executions all over. .

Q Are you on death row?

A Yess

Q Does that mean that the State intends to
execute, you? .

A No. anee Us wp
Q Why not?

A Because Ford v. State prevents it. They
tried to get me with the FCC tape but when the
KKK came in it was up to CBS and the Governor.
These prisoners are rooming back there raping
everybody. I told the Governor to sign the
death warrants so they stop bothering me.

Because Mr. Ford's psychosis has given rise to this delusion
--which fundamentally impedes his ability to understand why he is
to be executed (since he does not. believe that he can be

executed) -- the Governor must ultimately determine that Mr. Ford

—<—<—$— :
1 american Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical

Manual (Third Edition, 1980), at 356 fexcerpted in relevant part
in the Appendix submitted herewith) [hereafter veferred to as

“*pSM-III*).

is insane. All of the known Material facts point to this
conclusion. Dr. Kaufman has reached this conclusion. And the
reasons why the commission members erroneously ~~ did not
‘reach this conclusion will be fully tigress, ‘ana satisfactorily
explained, herein. .

THE TEST OF INSANITY UNDER SECTION 922.07

AS a preliminary, but critical Matter, before considering
the facts and opinions material to the 922.07 decision, the
Governor must first have clearly in mind the standard which will
govern his determination upon the facts. The standard seems
simple enough: "whether [the condemned person] understands the
Nature and effect of the death penalty and why it is to be
imposed upon him....® Hox aE2 the critical term in this
Standard -- what the condemned person‘ "understands" -- is not so
simple to apply. ‘The traditional meaning of "understand" is "to
know; to apprehend the meaning of; to appreciate...," Black's
Law Dictionary (4th Ed. 1968).- On one level, however, a con-
demned person might *know® or “appreciate the nature and effect
of the death penalty and why he is to be executed, but on another
level, due to a defect in his ability to reason accurately, he
might believe that an intervening event has made it impossible
for him to be executed. For example, as in Mr. Ford's case, a
person can "know" that he is to be executed because he was
convicted of murder and gentenced to death, but he can also
believe that the state cannot lawfully execute him, becauae he
believes (however erroneously) that his death sentence has been
overturned by the courts. Does such a person “understand” why
death is to be imposed? Te depends upon whether that person's
"*knowledge" must be measured against an objective standard of
@ curacy in order to assess whether he or she "understands" why
tt. sentence is to be carried out.

There has been no judicial interpretation af Section 922.07
to assist in the application of the test of Banity set forth
therein. By analogy, however, Florida law does require such an
objective measure. In the analogous area of sanity at the time

of the offense, Florida's Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal

Cases define "understand" as to “reason accurately." Instruction
3.04(b). If this more precise meaning of "understand" is applied
to the foregoing example, the condemned person there Clearly does
not "understand® why death is to be . imposed, for he does not
“reason accurately" concerning that matter due to his erroneous
belief that his death sentence has been overturned. Accordingly,
since the rule of Florida law most aualogous to the rule of
Section 922.07 requires an objective measure of a person's
“understanding," that objective measure should inform the
Governor's application of the term “understands” in Section
922.07.

On this basis, therefore, if Mr. Ford genuinely believes
that his death sentence has~ been overturned, he does not
“understand” of "reason accurately” that his death sentence can

still be carried out.

THE PACTS MATERIAL TO THE 922.07 DETERMINATION

The facts concerning Mr. Ford which must be taken into
account in the 922.07 devérninacion come from eight sources:
testimony in Mr. Ford's trial; Hr. Pord's written correspondence
over the last two-and-one-half years; a series of psychiatric
interviews and evaluations of Mr. Ford by Dr. Jamal Amin, from
July, 1981 through August, 1982; a psychiatric interview and
evaluation of Mr. Ford by Dr. Harold Kaufman on November 3, 1983;
an interview ‘with Mr. Pord by his attorney Laurin Wollan and
paralegals Gail Rowland and Margaret Vandiver on December 15,
1983; the titeeview with Mr. Ford on December 19, 1983 by the
commission of three psychiatrists appointed by the Governor
pursuant to Section 922.07; the commission's reported observa-
tions coneecning Mr, Ford's cell; and’ the commission's report of
the comments of correctional officers concerning Mr. Ford. The
facts presented by these eight sources acre set forth compre-

hensively in the pages that follow. ,

A. Trial Testimony
Mr. Pord was sentenced to death. in January, 1975. At trial
there wag some evidence presented of an underlying mental or

emotional disturbance, but the psychiatrist who presented this

seats mee
evidence, Dr. David Taubel, found no identifiable disorder other
than dyslexia. “'Dr. Taubel nonetheless found it significant that
up until a few months before the capital crime, Mr. Ford had
lived a very productive life, which Dr. Taubel- found unusual for
a young black man faced with the family, economic, and social
hardships Mr. Ford faced. Just a few months before the crime,
however, Dr. Taubel noted a dramatic reversal of this life-long
pattern. Mr. Ford quit his job, began to use drugs like cocaine
and PCP in heavy quantivies, and.adopted an "I could care less”
attitude about ‘the future. While Dr. Taubel was unable to
determine why Mr. Ford had changed so abruptly, he nonetheless
ound this change significant from a psychiatric perspective.
[The transcript of Dr. Taubeits ‘testimony is included in the
Separate appendix accompanying this memorandum, }

&B. Mr. Ford's Correspondence

During Mr. Ford's period of incarceration on death row, he
has been a prolific correspondent ~--. with his attorneys, his
family, his friends, his newly-developed {sometimes by
correspondence only) acquaintances. His letters reveal a very
bright, caring. principled péveen who is concerned not only about
the events in his life -- ‘pertaining to his case and to the
conditions. and treatment of prisoners at Florida State Prison
~-but also about “the. events in the lives of the people with whom
he corresponds. ‘and. the major ‘avents that shape the lives of
people collectively. His letters also, reveal, and dramatically
document, his gradual decline inva ene serious mental illness
from which he now suffers. Because Mr. Ford has spent so much of
his time writing and has written so articulately, his letters
thus provide an extraordinary window into his mental and
emotional state and how it has changed over recent years.
Accordingly, a great deal of time and attention must be given to
Mr. Ford's letters. They are a unique source of material facts
which show the gradual but unrelenting deterioration of Mr.
Ford's mental health, and of equal ‘importance, which show that

Mr. Ford's illness is genuine, not merely a contrivance to avoid

his fate.

close and trusted friend), as follows:

Prior to December 5, 1981, Mr.. Ford's letters revealed a

Seemingly healthy, "normal* human being. For example, on August
7, 1981, he wtote to Gail Rowland, a staff member of the Florida
Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice (who served as a Paralegal on

his case and ‘in the course of her work with Mr. Ford became a

Dear Rowland: we
Content in knowing you and members of the
Clearinghouse, had a safe trip to and back,
from‘South Caroline. Relieved to know, we are
still friends. Well I wasn't sure, after, all
I‘ve aeid, but it was only the truth.

Yea, I did receive your letter explaining you
and members of the Clearinghouse, would be in a
week of meetings, in South Carolina. You
should have gotten, my last letter, showing I
understood, you would be busy. ,

Content in knowing the meetings went well. I
can understand your missing your family, happy
you're home. Also, and you were able, to be at
the beach. .

Will be looking forward, to seeing you. I'm
still not sure, about some things, especially
if I.should write, about what happens, inside
the Prison Walls. Think I'm more lazy, than
anything else, think a lot of times, how easy
this would be, if I had a‘tape recorder. I
still stress, the point. No one, should read
anything I write, about the Prison. I'm still
not sure, if I should, though. Hope to talk to
you, if I feel better, about this. I may have
started, but I won't promise.

Well .you need a car, if you don't have one. Do
be sure to inform me, when you think you'll be
back at Florida State Prison. I am not
‘unreasonable, even if I seem, so.

-Haven't received any word,. on the Parole
Commission Interview of 31 July 681, from
relatives, but will inform you, ag soon as I
do. My sister had.mentioned, talking with
Wollan, by phone earlier, in July. I'm sure
the ‘interview had them, somewhat, not knowing
what to think. é 7

Thanks for sending the Amnesty Newsletter,
back. I will most likely write Williamson,
sometime soon.

Will truly be content, in seeing this -summer
end. Hope those days are over, wherein it was
near or over 100°.

Know you'll be busy, at home ag well as work.
Hope you'll be able to visit your family in New
York, in December.
niin iii aici eer aiaieimateei ete a etait

You ait a goou rriend, so stay in touch. will
think -about writing labours some of the things we
discussed. z

So take care.
Sincerely, Alvin B. Ford, .

Appendix (submitted herewith); ‘Letters, A. Another, longer
letter, dated August 31, 1981, to Gail. Rowland was quite similar
-- sharing Mr. Ford's feelings about various events in his life,
discussing the stresses and the boredom of life on death row,
expressing his concern for various friends and acquaintances, and
mentioning his fondness for Dr. Jamal Amin, who was conducting an
ongoing psychiatric evaluation for use in Mr. Ford's clemency and
post-clemency proceedings. Appendix, Letters, B. Again several
months later, on December 1, 1981, three weeks after Mr. Ford's
death warrant had been signed and less than one week before his
scheduled execution, Mr. Ford wrote Gail Rowland a letter typical
of all his corkespondence to that point -- expressing his
qratieude for the hard work people were putting into his legal
efforts, his special gratitude for Ms. Rowland and her daughter,
and his happiness that Ms. Rowland had a good Thanksgiving
holiday. Appendix, Letters, Cc. ~

On Decembezs 5, 1981, however, health and normalcy began to
give way. The ‘€irst sign of Mr. Ford's break with reality
appeared: he wrote in a letter to Ms. Rowland on this date that
the staff of a'radio atation in Jacksonville, WJAX-FM (cften
referred to by ue. Ford as "95X"), “have been talking to me, the

pass few weeks," not by visiting in person or on the telephone,

but in their broadcasts.
Dear Rowland:

Thought I would write about WJAX, and the staff
at 95X-FM, who I had informed you, have been
talking to me, the pass few weeks.

| : ,
I wrote and informed them, their names will go

in my file, so send Fins Esq., Hill Esq.,.a
copy of this letter. Plus send Hill Esq. a
copy of the letters, concerning death watch.

Well a friend Clyde Holmes, use to call 95x
(WJAX) and ask Otis Gambie to play different
songs for me. This went on for months.

I woutrd@ tell Holmes, to-.give Otis. Gamble a
message (he calls himself, “the Greatest," the
name I gave him, but usually Gambini) which
would be, a message in a joking manner.

Then Gambini would get on the radio, and tell
me, what he would do to me, by his being 6'4",
and 230 pounds. So I would send @ message I
lift 400 pounds, easy. so this ig how it
Started,

Then the guy who does the news, Scott, would
get on and talk absuz 490 pounds. So for
whatever, I had sént the message, they would
let me know, they got the message. All this
was in kidding.

I never wrote the radio station until a few
days after the death warrant was signed. This
guy Scott got on the radio, and was asking
could I talk, “what's the matter with you, you
can't talk,® so I wrote, .

From the time prison ‘officials gave me the
radio, Scott has been selling out, so much so.
I couldn't let him get the last word in. So
Scott and Gambini, has kept me laughing.

The guards know, they talk to me over the
radio. Scott gets on the radio 5:30 A.M. in
the mornings, and says, "is he up, wake him
up," and the guard wakes me up, and I gay,
“Damn Scott is talking that crazy shit, this
early in the morning.* :

The lady who does the news, Peggy, kids me
because I kid her. Then while doing -the
weather, tell me no good news. She calls Bob
Graham, ithe “gritch" (spell wrong) that stole
X-mas. They tell me, all sorts of stories.
Punny ones. ‘

Then there's a lady name Destiny. Who takes
over where they leave off, she said her name
was Gail Adams, the other night.

The people at the.radio statjon has veally,
made the situation more easier. They told me
good luck, before the hearing Friday. Peggy,
the newalady, said she hadn't heard anything
about 5:00 P.M., asked had I one day I could
hear them, turning the pages of the newspaper,
someone would ask, “any good news," the other,
SI don't see anything.* 2... ~

They ‘the four people have said,’ so much over
the radio, to me. They told me it was (11)
secretaries typing the weekend the after the
hearing was denied in Fort Lauderdale, and 50
many Other things I can't even begin to write.

So I thought I would like-in the file, they
were special people to me. They say, they will
be with. me, until 8 December 81, So I would
“like to have this in the file, if ever its
read, by. others. 2 Ee .

Thank you. Alvin B. Ford.

Appendix, Letters, D.

relationship with the staff of WJAX.

In a letter to Ms. Rowland ‘nearly three months later,

February 24,1982, Mr. Ford again discussed his developing

since the December 5 letter, it is clear that Mr. Ford's delu-

In the intervening period
sional relatioucuip with WJAAd pad become auch more complex anu

more central to his ongoing life. Moreover, this letter intro-

duced what was to become an overriding obsession: Mr. Ford's

preoccupation with, and personal battle against the Ku Klux Klan.
Dear Rowland: re :

The leader of the Jacksonville NAACP was on the
noon news, on Channel 4 (af Jacksonville) 23
February 82.

He asked that no one, show up at the Klan rally
25 Pebruary 82. The Klan will feel real
strange. sow 88

On 21 February 82, I sént the radio station the
article that was in the February 62 issue of
Matchbox (Amnesty International). Also an
article on this lady from Ireland, who won the
-Nobel Peace Prize, five years ago.

Candy Markman of Nashville, Tenn., mailed the
articles, or article her father writes
sometimes. He lives in St. Petersburg,
Florida.

Mailed the article to Big *O" (Otis Gamble).
That.’s what I call him. . I saw him on tele-
vision‘once. He runs the opinion line. So
guess I'll start back writing.

I don't think Jacksonville, is ready to know,
I've been writing most.of the topics for the
opinion ‘line. .

All except for three programs, this month. The
reason, missed two this week, because I told
the staff, at the radio station, I wouldn't be
around this week, to hear the people call, and
talk of hate, for the Klan, and people because
of the caces. ;

Destiny was crying Monday. night. Guess Big "0"
showed| her the picture by Doug Magee, of the
.Gas Chamber. a

‘I have a plan, in this opinion line, if the
station keeps using the ideas which leads to
votes, and gun control. But’ it will take
months.of the opinion line....

will be in touch.
Sincerely, Alvin B. Ford.
Appendix, Letters, E.

By february 28, 1982, just. four days later, Mr. Ford's
delusional system had taken a quantum leap. On February 25,
1982, two events occurred in Jacksonville which took on extra~
ordinary significance for Mc. Ford: the Ku Klux Klan held a
eats and fire destroyed the house and lives of a black family,
killing the father and six children and leaving only the mother

alive, because ‘she was pushed out a window by her husband to run

for help. mare very long letter to “Destiny,” one of the staff
mewbers of WJAX, Mr. Ford explained the significance and inter-
relationship between these two events -= the Klan started the
fire -- and explained how God had Revealed these facts to him.
Because this delusion is of central importance to the subsequent
development of Mr. Ford's delusional system, and because the way
in which mr. Ford reports having discovered that the Klan started
the fire is so revealing of his increasingly psychotic state --in
which delusions, loosening of associations, and hallucinations

are manifest? ~- the letter is reproduced here in substantial
part.
Destiny: See

Please read my letter of 24 February 82, again.
Then make copies, of both, that letter, and

this one.

Then I want Ed Austin, to read the letter of 24
February 82. Also this letter. Make him a
copy of both. I'11l need him at the end of this
letter, I always call hia, Ed.

The letter of 24 February 82, was a thought,
question, answer, letter in a sense. TI will
just go over it. Now that you have read that
letter of 24 February 82..

I didn't get the 25 February 82, newspaper,
Florica Times Union. So guess something was in
there. Then have the feeling, more people are
waiting for this letter, than in the pass.

Even heard Reagan over 95X talking about the
light by the plant. That light, is something I
can only see it, when he is ready. I'm waiting
on it now. Have saw many things, and didn't
start understanding until the newscast 4:20
P.M. by Peggy 95X FM, on 25 February 62.

There's times when I. weite about things, as to
when, or what date, they. will happen. If I
can't see the light from the sun, I'm lost.
Then it's not the sun, someone much Stronger.
Those who read this letter will see the light

2 See DSM- IIt, at 182-183. See also the definitions of these
terms:

“Delusions” are, as previously noted, "false personal belief[s]
based upon incorrect inferences about externa} reality [which
are] firmly sustained in spite of what almost everyone else
believes and in spite of what constitutes incontrovertible and
obvious proof or evidence to the contrary." . DSM-III, at 356.

"Loosening of associations" is.a form of "[t]hinking charac-

cerlzed by speech in which ideas shift from one subject to

another that is soipletely unrelated or only obliquely related

without the™ speaker! 8 showing any awareness that the topics are
_ unconnected." DSM-III, at 362.

“alluctnationa® are "sensory perception {[s] without external
stimulation of the relevant sensory organ." DSM-III, at 359.

4

I'm valking about, and know, this is the light,
I see by, when he wants me to, I have no
control, it's only when he wants me to see.

I never forget, what has happened ‘this pass
week, to ten days.

I was very content in hearing, the leader of
the Jacksonville, NAACP (on Channel 4) ask that
no form of protest be given to the Klan Rally
25 February 82. (This was aired 23 February
82, on Channel 4 noon). se z

I wondered how the Klan. members would feel,
with no one, there to hate. Also was content,
some television stations, showed little
coverage of the Klan members, up until 25
Pebruary 82.

Was more concerned, .as_ to, how the young
students and children, would react, to such
hate. . I learned about love, and people, in my
Own way, and had the best teacher. Everyone,
will see that teacher, who reads, this letter.

The light, that shines, through the window, to
the floor, you'll see it, it's in the light.
It's:no one, but God. That's how, I see
things, in the outside world. It may seem
Strange, but he, is much powerful, than any of
us have ever, conceived, or rather much more
powerful,-than any man,.ever conceived.

He showed me, the past seven days, and I will
tell you.-how. It really frightens me, once I
begin to remember. - 7

This all started, when Destiny asked, if I knew
her age, 95X, the night of 24 February 62. Then
asked how, I knew, there was ‘a living plant, in
the room, (at her apartment) with the Bird.

I informed her, the light was shining, on the
floor, she must have turned, and saw the light
while on the phone, when she called the radio
station, 95X, that morning. -Guess she didn't
know, he was there, in the light. Don't know,
the reason, for her calling, but that’s why he
was there (God). That's how, I saw the plant.
She is a special Friend. As all the members of

the staff at 95x.

In the-24 February 82, letter, I tried, to
explain, to Destiny about the light, without
mentioning God, was the light, because he
knows, I know. Already.

In mystrying to explain, I mentioned a. few
things.; As how sometimes, I can see things,
days, sometimes weeks ahead, of time. There's
times, when I'm wrong.- That's God's, not with
me, ov rather I'm not with God, because he, is
always :there.

4:20 P.K. 25 February 62,° Peggy's first news
story,was of the Klan rally. But she sound, so
frightened, I'll never forget the cold chill, I
got as if she was talking to Death, itself, her
voice never has ever sound, so frightening, and
chilling. -
Duriwg the second story on the fire (the man
and six children) I saw three black images,
standing behind her, in or black images as the
outline of someone, in the Klan hood and gown.
The chill wag so cold, that it frightened me.

After the newscast, I thought of the letter of
24 February 82 and somehow, just hoped, Peggy
wasn't afraid of me. I didn’t understand what
had happened, until later that evening about
6:00 P.M. matter of fact, I didn't understand
what had happened, until about 6:00 P.M. 25
February 82 (Friday), and still didn't know,
everything, until I saw the sunlight, the
morning of 27 February 82, with, Sandy.

He showed me everything, ‘and left something, so
you'll:know, how great he, is. He only let me
look in the window once, I wanted to look
again, but he said it's there. Soon you'll see
what I saw, and know. ‘

I know the Klan members, “burned that house.

Rather than tell someone, what I was thinking,
I wrote 95X, and asked Peggy to let me know, if
she, hear the news, on the cause of the fire.
The morning of 25 February 82, .

Watched the 6:00 P.M. news on Channel 4, then
saw the faces of the Klan members, who, burned
the house, (on pages eleven and twelve). {[Mmr.
Ford is here referring to the two newspaper
articles, infra.) ‘

They were Bill Wilkson, the leader, Robert
McMullen, and the Klan member, with the reddish
brown beard (holding the two signs) with the
wood part in his hand. That's in the 6:00 P.M.
Channel 4, newcast, 25 February 82.

I was wondering, who I could inform. But I see
now, someone's waiting on this: letter.

Peggy made some type noise, in her throat,
while mentioning, the gun law, had pass, as
stated in the 28 February 82, paper, and letter
of 24 February 82. This made me take a closer
look at everything. As far as what I had
written, in the letter of 24 February 82, and

what kad happen.

ae eo
at he t= Four generations of H

6 childre
die in house fire
on Southside

Fs «a>

‘eqn 24

acl oe

be

_—

ee

Cahiens 2 26/92

By Otis Perkies
_ — Tanee-Uaten Sle weiter
- : Whea Damel Leroy Hagia and fus
Uree sons were joined at their small

clapboard frame house 02 the South-
side by Joanne Crabiree and her

. Unree children, it ared that the
hard umes that had befallen both
were about over. “
Both were divorced, and both had
been unemployed. But Hagin, 31, had
found a job ag a nler, tus reg-
ular trade, and Mrs. Crabiree, 29, had
gotten a job as a receplionst. After a
couple of paydays, they would marry.
They would continue to live in the
small at 5107 Thorden Road, oa
& Quel, Lree-shaded tract off Avlanuc.
Boulevard hinutes from down-
town Ji wn eral
still
neighbors on the lana that has
(amby mace the ture of

The-tutuce the coopie planned: to-
Tfeimee ended abrupily early yester-
iy.
: Fire swept through the small

7 jagin, his sons and Mrs.
* Cribiree's children: Mrs. Crab-

vee survived because taste pushes

hel
* bene with Hagin were his sons
lames 12 Steven, 10 and Timothy 2

» Dve

* paydays,” Mra. Hagin sad

Siow ire Investi- |
~—~$éiocn amd all apneared (0 have died

n, man

Of asphyxiation,

‘The Hagin children's grandmother,
Mcs. L.T. Hagin, said that the young:
er boys allended Love Crove Ele-
mentary School and that James went!
to Crown Pot Elementary in Man-i

‘The two older Crabtree children al-
So went to Love Grove, said their fa-
ther, Charles Steven Crabtree. He
was at the lormer
Jast night “St Baplist Medic; ler,
where she was being ireated for
Smoke inhalation. fier condiuon was |
Teported as fair.

i brabe

irs. Hagin
{They were lo get in
Iwo weeks vere ca coup of

oo

She waid that Rer son-had out
of work for some time and only Tues-
day had na job as a carpenter,
She said Mrs. Crabiree, a recep.
onist, algo was due lo report to a
Bew job, :

Mrs. Hagin said that the mother of

the Hagin children had married ;
again. and she did not koow her
whereabouts.

She said that her son had made '
iSee MAN. Page AD...

wile.

€
Only fn.
5’

Man, 6 children are killé

(From Page A-1y

some money by trapping small game,
wtuch had been 3 ‘amy Sideline.-The
chatred carcasses of two animals
near the burned house served as re-
munders of Hagin's part-ume wort
Cages at a nearby shed held two bve
faccouns. There were many empty
‘ages on the ground. Two family dogs
were wn a backyard pen

There was other evidence of lives
that were — of children at play.

A wirfe-rope swing dangied from a
tall, spreading oak on one sade of the
house A deel cable, stretching be-
tween two tal lees, was equipped
with a pulley and rope: in sky-ride

fashion. ‘cles and tricycles were
Scattered ul. “A jump Zope “was
ludged in a we Une Gog pen.

Yesterday, Jacksonville fre’ inves-
ligators searched the charred re-
mains_of furnishings ang Oe boyse

“pvc panty br 07
au asc A"

ware loft standing after fire wus uxtingulshod.

Ah

in

that had included two bedrdoms, liv.
ing room, iuichen and @ built on fam:
uy room.

“We're nol sure how it started,”
said gnm-faced fire tivestigator W.E.
Earle. “Thus is an awful tragedy.”

Only_blonday a 72 year-old woman
aod her hyo young graadchuldren died
in a house fire” on-Jacksonville’s
Northside. . Sy

Earle said that the bodies of the
Hagin and Crabtree children were
found in the rear bedroom next to
what had been the family room.
‘Three were on double-deck bunk beds
und three others were on the floor,

a Si jagin’s body was on the
Qoor in the front bedroan.

Earie said that the fire apy eared te
have started in the family room,
which contuned a couch, two easy
chairs, a television and an oll heater.
Firemen at the scene said that as far
aa Could be deiprnuned. the heater

aie ind

The Florida Times-Univa, Jacksonville, Fruduy, Februwry 26, 19200 :

(= Dun Mays stall

k dhe 0
Southside fire

was not in use. The weather was un-
Scasonably warm.

The investigators were trying to,
determine whether smoking was toi
blame, but they would not speculate!
on the cause of the fire. i

The fire department was called at
12.27 am. yesterday, bul the house
was borane out of control when fire-
men arrived.

‘The hire consumed the family 1oom
and spread throughout the ‘house

Mrs Hagin said that her son came
to her house about 10.30 p.m. Wednes-
day. She gave him food, and they
watched television for a wlule. She
said she went to bed sometime after
he left but was awakened about mid-
fight because of the fire.

She said that by the time other
funuly members reached the house
the flames were out control.

* ¢ way nuthin ”
ng iy 1

I sat and looked at that picture on page twelve
{the picture reported in «the Florida Times
Union edition of February 26, 1982, Supra], and

went over it many times.

I saw: the

man, Robert

Mcmulleh; pouring something on the roof of the

house on’ page twelve.

The man with the reddish

beard, through fire, in the first. window on the

corner o€ the house,

marked (X).

where the meter is, it’s
There was a man inside-the house, this is why
fo eels girl, said the noise frightened
er. :

The man.pushed the lady out the window, nearest
to the.meter, so she get help, and she called
God. ‘As I did, after seeing, all this. I
asked God to help me, with the light, I had
saw, by the plant beca the investigators
couldn't find the evidenc .

Then the sunlight, arrived, in the window, by
the meter, I saw something. in the ashes, IT
still don't know the name of it, because
seemed, aS one corner, was in the ashes, 1
wanted, to move it, but couldn't touch, it, to
get a better look, it looked like this;

The brown picture, is the First one I put on
paper, so ft wouldn't forget what I saw. This
was the only thing, I saw with the light
through the window.

I didn't know, what elther of the pictures, on
page fifteen {the diagrams, supra] was, because
“it looked silver, around the edges, and black
‘engrave, with one edge in the, ashes, covered,
-looked: as though.

I looked and looked, this is the -only thing
that. looks close to it. (on page seventeen)
(Mc. .Pord is referring: here to page seventeen
of his, letter, which contains the picture of
the Klan member, ‘infra.}] Turn the drawing on
page fifteen [diagrams, supra], see how it
fits, there's only one thing missing, the last

corner (as in the house on page twelve).

The Lady in the newscast! 6:00 P.M., on Channel
4, ig the other corner. . _ 7

The evidence, is in the path, of the light, on
the floor mark the path of the light, from the
window on the floor.

I only saw in the window once, and would like
to see, what the window, showed.

He said, the lady, in the ‘plond or with the
blond hair, who was in the Klan outfit, go get
her. (only} for now. | .

then Tet her read the letters, of 24 February
B25 cose

Then: take her to the house, to see what God
left, as-his mark. °fhen-give her the money,
and make sure, she is.-ecfe, and free to go,
wherever she wish to go... Ue ig

She ‘Will see the light, also, and she will
continpe to, until she does the right thing.
ill.be the only way she can stop his

I don't know you, but saw you.at the Klan
Rally, pretty blonde hair.’ God, will be
talking to you, so don't be afraid. Be still
listen, and think, that's how he talks, when
you see the light, look at it, spinning, on the
flooz. :

Look at your feet, when you get inside, he will
make you remember, standing right at the fourth
end'of the picture you saw, I saw the light
throwgh the same window. 3 a‘

Appendix, Letters, F.

The fady, pushed through the window, called
God, as the house was burning, and he answered.
I don't know what you'll see inside that house,
_when you get there. _..

But don’t be afraid, you will see what I saw,
through the window, but you'll see the light
God ofly allowed me to look in the window on
Page twelve once.

Ed Austin, you may know me, I met you in the
Fourth: Judicial Circuits Nassau County,
Pernandina Beach, in 1989._ .

You remember, in the case of the young white
kid, who killed the convenient store worker.
Judge Adams, I know you fear God, this five
days pass, I learned, how great he is.

He said, give you'a copy of this letter, and
get one of the 24 February 82. Then know, he
is God, writing this, for me.

He said, go get the lady, in the Klan outfit,
and bring her back alone.. Her picture is in
the Channel 4 newscast 6: 00 P.M., 25 February
62. Blonde hair.

Let her read the letters, then take her to the
house, and let her, see his mark.

To tell you the truth, I wanted‘to see it
again, but I'm frighten of the glow.

“I don't know, what you'll see, but God help
you. .Hé also said, to mark the area, whatever
it is he wants you to sée, also, So be there
early, and wait on. him,- he will come in the
window, “py the meter, slowly in the light.

Whatever is there, no matter what, they are to
look, and mark the lighe. I saw something, in
the ashes, in the light, looks like on page
fifteen (the drawing).

He said, to tell you to look at the light, as
it comes through the. window, then come back,
when the lines are marked, from the light on
the floor, from the windows. ©

Then know, ohe went for his help. Also, no
matter, what's there, go get the. girl (blond
hair, ‘Klan gown) and let her read these
letters, Then take her’to the house. He will

do the ‘rest.

He said; give her the money, and make sure, she
is safe, and give her, e little time, tq think,
after she, see whatever, he left there in the
house. Also make sure ahe is free to go.

God bless the staff at 95Ky ¢ and those who saw
this, work of God. .

Sherlock.

[("Sherlock" is Mr. Ford's nickname in the
prison.)
Ducing tue month tuac rollowea gne writing of tnis letter,
Mr. Ford seemed ‘to return to a relatively healthier state. Hig
loosening of associations and hallucinations, so Clearly evident
in the February" 28 letter, seemed to have subsided. As evidenced
in hia letters’ to Gail Rowles@ of march 8, 9, and 13, 1982
(Appendix, Letters, G, H, and I), Mc. Ford continued to believe
his delusion about the Ku Klux Klan -- 2.g., “[t]he letters
concerning the Klan has bothered me some what, because I want the
Grand-Wizard” (Appendix, Letter, G) -- and his delusion about his
ability to interact with the WJAX “staf£, but he also seemed to be
communicating in the "normal" style and ebout the “normal"™
subjects he formerly wrote about.

Mr. Pord continued to communicate in this fashion until
April 17, 1982, when a letter to Ms. Rowland on that dete showed
some further advance in his deiudional systems, accompanied by
the injection cf paranola into his delusions as well as the
re-emergence of his loosening of associations. In the first half
of this letter, Hrs Ford wrote matter of factly and “normally*
about Ms. Rowland's family an@. associates, the decision by the
panel of the United States Court of Appeals in his case, and an

upcoming meeting with one of his attorneys.. Then abruptly, he
rae :
wrote:

rar
weer
‘

I saw Graham on television, with water in his
eyes, talking about that letter I sent the lady
D-Miami, with the words, unlined. Wait until
you read the letters, Destiny has at WJAX.

eee

The people at the radio station, Destiny, has
information, on some things that happen, the
following day, after I had written her. I
haven't been writing for their opinion line,
because trying to keep up, with the Ku Klux
Klan, nas gotten we tired.

Thank you for nice Easter card. I have stop
writing about anything, ‘as to when or where, it
will happen, because this whole thing, leaves
me very* tired, and the people at the radio
station, keep asking for more, when I haven't

reate :

Haven't wrote Candy Markman's father, yet
because the talk about war, scareg me. So I
just stop, writing anyone, who may seem to ask
some strange or unusual question.
all-encompassing. Because of his work against the Klan, he

believed that he, had become the target of a complex scheme of
torture ultimately designed to force him to commit suicide.
Although this delusion has undergone some change from September,
1982 to the present, this is the central delusion which has
governed Mr. Ford's daily existence since its “onset in. Septeabec,
1982. There have’ been no remissions -- from the grip of the
delusion, the loosening of associations, and the hallucinations
-- since then. Because this delusion has been so dominating, Mr.
Ford's entire September 11 letter has been reproduced, for it is
the critical stepping stone from the past to the present in Mr.
Ford's life.
Dear Fins Esq.:

Thank you for your letter of 22 duly 82, as of
this date, I still want my, files closed to
Doug Magee, and no ong is to have access other
than iawyers. - .

Also T:do not in any way,’ ‘want Dre. Amin, or
Gail Rowland, associated with my case in any
manner, .as of this date.

I'm sorry I haven't replied to your, letter,
until this date. I have had a number of
problems, at Florida State Prison, over the
pass three months, with-guards, the KKK, and
Owl Society or organization.

I really wanted to see you, it's been sucha
long time, Deborah. I wasn't able.to leave the
cell, hopefully you got the refusal slips, and
the messages, I wrote on them, to you.

F£ you receive any affidavits concerning what
has been going on insida.the prison, do hold
them, and make sure all persons, attorneys,
etc...ceceive copies. Do excuse, my saying you
were missing, this was the only way I could get
_the prisoners interested enough to write,
wherein I could get some help,

Dennis Balske of the Southern Poverty Law
Center, should be sending copies of letters
written prison officials, and lawyers, concern~
ing the problems, I've had here over the pass
months,.mailed them, to the Poverty Law Center,
because, of their Klan-Watch. Then asked that
they ‘send letters, to or copies, to the
Jjaeyerss :

My’ situation’ needs a solution, as soon as,
humanly. possible. J.have been threatened 24
hours a day, for the pass three months, by
guards and Bill Wilkinscn of the KKK. He has
been working here, under “the name of Officer

McKenzie, Q-Wing.

When you do, visit again bring a tape which can
play six to eight hours. There's so much has
happened, until I don't know where to start.
I have'to see what. Destiny has done, with all
the letters. Doug Magee [a writer from New York
who has published books about death row) is at
that radio station saying-his name is Dale
Taylor. I haven't received a letter, from him,
so I'm about ready io. “Stop yestang that
station,

Well hope to see you soon. qhink T'll juste
rest some. Tell Geoff and Tao [Ms. Rowland's
husband and child} hello for me. [I don't know
much about the book, but whatever, I write, I
don't plan on sending to WJAX, until I find
out, what happened to the other things I have
written so far. oe, i

So take :care, and hope to see you soon.)
i
Sincerely, Alvin B. Ford.

Appendix ’ Letters, J.

Over the next three months, -Mr. Ford again seemed to have
"gotten better," as evidenced in his letters. Appendix, Letters,
K and Le. To be sure, his delusion about the Ku Klux Klan
remained intact, and he reported devoting much effort to seeing
that Bill Wilkinson {the leader of the Klan) would eventually be
prosecuted and. convicted for the arson-murders in Jacksonville.
He also ‘took care: to be sure that, Ms.. Rowland and her colleague,
Scharlette Holdman, knew about what he was doing and understood
the “evidence” he had against the’ Klan, And his concern for his

"Klan work” was go pervasive that he reported little concern

about anyth bing jeluwy sven the feyal proceedings telated te hid

conviction and ‘sentence:

i ave blu Welw Feud Fle Lanyat Bib Hi

and Fins Esq. I've been sv busy t haven't had
the echence to read them, but will this weekend.
I don't worry too much about the ruling that
will be from the llth Circuit; on the re-~
hearing. Have many other things to keep me

busy. :
Appendix, Letters, L. However, he ‘also was able to communicate
about everyday” matters concerned with his and Gail Rowland's
Eciendship; Appendix, Letters, K, and his manner of writing was
more coherent, reflecting another remission of his loosening of
associations. ;
By July 9, 1962, Mr. Ford's remission ended. On that date,
he wrote Scharlette Holdman (Florida’ Clearinghouse on Criminal

Justice) a letter reporting a significant advance in his delus-

all-encompassing. because of “Ars WORK @gaifur the Kjan, he
believed that he had become the target of a complex scheme of
torture ultimately designed to force hia to commit suicide.
Although this delusion has undergone some change from September,
1982 to the present, this is the central delusion which has
governed Mr. Ford's daily existence since its ‘onset in September,

1982. There have been no remii

ions ~- from the grip of the
delusion, the loosening of associations, and the hallucinations
-- since then. Because this delusion has been so dominating, Mr.
Ford's entire September 11 letter has been veproduced, for it is
the critical stepping stone from the past to the present in Mr.

Ford's life, ‘:

"4
Dear Fina Esq.:

Thank you for your lettér of 22 July 82, as of
this date, I still want my, files closed to
Doug Magee, and no ong 1g to have access other
than ‘lawyers. : :

Also I‘do not in any way, want Dr. Amin, or
Gail Rowland, associated with my case in any
manner; :as of this date.

I'm sorry I haven't replied to your, letter,
until this date. I have had a number of
problems, at Florida State Prison, over the
pass three months, with guards, the KKK, and
Qwl Society or organization.

I really wanted to see:you, it's been such a
long time, Deborah. {I wasn*t:able.to leave the
cell, hopefully you got the refusal slips, and
the messages, I wrote on them, to you.

If you receive any affidavits concerning what
has been going on inside the prison, do hold
them, and make sure all persons, attorneys,
etc...receive copies. Do excuse, my saying you
were wissing, this was the only way I could get
the prisoners interested enough to write,
wherein’ I could get some help,

Dennis Balske of the Southern Poverty Law
Center, should be sending copies of letters
written prison officials, and lawyers, concern-
ing the problems, I've had here over the pass
months,<mailed them, to the Poverty Law Center,
because of their Klan-Watch. Then ‘asked that
they ‘send letters, to or copies, to the
lawyers.

My ‘situation needs a solution, ag soon ‘as,
humanly possible. {J have been threatened 24
hours a-day, for the pass three months, by
guards and Bill Wilkinson of the KKK. He has
been working here, under the name of Officer
McKenzie, Q-Wing. !

When you: do, visit again bring a tape which can
play six to eight hours, There's so much. has
happened, until I don’t know where to BEARS

r me
My wife is in danger; by these guards and the
KKK, ‘and Owl Society “o¢ organization, plus
this labor union, you should be receiving,
copies of letters, to this effect. ‘|
i

Other'than threats, I kave been, okay. Have
been more less, trying to| gather information,
and review the situation.

Please call Wollan, and Dennis Balske of the
Poverty Law Center, to get a full report.
Wollan, Burr III, and Craig Barnard with
Vandiver, was at Florida’State Prison on 11
September 62. . :

I've been hounded by Bill Wilkinson ana the
KKK, 24 hours a day, the guards, in the labor
union, and Qwl] Society. ~*

They put me on DC for quite some time, for no
reason, Just got some Stamps and Wollan,
brought some. - Just got some ‘pens and paper to
write with. 7 :
: Hh 2 N

Things have been the Same cantinuous hounding.
They ave at my door now and in the pipe alley
at the@ cell, vent. es

The story is too long to write, but it's the
truth., A lady is being held in the pipe alley
on Q-Wing, third floor,;-behind the cell, I'm
in.

I'ma told the man holding her name is Crooks,
the only Crooks I know of is one who works at
WJAX 95X, 4:00 P.M. to 6:0C0'P.M. Sundays.

While waiting to see, the lawyers 10 September
82, the Counselor, Harrington, said I'll be
moveg’ to R-Wing, the working week of
9/13~12/82. While in the Cage, by the Control
Room. ++ 3

so

As soon as I got back to Q-Wing; I was told
Crooks,' is to murder me on RrwWing or S-Wing,
and either make it. look as a suicide, or
murder. This lady has been held in the Pipe
alley since, well about two. months, being raped
by guards. as well as prisoners. This is the
reason, I haven't gotten‘very much help.
Guards. are allowing prisoners to rape this
lady, to keep things quiet, ‘and no one knows
she is in this prison. .

I hear: her now, asking this man, “Please don't
kill me.* I have been on Q-Wing since 2 August
82, and hounded every day for 24 hours, by the
KKK and. guards. Can't even eat, without them
at the doorway and celi vent saying they put,
“Semen, in the food, dy hhaving this lady,
perform oral sex," this is every day, for the
pass three months. :
ml

While on S-Wing, guards have tried to ease my
door open in the A.M. hours. . Luckily, I was
not asleep, 3:30 A.M., because this Plantigraph
was waiting to enter the cell with a knife and
hatchet, this is the truth, whole truth, and
nothing. but the truth, so help! me God.

Doug Magee, published a book, and changed the

authors sold for $660,000. I ‘wrote that book.
Paul Robeson, All American, author Dorothy

|
|
|

ce i

Bul cc Gilliam, He nor Destiny said a word
about it, but I found out, the plan was to try
to cun me insane, and make me commit suicide.

This why I don't want Dr. Amin, on my case, and
Gail Rowland. No. one. can. get the money from
the book unless, I'm dead. ‘As S00n as possible
I'll write the whole thing. I had but being
threatened by the KKK, in Prison, I had to Pass
the evidence, :

T've never told you a lie, and this is the
truth,. Deborah, 1 think -these guards, have
been killing people, anj putting the bodies, in
these concrete encleszres, used for beds, on
Q-Wing. Deborah, this is the truth.

These concrete enclosures are used for beds,
about six feet long, four feet wide, and three
feet high, just a concrete block. The one
inside the cell, I'm housed in was open from
the pipe alley I think, and the smell was
awful, decomposed bodies, :

Do know I've never lied to you. While I was
out to see Wollan, Burr ‘III, Craig Barnard, and
Vandiver, I was afraid they may'tcy to clean
these things out. 1 don’t know what happened,
but the lady is still in the plpe alley, and at
this very moment someane outside my-cell door,
with threats, the voice sounds as Bill
Wilkinson of the Kkk. t ‘

Before I moved to Q-Wing to Dc, 2 August 82, I

.was On DC’on S-Wing-l-North-17. There was a

gun om the floor, that was pointed at me, told
guards. * No one, did a thing, was a shake down
17 July 82, led by Bill Wilkinson, :

Got a UCI-666 (Form)(sent to Dennis Balske of
the Southern Poverty Law Center, asked he send
all the. lawyers copies, notarized) which was
written. by Bill Wilkinsen, which said, one
altered ink pen, and § .bundlag of paper.

That five bundles of Paper was evidence on the
book, mentioned on Page five {of this letter],
and on the KKK, and the hounding by this
Destiny at WJAK 95x Radio Station. The five
bundles of Paper was going to Jim Smith, State
Attorney General. They were trying to get me,
to throw them, away, because guards names were
mentioned. I wouldn't throw these papers away,
80 they gave me a DR, for having a knife, when
do you know of me having a weapon, ‘since being
in prison, 17 July 82; ° ©
x

15 July 82, the lady who doeg ABC radio news,
told me not to give those same bundles of Paper
(letters) to Classification Officer Dan. I
gave them to him, after some thought asked for
them backs As soon as I did, you need a
haircut, another DR (the letters were four
brown envelopes to Sim Smith on the KKK, the
book, ‘and guards, and. hounding by this
Destiny): 3

This Laay in the pipe alley said, Sergeant
Combs, had a gun to her head telling her, she
better never tell, she was beaten and vaped,
with Officer Adams. In the stairwell of S-Wing
I heard ;them, and’ ‘told her, she can tell
anyone, because they had-ac-bysiness, with her
in the pipe alley, .

i ES a att tec RRR sR NR ce

When I said that, they cut off my water to the
sink and commode. Orders of Bill Wilkinson, on
S-Wing. Then I was given a DR, saying, 1
threatened to kill a guard, by Officer Adams,

So Deborah, I've been'on DC, quite a while.
They have been trying to kill me. Their plan
was to do so on Q-Wing, took everything I owned
2 August 82. Had no stamps, pens, paper or
envelopes, until September, although I borrowed
a pen and paper. Had no stamps, but found some

- reusable ones on old envelopes and mailed a
letter lout. : OT

Didn't get a slip concerning my property until
8 September 82. Had over $25.00 stamps, 400
envelopes, 500-600 sheets of paper, 30 pens.
Not sure where By personal property is, but
guess I'll find out when they take me off DC.
More than likely will have to file suit, under
High Risk Management.

These people who have been threaten me, told
me, they murdered all my family. Hopefully you
can, gét back down here, and bring @ full tape,
that will play six to-sight hours, each day.
No haven't heard a word from my relatives. —

Channel 4 of Jacksonville has been helping.
Keeping the guards from killing me. The
evidence, I wrote to Jim Smith, State Attorney
Genetal, concerning that book was written over
_ the cell walls of Q-3-wWest-3, the cell I'm in
how. (That evidence on the book, was removed
from my cell, from S-Wing in the month of July

82.)

Bill Wilkinson says he has my address book, and
is killing everyone in there,-by address. So I
wouldn't have anyone to help me. Guards
wouldn't mail my letters, only beat this lady
whenever I tried to write the outside, for

help.

So I've had to fight. the KKK, guards, and
prisozers. Also, because’ the.KKK, and guards,
has beén using the prisoners against me, as
well allowing to rape this lady, being held

é a

hostage.

So my ife is in danger, and need help. Please
send a copy of this letter to the FBI, as soon
as possible, and contact, other lawyers.
Please’ be in touch as sacn-as possible.
Sincerely, Alvin B. Ford.
ec: CIA-FBI . “
Directors “ .
Washington, DC.
Appendix, Letter N. ;
In Mr. Ford's letters which followed this letter in
September, 1982, the same information,was presented. But in a
letter dated September 12, 1982, to Ed Austin, President Reagan,

the United states Attorney General, and the directors of the FBI

and Cla, tibeae’ New aSpeces to the delusion emerged. First, mr.

Ford noted that he had beer. in direct communication with

President Reagan about the Klan's = ‘itied in Jacksonville from the

very beginning:

The President of the United States of America,

should remember well, this case. He was at

Camp David, the night, I was writing those

letters, concerning the KKK, and mentioned, the

“Light by the Plant.“ He.said in the early

A.M. hours, this was a “grace period," over the

air, live broadcast. I have Mc. Reagan as my

witness, and these members of the CIA, along

with the radio tape, of 27 February 82 (A.M.

hours) over the world news, in the last four

minutes on the hour on the above date. :
Appendix, Letters, 0. Second, Mr. Ford indicated that messages
had been passed between hia anc various media representatives
“through this Seok, I've been writing from, the Second College
Edition, Webster's New World Dictionary of the american Language,
William Colling Publishers, Inc., 2080 West 117th Street,
Cleveland, Ohio 44111, Copyright 1979 by william Collins

Publishers, Ine." Id. Third,;-ee. Ford reported that the women
i} ry

who were being [tortured and sexually abused in the prison might
be his mother, €onnie Ford, and Angela Estelle, of Channel 4 in
Jacksonville. In another massive letter written in September, on
September 26, Mr. Ford implored Deborah Fins and the Attorney
General of the United States to undertake legal proceedings to
expose what was going on at the prison and to require his
transfer -to another state prison. Por nearly twenty pages in

that letter Mr. Ford listed the investigative steps which needed
to be undertaken in connection with those Proceedings. See

Appendix, Letter, P.
Just one month thereafter, on October 22, 1982, Mr. Ford
began to report yet another new Gevelopment in his delusion --one

+ ag

that, over the fourae of the next year and beyond would become
the most significant element in “his world of delusions: the
taking of hostages by the persons who were atready tormenting him

at Plorida State Prison. In a letter ‘to counsel, Mr. Ford

reported,

The same thing has been going on daily, since I
saw you.)
‘ae ina eccentric  A ‘

I found. out more, cuis Gail Rkowland, along with
Dr. Amin, is holding my sister, Gwendolyn
Louise’ Ford Shaw Williams, and Connie Ford
(mother) hostage in this prison.

Appendix, Lettets, Q.

Less than: two months later, en December 5, 1982, Mr. Ford's
belief that members of his famiiy-were being held hostage in the
prison had solidified, hareover, suring this time, he had come
to believe that an increasing number of hostages -~ to this point
all family members -- were being held, When he would. receive
mail from these relatives, he would not at all be shaken from his
belief that the relatives were nonetheless being held hostage.
Indeed, because of the loosening of associations in connection
with his psychosis, the logic ‘governing his world had little to
do with the logic governing the rest of the world. Qn December
5, he wrote,

Dear .Grandmcther, -

I received your letter and card. I haven't
written because of a number of reasons. I hope
. you will be well, feeling okay when this
letter,:reaches your hand. I have been okay.
But I:want to tell you don't, ever be afraid,
of my dying, because this. will happen one day.

You .méntioned your. being 73 years old, well
don't let anyone threaten you into doing
anything, at ali. If anyone can, hurt a
73-yeat woman, they have to be really sick, so
try to understand, and just believe in God, and
ask him to forgive those, that do you wrong.

I know you are inside, this prison, behind my
cell... I have been wondering, how you got in
.this prison, also with mother, Gwen, and the
other celatives,

I have been more surprised, in your not telling
me, from the first day you were, brought in
this prison.

God, put your trust in God, don't write, and
tell me lies. This is the reason, I had such a
time, finding out about all the family, from
this prison cell. So don't do anything,
against your will, you are not to be held
hostag in this prison, by these people. God,
is the) answer, 60 take Care of yourself as well
as humanity possible.

Hopefu dy your knee is better. Also you were
able to have the X-ray. Tell Uncle Henry
hello, also he must be held hostage here, also.
Tell him, he should write.

ea mong lias

I won't. be having any visits, until all my
relatives, are safely out ofthis prison, one
way or the other. I know now,- about the
relatives, as well as the e@utside world, s0
trust in God.

I've given these people, every chance, possi-
ble, .to let you, and;the relatives, go, but
looks’ as though, they:vefuse. So if they hurt
anyone, the crimes, will surely, have a lasting

effect.

Thank you for the stamps and God bless you, and
keep you safe. Trust in no:one, but-God.

Sincerely, Alvin 8. Ford A/K/A Sherlock.

Appendix, Letters, R. SS
As time wore on in 1983, Mr. Ford's delusional system

remained very much the same. | Gtadually, however, more people
became hostages, and as wore peopie became hostages, Mr. Ford's
role as the only one who could’ help the hostages, began to
develop. As this role grew, Mr. Ford bevane increasingly angry
cor righteously angry -~ and increasingly grandiose. On March 28,
1983, for exasple, Gail Rowland received the following angry

barrage: 4
Dear Rowland:

I received your 16.Manch 83,. 21 March 83,
letter. ‘Sorry in my delay, in this reply.
Since you have been in the pipe alley, behind
my cell, with my lawyers, family, and prison
officials, since July 82, even death row,
inmates, I decided, I would not write, until
now. : .

Also I note all the people, who was working at
95X, WJAX,. are also inside the pipe alley,
behind my cell. 2

You know the story too well. I know very well,
you have told quite a few lies on my family and
me, since the first day you had my relatives,
-brought to the priscn, back in July 82.
Whatever reason, you brought them here for,
- possibly, you will explain it, later, in a

letter or in person.

As fac as your leaving this prison, going to
pallabassee, to write for that newspaper, I
won't comment on that point, as of yet.

You know, all too well, my problems, and the
problems, of those people you have told lies
on. |Also you know or have known, full well,
the attitudes of prison officials, since your
first) visit here in. 1981, when that death
warrant was signed.“ 9 . :

Also I-want an explanation, as to why you have
my relatives, lawyers, etc...here. Then. the
reason, all these death row prisoners, are out
theif cells, bothering my, family and lawyers.

| -_
Then about the book, I was writing, why didn't
you, tell me, your name, was the Destiny of
95%, WIAX. J

Also why was the book given a different title,
and author, and why didn't you send me, a copy
of my own book. Then why was it pot in a will.
Then the reason all the people are here from
95X, WJAX, also Doug Magee, who I-sent, to New
York, to come to Florida, to write the book.
Dale, of 95X, also, why wouldn't he, tell me
his name.

The .book is written, now.18 August 82.
Destiny, is dead. Why was thig in the
newspaper. Who should I write at WJAX 95x
about all my material, since-Destiny is dead.
Also since Dale, Doug Magee, who never told me,
his name. oy ME

Guess all that's lost, and Destiny is dead.
The book sold for $680,000, and was put ina
will to Gilbert. I know the whole story.

I tald you long ago,.I would give you that —
book. Where is it, you had it, all the

letters. What are you, pulling on me, and my

family. we *

Pirst I want you to know, I ama man, possibly,
the best you ever knew. You will not treat me
@s some dumb-ass nigger.

You had no friends, you don't even know, where
my book is. Never gave me one penny, since
I've known you. Not sent one package, or
anything. - : : :

Then you treat my family like they are no one,
in front of people, who could give less than, a
damn about you. When there is no money, no
drugs, gee where they go.

I will. write any lady,"“I want, this jack-off
shit, you can take to someone else. This talk
about:|\Leper, etc....want you to understand. I
can.call any woman, ang I demand respect. If
you want someone, else, go ahead.

Greatest. man on this earth or what. There's
quite -a few things I have to say. First I've
joined. the Ku Klux Klan, to-get my family out
‘of this prison. Because looks as you won't
“stop your lies.

The’ whole while, since. July 82, I've been
trying ta get my family out of here, you have
been trying to keep them here, why. Then my
lawyers.

‘The crime watch on Channel 4, what happened to
all those letters. Was there ever any money,
from the letters. No, I don't guess, you never
told me, if I was ever right on the crime

watch.

Since July 82, I've sent teletypes, as you
know. The talk has been on my case on appeal.
Now that I've dismiss, my case, there's nothing
to talk about. So

My family know, nothing of the Ku Klux Klan,
why do you have them talking this foolishness,
scaring them, with these guards. Whatever
lies, “you told get them straighten out.

Now ‘ali these punks, on death row, you have out
these célls. I'm trying my best. not to hurt
anyone, all of them are punks.
This‘asking the guard for a cigarette, shit.
Trying. to keep me, from purchasing things from
the store is some shit. . Who is guard Ortagus
is he Scott of 95x, is Willis, "CC", and what's
“Steve, Fox." I hear all theirs voices, but
neither has come, out -and Gave me their name.

You know, I've been on DC, since July 82, and
all these DR's these guards have written, even
those.on the Disciplinary Committee.

You know, very well your lies have tort, my
family. I don't know, how.many have been told,
by others, but it's pass time, you stopped
lying. l |

So I joined the Ku Klux Klan. Now what there's

no money. I need some.’ Have you been telling

people, I have money. —

The lawyer will be years, getting the book

back.’ Well what now, since I joined the Ku
’ Klux Klan. i

I read some on Bill Wilkinson, he no damn fool.
From what I've read he knows of business, and
is not: no small-minded person. Even though
these: people, who are bothering my family treat
both him and me like, damn fools. And I'm

tired ‘of it.

This, shit, streak all night, is a bunch of
shit, these guards don't know..2 damn thing, and
keep bothering my family.. I'm tired of it.

Scott, knows the messages, and:I damn sure will
not let, any these punks, snitches, know what
he has told me. Because now, is the time to
move. . .

These’ guards and inmates, don't know a damn
thing, and I'm tired of this shit from these
bastards, bothering my family.

This ig not for them to know, and they won't
know. These motherfuckers are: going, to get
‘from behind my damn cerl, and my family is

‘going home.
|

‘I'm tired of these petty-minded bastards, these
inmates, it's more than enough to try to save
their lives.

I have too much work to do, than this bullshit,
you'rs throwing at me. I expect anything I
want or need. .

Also to. talk to each person from 95x, later. 1.
have mahy people, I need to contact, you know
all, myi\problems, so won't discuss then.

» 8

will have you contact some, missing property,
DC,: lawyers, family, visits, echedule, them
all, packages, stamps, etc.... .

Be sure to write. F

Sincerely, Alvin B. Ford.  :
aibacadiasts

Appendix, Létters, a. and only tive ways later, on Aprid 2,

1983, Scharlette Holdman received a letter, in which Mr. Ford
recounted the: growing magnitude of what he, by then, was
referring to as, “the hostage crisis," and the eritical, world-

historical importance of hig cole in trying to resolve the

crisis;

Dear Holdman: Be
I’ve heard your voice in thé prison in Q-Wing,
since August 82, when IF was housed on Q-3-w-3,
and Holly Morris, <¢ Margaret Vandiver,
Professor Wollan, Gail Rowland, Deborah
Gianoulis, Tom Wills, Julian Bond, Rev. Jessie
Jackson, Senator Edward Kennedy, all my family
members, Dr. Amin, Susan Cary, Esq., Richard
Burr,’ III, John. Middleton, Bsq., William
Sheppard, Dr. Gwendolyn Tucker, PBS Channel Te
Honorable Arnette Girardeau, Honorable Haben,
just to name a few of the names.

I've written Many people, from = the
Superintendent of Florida State Prison, to the
former Superintendents, prison inspectors,
Wainwrdght, the Attorney General, Joy Shearer,
the Assistant Attorney General, United States
Attorney General, FBI Director, even President
of the United States, Southern Poverty Law
Center, and many cthers. "

all concerning my family. being held, hostage
inside the prison wails, at Plorida State
Prison, by the Ku Klux Klan. ‘

You know, all too well about this, and these
mind readers. I was very disappointed you
didn‘t.or couldn’t do anything in. December,
other than join the Ku Klux Klan, @long with
others, who were held hostage. It'g been about
263 days, my family.aas been here. I
understand you, Rowlasd, Pins,..Esq., Carey,
Hill, Esq., are ladies, worris, Tucker, M.D.,
Glaneulis, Jefferson, Silberstein, are women,
which gakes, thig auch tougher, along with

‘others. : .

I went ahead and joined’ the Ku Klux Klan, to
save the lives of my family. This man holding
them hostage, is the one in the crime watch of
26 February 83, you haven't saw those letters.

So far the government hasn't done a thing. The
lawyers won't say, one word, other than, behind
my cell in the pipe alley Q-2-w-5.

I would guess the whole-world knows about this,
crisis, because it's been on radio, for months

now. I'm okay. Just trying to get my family

‘out this prison. Thought Gail had-gone crazy, - a
bothering my family, lawyers, with these
people. and prison guards.” |. -

I've written every prisan official, in
Tallahassee, and not one thing has-been done.
Even. the governor and Jim Smith.

peeves #

Staliips and paper, running very low, the
problems with legal packages regular packages,
pass‘ X-mas Packages, items from the store
(prison), television, radio, newspapers,
magazines, etc... is the same, H

Also DC, Disciplinary Confinement, but as well
as ever. Schedule an interview, whenever you
can, "Reaching out,* “Amnesty International,*
asked if I had written the Clearinghouse, just
decided to do so. Tell the staf£, hello and
everyone else. Have written quite a few people
the pass time. I try to work on my death case,
in which, I'm finding out some interesting,
facts. Just learned.

Very difficult, to show a positive outlook, on
the capital punishment,. situation. With the
death row inmates, committing crimes, in
prison; testifying to the public, destroying
that image, I've tried to maintain, in showing,
the state should not kill, these inmates, on
death row. ‘
For ‘the first time, we have the lawmakers, take
@ look at death row, and‘look at what we get,
Rape, attempted extoction,’ assault, amony other
ccimes, which will make it that much difficult,
for these stays of execution,

God knows, I've tried my level, best, to show,
lawmakers, they shouldn't kill me. Then try to
Protect the others, by giving the State of -
Plorida,’my life, to show the world, how wrong
. this death penalty is.

God has. blessed me, in this crisis, to have
known, some great people. I would not,
otherwise, have known., Pray God they will
remain, in our cause.

People are real strange, even though who work
at this prison. As you can see, I never lied,
to you,.or Middleton, Hill,.Esq., Fins, Esq.,
or Rowland. .

All I:can do now, is ‘pray God, everyone will
make i¢ out of this crisis safe. Don't ever
worry about me, my God is too strong.

Do give.my regards to everyone, I'll just wait
around, and see what happens, this is all I can
do, at;|this point. .

Write as many people as-possible, about this
crisis, my God has. brought help, in attention,
in our cause, in fighting’ capital punishment.

Content in knowing, my name’ will be, left in
some respect, of the shame, I've cause others,

including my family, in-my being on death row.

Have very little paper, but will try to write
more often. -God bless you, and the staff of
the FCJ, give everyone my regards, including
Rowland. a

hed

Sincerely, Alvin 5. Ford. q

Appendix, Letters, T.

Graducsiy, in the days/and weeks that followed these

letters, anger gave way to gra iosity. For example, less than

“one month after Mr. Ford wrote -Ms. Holdman, Mr. Ford wrote an
attorney in Miami, Randall Berg, :
Dear Mr. Berg:

I was given your name as a,source to contact
concerning the hostage crisis, by Beryl N.
Jones of the ACLU Washington, DC. "

I'na gure you have information on the hostage
crisis, at Plorida State Prison, this is day
287, the Ford family, lawyers, news reporters,
senators, Senator Kennedy and Many other
leaders. .

This crisis has to end, it is causing the
cacial unrest in your city, namely Liberty
City. To curve the crime rate, we will need
your help. wee : :

Please do not disregard this letter. Your
national political leaders, are here inside the
walle, of Florida Sate Prison,

Please brief yourself, by contacting .cBs
Channel:4, Eyewitness News, WJXT, Jacksonville,

Plorida. Also Jerri Hamilton, ABC Radio News,
Dave Barret, Rita and staff. Also President

Reagan. -

You will have to bring. someone, with you a
lawyer, call CBS Channel 4 woxT.

Do ‘not disregard this letter, you will have to
schedule an interview with Alvin Bernard Ford
No. 044414,

This is day 287. Do reply by United States
mail, bo

‘Sincerely, Alvin Bernard “Ford A/K/A Sherlock.

“ce: + U.S. Attorney General . .
President Reagan .

xppendix, Letters, U. As this letter made clear, the hostage
crisis was still growing worse by the end of April, 1983.
Moreover, the ;hostages by then included "senators, Senator
Kennedy, and many other leaders," and the crisis was of such
global importance that it was shaping the events of history.
Indeed by May 8, 1983, the ligt of hostages included some 135
people, many of whom were national ly-known Public figures. See
Appendix, Letters ve. : ; :

As Mr. vord's delusions became increasingly grandiose, a new

element entered the delusions: Mr. Ford felt that he was

becoming powerful enough that he himself could end the crisis and

occe the ro

responsible.

letter to Jim Smith on May 10, 1983.

Dear Mr. Smith:

| a
I know the Department. of Corrections is well
aware of this hostage crisis, as well as your
offices. We have spoken over the FCC in
November at the FSU football game (1982)
concerning this crisis.. You were with Joy
Shearer and Governor Graham, some six months
ago. :

This is day 317, my family and lawyers have
been held hostage. ‘The Department of
Corrections has endangered the lives of my
family, lawyers, and news reporters, from the
institution level to the state level.

Please schedule an interview with Alvin B.
Ford; Florida State Prison No. 044414, Report
all findings to President Reagan, and the
United States Attorney General and kd Austin,
Oistcict Attorney, Jacksonville, Plorida.

. 4

As you know, Gwendolyn Louise Ford Shaw
Williems RN had a baby inside the prison walls
in these pipe alleys.~- The baby's at the
clinic. - Also my sister-in-law, Elsa Maire

Perkins Pord (United States Army) had a baby
“while living in these pipe alleys. Thank God
they were pregnant before being kidnapped.

De

I have fired a number of officials at the
institutional level and state level, with the
final| approval, from the Governor, and
President of the United States, Also your
offices. .

There will be a number of lawsuits, criminal
charges, all listed’ on the Federal
Communication Commission. Also there will be
‘testimony before a Presidential Subcommittee,

on this. hostage crisis.

Also wlease note, I write crime watch on CBS
Channek 4, Eyewitness News. Please note the
crimewatch of 26 February 82. I wrote these
letters. on these murders for President Reagan,
he called a “grace period,” will please try
under, these same persons have, my family,
lawyer, reporters and our country's leaders
hostage, inside Florida .State Prison, Q-Wing,
in these: pipe alleys. .

.T'm got sure, how many persons, are inside

these pipe alleys, through the prison, but I

think there, is. others, on other wings,

although, I'm not sure; because I'm inside the
;

cell.

I have request prison officials to call the
FBI. Hopefully we know (government) how many
persons, have been taken hostage. Some have
been here since August of last year.

a8€ Of tue NOStayes ain -Mereatter, punish chose

he development of chis element was apparent in a
Prison “to help end this hostage crisis."

Appendix, Letters, xX.

I have been in solitary confinement, since July
62. The President of -the United States, Mr.
Reagea and the United States Attorney General,
know everything about this’ case.

Each person at the institutional level know,
full well, the rules of DOC, being employed by
the State of Florida.’ I have fired everyone,
I've written, the final approval, will be from
the President of the United States, Mr. Reagan,
and the United States Attorney General, at DOC
both the institution iévei and state level.

Sincerely, Alvin B. Ford A/K/A Sherlock
| : oT]

uss. Attorney General
‘President Reagan

ccs

Appendix, Letters, W. As this sense of his own power grew, Mr.
f ;

Ford summoned national and international leaders to Florida State

19, 1983, Me. Ford wrote Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as follows:

Dear Madam Justice O'Connor:

I have been waiting on your reply, to my pass
correspondence. Please give all Justices a
copy of. my 11 March 83, letter and 23 April 83
letter.

Please. each Justice follow, the directions of
this., letter, Steward,. Blackman, Powell,
Stevens, Marshall, Breanan, Burger, White,
Rehnquist. nie *

Each ‘will have to txavel to > Jacksonville,
Plorida. The mayor of Jacksonville, will meet
each jee the airport, with CBS, ABC, NBC
televisjon stations.

All this nation's leaders, have assembled in
Jacksonville, Florida. © CBS Channel 4
Eyewitness News, will bring you. We need you
+to help. end thig hostage crisis. Algo contact

ABC radio news.

Then each of the following, Senator John Glenn,
Walter Mondale, Senator..Gary “Hart, Senator
Ernest Hollings, Senator Cranston, President
Reagan, Senator Edward Kennedy, Julian Bond,
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Reubin Askew, Benjamin
Hooks NAACP, Ted Koppel ABC Nightline.

There are kings and queens, Prime Hinister
Margaret Thatcher, many of our nations leaders,
each-Justice. Please reply by United States

mail.’
Since: ely, Alvin B. Ford A/K/A Sherlock

eck 8S. Attorney General
» President Reagan

letter to Judge Joseph W. Hatchett, United States Court of

Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit).

i
aan

For example, on May

See also Appendix, Letters, ¥ (similar
By July ei, igg3, the hostage crisis seemed to be nearly
over. Mr. Ford’ wrote Gail Rowland on’that date, reporting much
success in resolving the crisis. Significantly, Mr. Ford's view
of his own power and national/international esteem was also
continuing to grow. Mr. Ford began to refer to himself ag “Pope
Jonn Paul, IfI." In this "resolution phase" of the hostage
crisis, Mr, Ford for the first time was also beginning to allow
himself to think about other matters ~~ some Of which were
clearly delusional and some of which were not.

Dear Howland:

I aa teplying to your. Y2 May 83. letter on the
above date. Thank you-‘for the legal supplies,
I did, in fact, receive them. Sorry I didn't
write. Since you have been standing outside my
door, ‘I pass, the writing.

I have been in the need for legal supplies, for
montheé. You know, very well of the problems
you have created. This hostage crisis ia in
day 377. =

I've .written Counselor Harrington for 1061
forms for legal supplies, and he refuses to
send them. So he is fired and under arrest, as
the others. at

This investigation has been very successful,
and.to the exact point of my pass letters.
It's unfortunate so many, prison personnel will
be cast in prison,

Thankfully the CIA/FBI was in fact able to
investigate UCI, the Attorney General's Office,
all ilevel of state and federal court. The
Plorida State Supreme Court, I've apeoinne? new
Justices, I appointed nine.

Especially UCI's investigation of the Fort
case, ot the pass 60 minutes, we even have the
‘staff of UCI thinking with all intentions, they
are holding my family.-heatage, fcr extortion.

Thank God they did the things they, because no
human being will ever forget, the shame and
mental suffering. Each their arrest, excuse,
will Beek their arrest.

The questions I asked you about my family you

state; “You can't answer, ° well explain, “Why

you can't answer." How could could you be

confused, about what's going on in the prison.

I am‘still on DC, this is the 352 day, I have

been in the need for many things,. but passed.
" [*1l survive this crisis. : '

Do you know Patti Reagan?*, What Kind of wife do
you think she will make. Thinking about asking
her to marry me. ‘You © may see it in the
newspaper, Magazines, on the ‘news each day. Be
gure to look at the gifts I' a leaving, daily at
_ the weite Wouse, 100 each day, for 100 days.

none aty she will say "yes, "send her a
teletype, for me.

1

eed the 1983-1984 fGotball schedule, college
and pro. Also I need you to get.a weekly copy
of "Doc's Football Sports Journal,” send it in
the mail. Use regular mail. Each week.

Then a copy of point wise, and the weekly

_hewspaper column, on college and pro lines.
Point spreads. Also gold sheet. This will be
in regular mail. This is too important, for
you not to fill this request.

Do be in touch.

>
Sincerely, Alvin &. Ford A/K/A Sherlock, Pope
John Paul, qr

Appendix, Letters, Ze

In the last letter which we have available from Mr. Ford,
dated November 28, 1983, the Rostage crisis appeared to have been
resolved and wes referred to only in passing. Mr. Pord'was still
grandiose, refeéeing with irritation to his “aides'" failure to

review hie letter, but his delusional System seemed to have
i . f

changed significantly in content. Por example, he seemed to have
picked up ten wives in recent months. Moreover, his form of
| Sw =

& |
communication was becoming quite esoteric and incoherent, as

commonly occurs in severely. psychotic individuals.3

Dear Mother,

Its been a while, since I wrote, but there was
no need, with this government, or rather this
state, having so many problems.

Couldn't imagine this state, and the U,. S.
Government could be so, corrupt. Also the
other countries of this, universe. Excuse tne
“above, mistakes, rushed and making notes for the
‘service. If my aides, were at hand, the
.mistakes would have been cleared, So overlook
them. | , ’

all, concerned, be well informed.

If ‘you can send some’ money..and stamps, say
whatever, you caa, I have asked Wife 1,
Britian, she said $400.00, Wife 2 $500.00,
Sandra Wife 3 said $1.00, Wife 4 said $300.00,
wifé 5 $600.00, Wife 6 said $200.00, Wife 7
$100.00, Wife & (no reply) Wife 9 said {it's a
dama inault) Wife 10 seid, (No comment). |

Repack some lawsuits about this letter so, to

Also send some stamps, they're 30 cents 60,
listen you take care. Laugh God won, Daniel
won, page 7 one 2:one, 6 one fort note D won,
right one wrong one, wrong cne right one. D
one 3-one 1/2 one, years one.

\ see DSM-III, supra, at 183 ("Where loosening of associations is
Severe, incoherence may occur,’ that is, speech may become
incomprehensible. There may be poverty of .content of speech, in
which speech ia adequate in amount but conveys little information
because it) is vague, overly abstract or overly concrete,

repetitive, or sgtereotyped.")

ay

magine people can try, what they have.
Need. anything. No never, as long as my family
and wifes are safe. : .
Rushed - so the letter,‘ shall be review by
reporters, mistakes? Note private. Aides
tapess etc...Take care; . a

Love you, Sherlock.

Appendix, Letters, AA.

Cc. The Interviews By Dr. Amin :

Counsel for Mc. Ford initially arranged for Dr. Jamal A.
Amin, a psychiatrist from Tallahassee, to evaluate Mr. Ford in
July, 1981, in connection with pending clemency Proceedings. Even
after clemency had been denied, counsel asked Dr. amin to
continue seeing Mr. Ford, for therapeutic purposes, because of
the deterioration of Mr. Ford's mental health which began in
December, 1981. Dr. Amin continued to see Mr, Ford until August,
1982. Ac that ‘point Me. Ford came to beliave that De. Amin was
conspiring against him, in-concert with Gail Rowland and the ku
Klux Klan, and ‘would no longer’ see Dr. Amin. On the basis of his
four “in-person evaluations" of dey, “Ford ever this fourteen-month
period, together ‘with his revieyr af Mr. Ford's letters, a taped
conversation between Mr. Ford and his attorneys, reports of
various persons who had the opportunity to observe Mr. Ford's
behavior directly, and Mr. Ford's prison medical records, Dr.

Amin reported the following “SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS RELATED TO

MENTAL STATOS* : 74

1) During the last pesenieccis evaluation -
the examiner was impressed with the feelings of
“emotional distance" and an inability to
establish a previously Saegoing empathic

rapport,

(2) Affect and moods are no longer appropriate
or adequate to Mr. Ford's present situation
indicating some disturbance in the regulation
of his ,affect or emotions.

(3) .The content of Mr. Ford's speech increas-
ingly leans toward the symbolic, the esoteric,

and ‘the abstract.

(4)° Episodes of the abrypt. blocking of the
stream of thought when Hr.’ Ford ceases to speak
in the imiddle of a sentence,

(5) Me. ‘Ford haa difficulty in organizing his

thoughts by the usual rules of universal logic

and reality. dis associations are loose, his

4 hese findings are excerpted from Dr. Amin's report o£ June 9,
1983, a copy of which is included in the sopepatss

attwation span is diminished, and he appears
unable to prevent the intrusion of irrelevant
material into his thought processes. Also, he
has- difficulty in maintaining appropriate
levels of abstractness as he accentuates
obscure features while ignoring central issues.
This. decrease in his abstract attitude has been
accompanied by an increase in his ‘concrete
thinking.

(6) (Mr. Ford is uaahle to differentiate
fantasy from reality and his fantasies become
Part of the basis for ‘his delusions. He
relates fantasies which indicate that he feels
his thoughts are being controlled or influenced
by “outside forces" such as a female disk
jockey in Jacksonville, Florida.

(7) ‘wr. Ford has developed complex, yet
logiesl paranoid and delusional systems
usually after the false interpretation of some
actual occurrence. His Paranoia and delusional
thinking have centered: around "the Ku Klux
Klan", nonexistent love affairs with any female
showing, interest in his predicament, and secret
mesgayes from the radio, television, and books.

(8) There are convincing and consistent
indications that Mr. ford suffers from auditory
and visual hallucinations. | He has consis-
tently maintained that he sees and hears
incidenta on his ceilblock involving his
mother's murder; an unidentified inmate
threatening to kill him with a gun, knife, or
cleaver; and an unidentified woman repeatedly
being beaten and raped. Reality testing does
nothing to shake Mr. Ford's faith in his
hallucinations which were first reported
approximately twenty months ago. Prison guards
and other Death Row Inmates have reported
episodes of Mr. Ford speaking out loud and
angrily to seemingly nonexistent persons.

(9): There is strong evidence of suicidal
ideation beth past and present.

(10) ' plorida State Prison Medical Records
indicate that Mr. Ford has been treated for
*pepsic Ulcer Disease® since 1978 and that
“there was one ‘instance of treatment for an
®agitated Depression™ in 1982. His medical
recotds also reflect-numerous stress related
somatic complaints such as chest.pains, joint
pains; and skin reactions.

(11} :There is a documented history of severe
drug abuse of substances such as Cocaine, LSD,

Alcohol, and Amphetamines’. ~

(12) Mr. Ford appears to have. very little
insight into the fact ‘that he has any emotional
probiema and goes to. great’ lengths to deny
mental illness.

The Interview by Dr. Kaufman

In January, 1983, counsel for Mc. Ford asked Dr.

Ford's progressively deteriorating “mental health.

three reasons for the consult at that point in time.

Kaufman, of Washington, D.c., to consult with us concerning Mr.

There were

First,
Ford was beginning to say with, some Irequency that he wanted to

dismiss his appeals and be. exéeutua. Because we believed that

his desire to,do this was the product of his mental illness, we

did not believe he was competent to make such a decision.

However, we:needed expert opliion to support our views in the

event that Mr. Ford insisted on pursuing this |

course. Second,
|

because by that time, Dr. Amin was, perceived by Mr. Ford as a

. ve |
coconspirator against him, and for that reason, Mr. Ford would

not see Dr. Amin, we decided that we must engage a psychiatrist
other than Dr. amin. And third, pr. Kaufman is highly respected
in forensic psychiatry and cane highly recommended. See Dr.
Kaufman's curriculum vitae, included in the Rpeendlie. "

, Even though Dr. Keufman was available to evaluate Mr. Ford
in January, 1983, he was not able to do so then, or for a number
of months thereafter, because Mr. Fard would not agree to see

him. Indeed, between January and “October, 1983, Mr. Ford refused

to see nearly everyone who tried to see him -~- counsel, family
members, and ‘friends. By mid-October, however, Mr. Ford again
seemed willing to see whoever. wished to see him, and at this

time, agreed to see Dr. Kaufman. By the time Dr. Kaufman

=| :
conducted his in-person interview with Me. Ford, therefore, he

h I known about Mr. Ford for ten months and during that time, had
reviewed much of Me. Ford's correspondence and had listened to
approximately three hours of taped interviews between Mr. Ford
and counsel. Accordingly, Dr. Kaufman approached the interview

with a good deal of knowledge about Mr. Ford.
Dr. kaufman interviewed Mr. ‘Ford for three hours on November

3, 1983, and reported the content of the interview as follows:

Mr. Alvin Ford entered the interview room in
apparent high spirits and bantered for about
fifteen minutes with you [Richard Burr] and
Profegsor Wollan. de generally ignored me and
my occasional questions. It should be. noted
that ‘your and Professor Wollan's presence was
deemed necessary by me to allow the interview
to progress at all because of Mr. Ford’s
revious (and I understand subsequent) extreme
.eluctunce to be interviewed. I also suggested
your presence in order to set him more at ease
go ‘that he would be*-stere .inclin{ed] to be
trustful, open and relaxed with me, wh he had
never ‘before met. ,
a

Aft. about fifteen minutes ox questioning by
him and answers by the two of you he turned to
me and said, “You a good guy? You OK?" 1
replied that I thought I was “OK.*

Up to. this point his questions -had been
disjointed, and had. ranged from personal
detaiis ("food's OK = how you eat'®) to
delusional questions (“When's CBS comin’ in
here."). Sut after 15 minutes the incoherence
of hig mental associations and-.the almost
totally delusional nature of anything to do
with his case emerged as hig facade crumbled.
One thought led to another with no seeming
relation to the previous one with such rapidity
that I have come to the conclusion that there
is no reasonable possibility that Mr. Ford was
diseembling, malingering or otherwise putting
on a performance to induce me to believe him to
be psychotic or incompetent to be executed.

It is unfortunate that no tape, especially a
videotape, exists to preserve ‘for concerned
observers the obvious fact that he was not
*"acting" for my benefit+-or for his own. I
think the best way to convey the spontaneous
and psychotic nature of his ramblings is to
simply record them (see below). These are not
elected passages, but a stream of conscious-
ness, either spontaneously rendered, or spoken
in response to a previous question. It is to
be noted that there was very little animation
or feeling in Mr. Ford's-voice as he spoke,
only'a kind of "flatness" or lack of intensity
of affect.

Mc. Ford; The guard stands outside my cell and
oe. reads my mind. Then he puts it on
tape and sends it to the Reagans and
CBS...I know there is some sort of
death penalty, but I'm free to go
whenever I want because it would be
illegal and the executioner would be
executed...ces is trying to do a
movie about my case...J know the KKK
and news ceporters all disrupting me
and CBS knows it. Just call CBS
2: crime vatch...there are all kinds of
Bes | 3 people in pipe alley (an area behind
Mr. Ford's cell) bothering me
--Sinatra, Hugh. Heffner, people from
the dog show, Richard Burr, my
sisters and brether trying to sign

the death warrants g0 they don't

2! keep bothering me...I never see
H them, I only hear them‘ especially at
night. {Note that Mr. Ford denies

seeing these people in his delu-
sions. This suggest that he is
honestly reporting what his mental
processes are.) I won't be executed
because of no crime...maybe because

I‘m a smart as3...my family's back

there (in pipe alley)...you, can't
evaluate me, -J did a study jin the
army...alot of masturbation... .1 lost

alot of money on the stock market.
They're back there investigating my

case. Then this,guy motions with

his finger like when I pulled the
trigger. Come on back you'll see

what they're up te--Reagan's back

there too. °“M¢ and Gail bought the

prison and I have'to sell it back.

State and federal prisons. we
wi changed all the other countries and
because we've got a pretty good
group back there I'm completely
harmless. That's how Jimmy Hoffa
got it. My|case is gonna save me.
i

** Comments in parentheses are my own,

At this point I should comment that none of
thig “idea salad” is out of context. Indeed
there is no apparent context for these ramb-
ling,’ disorganized delusional bits of idea-
tional material. a

I asked, “Are you going to be executed?" Mr.
Ford replied, "I can't be executed because of
the landmark case. I won. Ford v. State will
prevent executions all over."

Dr. Kaufman (Q): Are Youran death row?

Mr. °Ford (A): Yes,
(ae Does that mean that the
State intends to execute
“ you?
A No.
Q i fo. why not?

. Because Ford v. State
6 -Pprevents it. They tried to
get me with ‘the FCC tape
‘but when the KKK came in it
was:-up to .CBS and the
Governor. These prisoners
are. -rooming back there
raping everybody. T told
: the Governor to sign the
i” death warrants so they stop
bothering me.

Appendix, Kaufaan Report, at 1-3.

E. The Interview By Wollan, Rowland, and Vandiver
Following the interview with Dr. Kaufman on November 3, 1983,
Mr. Ford again entered a period of time ivan he refused to see
anyone seeking a visit with him. Me. Wollan attempted to see Mr.
Ford on November 18, and Nr. Ford ‘abruptly ana angrily left the
interview after only ten minutes. . Again on December 8, Mr.
'ollan, accompanied by a paralegal (and friend of Mr. Ford),
argaret Vandiver, attempted-to see Mr. ford, but Mr. Ford
*used to come to the visiting area. And again on December 15,
Mr. Wollan, accompanied chia time by Margaret Vandiver and
a nd, attempted to see ME. "Ford. On this occasion, Mr.
rd did come to the visiting area and stayed for a few minutes.
However, the content of this interview was quite different from

my toatl had gone on before. While Mr. Ford's associations had

ao
become increasingly "loose" (see DSM-III in the Appendix) during

the course of ibis illness, in the interval between November 3,

and December 1 1983, his loosening of associations became

iT

"severe® (see) DSM~III, at 182), in much the same way as Mr.
Ford's letter of November 28, 1983 to his mother (supra, at pages
36-37) demonstrated a severe loosening of associations. The
interview on December 15, 1983, -transtribed from a tape record-
ing, consisted entirely of the following: :

Mr. Wol an.....HOw are you Alvin?
— ae Boe

Mr. Ford........(no response)

Mr. Wollan.....Do you-mind if I sit ‘a little

closer with this mike?--..

Mr. Ford.......(no response)

.

Mc. Wollan.....What's the matter, Alvin? Are
you going to ait there and not talk? What's
troubling you? Alvin, it seems to me there's a
lot in. there you need to say-and just sitting
here and glowering at us is not going to help.

Mr. FOrd.......(no response)

Mr. Wollan.....What would you like us to
know? What would you like us to do?

Mr. Pord....... (kicks foot toward Me.| Wollan
Showing bottom of flip flop) | ‘

Mr. Wollan.....What's that mean?
|
i
|

Mr. Ford.......(no respgnse)

Mr. Wollan.....What's the trouble?
Mr. FOrd...se06(No response) ; {

Ms. Rowland....You have your jacket on. Are
you coid? It's a little cool today. Are your
feet cold in just the flip flops? I know I was
pretty cold outside... Ye had to wait a few
minutes outside before we could come in and it

wags chilly. ne

Mr. Ford.......Code one.

Ms. Rowland....I'm veal glad to see you.
It's*been a long time. -I‘m so glad you were
able to come out. Are you still angry with me?

:

Mc. Ford.......NO ones. - :

Ms. Rowland....No?’ It's been so long, I'm glad
IT was able to come here today and see you. I
hope that we can talk some. because I know
you've been having a real hard time and I want
go badly to be able to help. ,I haven't heard
from you in a long time.

Mr. Ford.......Code one.

.Ms. Rowland....You need to tell me a little
more. than that because I'm not sure what you

mean. |

Mc. Ford.......Killed one.

Ms. Rowland....I still don't ‘understand.

Mr. Ford.......Killed one. Break one.

Ms. Rowland....Killed one, break one?

Mr. Ford.......No one. ‘Dead one.

Mr. Wollan...,.Alvin, what does that mean?

Mr. Pord....e..(no response)

Ms... Rowland....I's pet sure what you mean.
Can. I sit a little bit closer? Will that
bother you?

Mr. Ford.ceeee.NO onee

Ms. Rowland....Okay. I'll move my chair, my
stuff...1 brought my notebook in case you had
anything you wanted me to write down. So you
just tell me if you have something you want me
to write down. y

Mr. Pord.......State one. Electric one.
(pause)

Code one, - take one.

Ms. “Rowland....Do you want me to write this
down? =

Mr. Ford.......Take one, off one. Code one,
take one, say one, threaten one. Code one,
off one. te bees

Wollan.....Alvin, who ‘should we tell
rey

Me. Fords. eee (nO ressonse)

“Mr. Wollan.....Is théré somebody who will
know what this means?

Mc. ““Pord.......(spits in Mr. Wollan's

direction, but not on him)

(pause}

Ms. Rowland....Do you have anything else? I
know there's something you'd like to say. Did
you get my Christmas card?

Mr. Ford.......Seen one.
a

Ms. -Rowland.....Did _you get your birthday
card, toor i sent you a birthday card. -

Mr. Pord.....+.NO one.

Mr. Wollan.....Have you. been getting letters

from “your mother, Alvin? ;
ae | L
Mr. Ford.......Jesus- one.

Mre Wollan.....dia you “det my letter this
week?

Mr. Ford.......NO ones.” *
Me. Fore
(pause)

Write one.

(pause)

Ms. Rowland,...You've lost a lot .of weight
since I saw you last. Have you not been very
hungry?

Mr. Ford.....+.¥esa, one.

_ Ms. Rowland....Don't you like the food here?

Mr. Ford...«...NO One,

Ma. Rowland....Well, it’“doesn't always look
too good. .

Mr. Ford.......Certainly one.

Ms. Rowland....You éhould eat a little,
though; so you don't get.sick. , :

Mc. Ford......eSay one.

(pause)

Ms. Rowland....I‘'m glad that you Came out. f

was worried that you might not because I knew
Larry and Margaret were here about a week

ago... :

Mr. Pord...ssee(grunts)
Ms. Rowland....But you came out today. I'm
glad. I"m real glad to see you.

Mr. Ford.......Night one.

(pause) i
Today one.
Ms. Rowland....Do you have any two's? Or is

everything one's today? — :

Mr. Pord.,.....Hands one, face one. Mafia
one.:...,God one, father one, Pope one. Pope
one. Leader one.

Ms. Rowland....I have té turn the page.

Mc. Pord.......Leader one. Now one, say one,
crazy one. Track one.
t

(pause)
God one. Kill one.

Ms. Rowland....Have you seen any newspapers
or anything in awhile?
Mr. Ford.......¥es one.

Ms. Rowland... .Did you xead about the Pope?

Mr. Pord.......Looking one. ’

i Es
Ms. Rowland....And Bob Sullivan and the
Pope...

Mr. Ford.......Looking one.

MS.-Kowland....He made a nice statement. You
saw ity I was very moved.

Mr. Pord.......Hello one, ‘need. you one.

(pause)
Gail one, threaten one, kill one.
(pause)

Remember one, letter one?. Say one, God one,
blind: one, klan one, Destiny one?

. (pause)

Mr. Ford.......Mine one. Stab one, gay one
crazy:/one.

(pause)

Need ‘one, love one.

(pause)

But one, starve one, démn one.

(pause) ‘ Su

Damr one, say one.

ms. Rowland....I see...

Mr. Ford......-Excuse one, need you- one.
(pause) : :

Tell him one. Hello one.

Ms. Rowland.....I see what you're saying
ands... : j

Mr. Ford.......Review one, law one.. Dead
one.

“(long 'silence)

- Ms. Rowland....1 do remember all your letters
_and i‘ve read them, but sometimes it's hard for
me to understand what's happening with you.

Mc. Ford........Need one. Love one.
——

Ms. Rowland....I care about you. I love you,
Alvin T love you like my brothers, like my
own family. .

ao w 2
Mr. Ford.......Time one.
Arp Sore: :

(stands up) |:
Ms. Rowland....Where are you going?
= :

Mc. Ford.......Little one.

ur, Wollan.....You read
iT

. Ford...e++.(opens door for guards to get

nim) l
I i *
Ms. Rowland....May I say ;goodbye?

2 i :

pe

Mc. Ford......-Yes one.

Ms. Rowland....1'm sorry you weren't able to

see us any longer. Goodbye.
Mr. Ford.......Little one.

(leaves with guards)

P. The Interview By The Commission of Psychiatrists

On December 19, 1983, just four days after Mc. Ford's

interview with ne. wollan, Ra. Naadivery and Ms. Rowland, the
commission of psychiatrists appointed pursuant to Section 922.075
interviewed Mr. Ford. Based upon the individual commission
members’ reports, confirmed by the observation of all those
present for the commission's interview, Mr. Ford responded in the
Same manner to questions on December. 19 as he had responded on

December 15 in the Wollan, Vandiver, Rowland interview. As

veported by Dr. Ivory, the interview included such exchanges as

the following:
_@ “Are you aware they can electrocute you?*
A "sine one, C one, hot one, die one”
A "pie one, gone one"

Q “Are your attorneys trying to prevent your
death2*. :

A "“Agsasinate one, Bob Graham liable one, Jim
Smith iiable one, Senatz one*

: % [44S ge
Q “What happens if you die?”

A “Hell one, Heaven one®

Q *which?® . :
A “dopefully it'll be Heaven, but if I listen,
.it'll be Hell? oo

And later: eed

A “If I die - no more £4t cats
-no sore homicide

~no more recism

-in Heaven with God*

Q "are you crazy?”.
A “Are you crazy?”

eevee
wy

Ap dix, Ivory Report (emphasis in originat).’°

| :
5 ‘ . hoochee),
3 bers of the commission were Dr. Peter Ivory (Chattal
De. ‘Umesh -Mnatre (Lake City), and Dr. Walter Afield (Tampa).
io 4

G. The Commission's Observation ‘of, Mr. Ford's Cell

Because Hr. Ford appeared so disorganized in his thinking
during the commission's interview, the commigsion members decided
they would examine Mr. Ford's cell on death row. According to

Dr. Ivory, “The rationale for this ‘course of action was dictated
by the reasoning that if the inmate. was truly as disorganized as
he would have ‘one believe, there ‘woula be ample signs of it in
his environment." Appendix, Ivory Report. However, no disorgan-
ization was found: 0 SBE

1) the cell was spotlessly clean and in order

2) hig toilet articles were neatly arranged
around the sink : .

3) hia personal papers were all stacked neatly
in the cell bars, acranged by category

4) his writings were extensive, and the choice
of vocabulary showed a good intelligence

5) the, arrangements were ‘all, logical, and
there’ was nothing in“ fhe cell that seemed
bizarre,.as if he was out of contact with the
real world.

Id, Accord, Appendix, Mhatre Report.

H. The Reported Observations of Correctional Officers

Finally, in the course of the interview with Mr. Ford and
the examination of Mr. Ford's cell, the commission members

solicited the views of correctional ‘officers who apparently had

contact with Mr. Ford. In reporting the views of the officers,

the commission members provided somewhat divergent accounts. Dr.

Mhatre reported that

[t]he conversation with the guards at Plorida
State Prison who’ have been working with Mr.
Ford, furnished the following information. His
jibberish talk and bizarre behavior started
after all his legal attempts failed. He was
then: noted to throw all his legal papers up in
the air and was depressed for several days
after that. He specially became more depressed
after ‘another inmate, Nr. Sullivan, was put to
death and hig behavior has” rapidly deteriorated
since - then. In spite of this, Mr. Ford
continues to relate to other inmates and with
the guards regarding his personal needs. He
has‘also borrowed- books from the library and
hag been reading them on a/ daily basis.
Appendix, Mhatre Report. Dr. Ivory's report was in agreement
with De. Mhatre’s account of ee officers’ views concerning Mr.

Ford’s ability to care for himself and to utilize the prison

library. However, his report disagreed with the view reported by

stein cestaaeseat ia .

Dr. Mhatre of ‘the way in which Mr. Ford's bizarre speech pattern
developed: “he talks normally to the guards but during the last
week they have heard him practicing the attange speech from lists
of words he had .written in nonsensiéal order.* Appendix, Ivory

Report.

rae EVALUATIONS. OF 48 FORD'S SANITY

The assessment of Mr. Ford's sanity under Section 922.07
must proceed through two steps. First, there must be “a determi-
nation whether Mr. Ford suffers from‘a bajor mental disorder that
could affect hig “understanding® of the nature and effect of the
death penalty and why it is to be carried out against him.
Second, if Mr. Ford does suffer from such a major mental dis-
ocder, there must be a determination whether Mr. Ford’s mental
disorder does affect hie *undecwtanding" of these matters. In
making this assessment, the Governor must apply the 922.07
standards, supra, pages 3-4, to the available, material facts,
Supra, pages - “48, while taking into account the opinions of the
various experts. who have expressda ‘opinions on the two issues to
be determined (whether there is a mental disorder, which affects
Mc. Ford's 922.07 “sanity"). in the remainder of this memoran-

. i. % Boek at ar
dum, we demonstrate how this assessment should be made.

A. Mr. Pord Suffers From A Disorder That Could Affect His 922.07
Sanity eS .

The awerican Paychiatric association's Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders (Third Edition 1960), better known as

“pSM-II1I,* is recognized in the field of mental health aa the
only Leuerallg agreed-upon reference source for the diagnosis of
mental disorders.? Because of the status of DSM-III, therefore,
its diagnostic criteria should be utilized in determining the
first issue posed by the 922.07 inquiry: whether Mr. Ford suffers

from any, major mental disorder which could affect hia "sanity* as
—_—_————— a
(rt should be noted that mast of the commission's conversations
with correctional officers occurred out of the presence of
‘ounsel for.#r. Ford -- during the visit to Mr. Ford's cell, in
thich counsel: was not allowed to participate. Counsel assumes,
\erefore, that different officers held different views as might
be expected, given the difficulty df assessing mental illness in

a prison environment.

7 por an explanation of the method by whichDSM-III was produced,
see the Fintroduct ion* to DSM-III, which is included in the
DSM-III excerpts reproduced in the Appendix.
defined in the statute. If such criteria are utilized, Mr. Ford

unquestionably ‘meets the criteria for a “Schizophrenic Disorder,"

ag that disorder ia described in DSM-III. further, that disorder

unquestionably could make him “insane* under'the teat of Section

922.07.

as:

A. At least one of the following during a
phase of the illness: ~

1) bizarre delusions’ -(content is
patently absurd and has no possible basis
in fact), such as’ delusions of being
controlled, thought broadcasting, thought
insertion, or thought withdrawal

€2) somatic, grandiose,: religious,
nihilistic, or other delusions without
pereecutory or jealous content

(3)- delusions with pergecutory or jealous
content if accompenied by hallucinations
of any type | NE .

4) auditory hallucinations in which
either a voices keeps up aie running
-commentary on the individual's behavior or
“thoughts, or two or more voices converse
with each other .

(5) auditory hallucinations on several
occasions with content of more than one or
two words, having no apparent relation to
depression or elation

(6) incoherence, marked loosening of
asgociations, markedly illogical thinking,

~ or marked poverty of content of speech if
agsociated with .at Teast one of the
Eallowing:

[is (a) ‘blunted, flat, or inappropriate
et affect .

(b) delusions or hallucinations

(c) catatonic or other grossly
disorganized behavior

=

3. Deterioration from a previous level of
functioning in such ‘areas as work, social
relations, and self-care.

al

C. Duration: Continuous signs*of the illness
for atiléast six months at some time during the
person's life, with some signs of the illness
at present. The six-month period must include
an active phase during which there were
symptoms from A, with or without @ prodromal or
residual phase, as defined below. | |

veodtémal phase: A clear:deterioration in
functioning before the active phase of the
illness not due to. a diaturbance in mood or to
a Substance Use Disorder and involving at least

two of the symptoms noted below.

ae

DSM-III defines the criteria for a Schizophrenic Disorder”
Residual phase: Persistence, following the
active phase of the iliness, of at least two of
the symptoms noted below, not due to a disturb-
ancé in mood or to a Substance Use Disorder.

Prodromal or Residual Symptoms .

(1) social isolation or withdrawal

(2) marked impgirment in rale functioning
48 wage-earner, student, or homemaker

a) markedly peculiar behavior (e. Ci
collecting garbage, talking to self in
public, or hoarding food)

_|€4) marked impairment in personal. hygiene
jand grooming

sy blunted, f€iat, or inappropriate
affect ~ | F

|
46) digressive, vague, overelaborate,
eircumstantial, or metaphorical speech

:(7) odd or bizarre ideation, or magical
thinking, @ge, superetitiousness,
clairvoyance, telepathy, “sixth sense,*
“others can feel my feelings," overvalued
ideas, ideas of reference | :

_ (8) .. unusual Barcestual expervences, e@.g.,
- recurrent illusions, sensing the presence
of a force or person not actually present

Examples: Six months of prodromal symptoms
with one week of symptoms from A; no prodromal
symptoms with six months ‘of symptoms from A; no
prodromal symptoms with ‘two weeks of symptoms
from A.and six months of residual symptoms; six
months of symptoma from A, apparently followed
by several years of complete remission, with
one week of symptoms in A in current episode.

a3
D. the full depressive or manic syndrome
({eriteria A and B of major depressive or manic
‘epigode), if present; developed after any
‘psychotic symptoms, or was brief in duration
‘relative to the duration of the psychotic

syuptone ina.

g. Onset of prodromal or. active phase of the
dllnegs before age 45.

P. Wot due to any Organic Mental Disorder or
Mental’: ‘Retardation.

DSM-III, at 1g8- 190. On the basis of the data known about Mr.

Ford, he clearly suffers from’ a ‘Schizophrenic Disorder as these
criteria define that disorder. 7 ,

First, ar. Ford has suffered from all of the symptoms set
forth in criterion "A* at some point during the two-year period
between February, 1982 and Pebcuary, 1984. He has suffered
“bizzare delusions {content is patently absurd and has no

possible basis ‘in fact)," including among others, his beliefs
and ABC Radio News have talked

that he and ‘the staff at Wlax-rH

to each other | ‘over the radio; that he has written the topics for
WJAX-FM's opinion line; that he has’ won his case and that his
victory in "Ford v. State" will prevent executions all over; and
that he has ten wives. He hes suffered “somatic, grandiose,
religious, nihilistic or other delusions without persecutory- or
jealous content," including among Others, his beliefs that God
allowed him to see into the window of ‘the house destroyed by fire
in Jacksonville in order to show him that the Ku Klux Klan
started the fice; that he had the power and esteem to summon
national and international political leaders and judges to
Plorida State Prison; that the hostage crisis at Florida State
Prison waa causing vacial unrest:in Hiamd and other problema of
national and international import; that h@ had the power to
dismiss people from their jobs in the Department o£ Corrections
and to replace the. justices of ‘the Florida Supreme Court (and in
the process to add to their number); that he was Pope John Paul,
Ill; that he oa 'ewe best man in the world to whom any woman,
including Pattie Reagan, would’ give herself if he provided the
opportunity; , and that he had authored a book about Teddy
Pendergrass which was published, in coded form, under another
title and by another author. He has suffered “delusions with
persecutory...content...accompanied, by hallucinations...," as
evidenced by his long-held belief that the Ku Klux Klan has
conspired with others to push him to, suicide ~- because of his
knowledge of the. Klan‘ 3 involvement in the Jacksonville arson
--by torturing ‘and taping women in his presence, by putting semen
in his food ang. “dead bodies in his: cell, by permitting other
prisoners opportunities to kill him, and by holding his family,
lawyers, and many athers hostage. inside the prison. This belief
has been ‘constantly supported by auditory, visual, and olfactory

hallucinationas: He has suffered “auditory hallucinations in

w hoeetwo Or more voices converse with each other” in connec-

-fon ‘ith inis..centou! persecutory delusion -- he hears the
voices of the klansmen and the women they are raping and
torturing. Pinally, ne has suffered “incoherence, marked
loosening of associations, markedly illogical thinking [and]

poverty of Gentent of speech. , .assoclated with...blunted, flat,

or inappropriate affect [and} delusions....* Since his letter of

February 28, 1982, Mr. Ford's written sortespondence has fre-
quently shown loosening of associations do connection with his
delusions, Further, both Dr. Amin and Dr. Kaufman have noted in
their interviews: with Mr. Ford incoherence, marked loosening of
associations, and @arkedly tllogicay thinking associated with a
flattened affect ‘and delusional State. : See Appendix, Amin Report

and Kaufman Report. And most Fegenely, the interview with Mr.

Presence of thig SyMpton, See Appendix, _Ivory Report, Mhatre

Report, and Afield Report.

Second, Mr.’ Ford hag “deteriorat (ed) from a previous level
of functioning in such areas as Work, goclal Felations, and
self-care.* DSM-IIT, at leg (criterion "B"). Mr. Ford has
suffered deteriozation primarily-in two areas since the onset of
the "hostage crtate* component of his delusional system in July,
1982, Since ‘then, he has _ Comat tted numerous disciplinary
offenses -- otted involving the possession Of weapons or assaul-
tive or abusive behavior toward officers ~- which have resulted
in his continuous commitment to disciplinary confinement from
July, 1982 through the present. prior to this time, mr. Ford's
disciplinary record was relatively clear of offenses, with: no
terms of extended disciplinary Sone LAsmanE and only infrequent
offenses. The second area of deterioration has involved mr.
Fords social relations. Since the onset of the hostage crisis,
are Ford has cut himsele Off from, and aggravated, nearly every
death row inmate with whom he previously was friendly. Moreover,
he has cut off all relations with his family, who Previously had
visited and written frequently,. And he has turned into his
arch-enemy the elson who previously was hia most supportive,

equent visitor. and correspondent, Gail Rowland. —

Third, Mr. Ford has had sPolonesnados signa of the illness
rey ¢ least six months at some SRE: luting (nis] life, with some
3igns of the illness at present!,] [t) he: six-month period [having
included) an active phase during which there were Symptoms from

Ass+." DSM-III, at 189 (criterion *C"). Since February, 1982

and continuing! to the present, Mr. Ford hus suffered continuously
fom delusions and loosening of associations of the sort referred
to in criterion A. Moreover,| he has repeatedly during this
period suffered from auditory, visual, and olfactory hallucina-
tions. ‘s

; “Fourth, the onset of ar. Ford's illness ‘was before he
reached the age of 45. DSM-III, at 190 (criterion "E"). Mr.
Ford was 27 years old at the onset of the active phase of his
illness in February, 1982. a

Piftth, Mr. Ford's illness, is "[nlot due to any Organic
Mental Disorder. or Mental Retardation." DSM-III, at 190
(criterion °F"). To the extent known, He. Ford's illness is not
due to an Organic Mental Disorder,’ for no psychiatrist who has
evaluated him has found evidence of . any such disorder. It
Clearly is not due to mental retardation, for Mr. Ford has
consistently been evaluated as “bright” and at least of average
intelligence.. See, e. Appendix, Taubel Testimony, at
1330-1332. ;

Accordingly, if the DSM-III’ diagnostic criteria are uti-
lized, Mr. Ford's symptoms squarely meet the criteria for a
Schizophrenic Bicocaerst Moreover, additional confirmation that
Mc. Ford should be found to suffer from this disorder is provided
by the nearly dnaninous opinion of the psychiatrists who have
undertaken forensic evaluation of Mr. Ford. over the period of his
illness, Dr. Amin concluded on June 9, 1983, that Mr. Ford
suffers from *pacanoid Schizophrenia with Suicidal Potential."
Dr. Kaufman concluded on December 14, 1983, that Mc. Ford suffers
from eschizophrenta, undifferentiated type, acute and chronic."
Dr. Mhatre cangluded on December 28, 1983, that Mr. Ford suffers
£ om “psychosis with paranoia.” Dr. afield concluded on January
1, ...4, that Mr. Ford suffers from a profound emotional illness

t % "forces me to put a ‘psychotic’ label on the inmate."

ee

8 one of the eriteria, "D", has not been discussed, for Mr. Ford
has never shown evidence of suffering from the “full depressive
or manic syndrome” referred to in criterion "D*. Since criterion
*n* is concerned with distinguishing that syndrome from a
Schizophrenic Disorder, the absence Of the symptoms of this
syndrome in, Mr. Ford's illness bolsters the diagnosis of
s~hizophrente Disorder.

Vek .

‘

“‘auetre auw uc. AFieiG “sve Cessed Me. fucd’s

alsorderc. psychosis" instead of "schizophrenia" ig of no conse-

quence, for “gchizophrenia® is but a form of psychosis, the

essential features of which -- certainly those relevant to the

Governor's determination here -~-are the same, As explained in

DSM-III, at 367-368, the term “psychotic" is

[a] term indicating gross impairment in reality
testing. It may be used.to describe the
behavior of an individual at‘a given time, or a

mental d

isorder in which at some time during

its course all individuals with the disorder
have grossly impaired reality testing. When
there is gross impairment in reality testing,

the Individual “incorrectly evaluates the

accuracy of his or her perceptions and thoughts

and makes Incorrect inferences about external

reality,

even In the face of .contrary evidence.

The term psychotic does not apply to minor

distortic

ons of reality that involve matters of

relative judgment. For example, a depreased

person

who underestimated his achievements

would not be described. ze psychotic, whereas
one who believed he had caused a natural
catastrophe would be soa described,

Direct..evidence of psychotic behavior is the

presence of either: delusions or hallucinations

without

Insight Into their pathological nature.

The term psychotic is sometimes appropriate

“when an

individual's behavior [s so grossly

disorganized that a reasonable inference can be

made. that reality testing Is disturbed.

Examples Include markedly Incoherent speech

without

apparent awareness by the person that

the speech Is not understandable, and the

agitated, Inattentive, and disorlented behavior
seen in Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium.

In_DSMs-

oreo

ItI_ the psychotic disordera incieds

Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Schfzo-

and Paranoid Disorders, Psychotic

hrenic o,
T ers Not’ Elsewhere Classified, some

Mental Disorders, and same Affective

(Emphasis supplied. )
Of the tive psychiatrists” who have. undertaken forensic

evaluation of *

ment that he “a

Ivory, has found

Ford's illness ;: therefore, four are in agree~

eters from psychosis of some form. Only one, Dr.

no evidence of a psychotic disorder or any other

disorder which gout affect his sanity under Section 922.07. See

endix, Ivory

Report. For a number of reasons, however, Dr.

lvory's conghuaipn is onrelfanite anil ehould be rejected -- not

only because th

other four psychiatrists have disagreed with

him, but because the reasons underlying their disagreement
powerfully demonstrate the flawed ‘process of evaluation under-
' : \

taken by Dr. Ivory. J]

The primary and essential difference between Dr. Ivory's

Process of evaluation and Drs. Amin's, Kaufman's, Mhatre's , and

Afield's process of evaluation is ‘this: only Dr. Ivory ignored
I

and refused to take into account. the two-year-long history of Mr.

Ford's illness’ and the symptoms of illness documented during that
time by Mr. pordte letters and by Dr. Amin's and Dr. Kaufman's
evaluations. Unquestionably, Dr. Ivory could have taken these
matters into .account. On Decemijer 16,-1983, three days prior to
the psychiatric commission's evaluation of Mr. Ford, counsel for
Mr. Pord madeavailable to each commission member Mr. Ford's
letters and the reports of Dr. Amin arid Dr. Kaufman, as well as a
narrative summary of the major features of Mr. Ford's illness.
Both Dr. Mhatre end Dr. Afield received this material and
expressed their appreciation of ita importance to their evalua-
tion of Mr. Pord. Dr. Ivory, however, expressly refused to
accept the material when they were hand-delivered to him by Mr.
Ford's counsel, noting that he did not want to know any of the
matters contained therein prior to the interview with Mr. Ford.
Fallowing the interview on December 19, 1983, Dr. Ivory asked for
and was provided’ the materials. However, his report sent to the
Governor on pecedber 20, 1983, made absoxaveay no reference to

any of the weteriai< or to the subjects contained therein.9

Accordingly, there can be no infecence but’ that Dr. Ivory ignored
and refused ‘ta consider any symptomatology that he did not
observe -- or have reported to him by correctional officers -- on
December 19, (1983.

without considering Mr. -Ford's documented history of
psychosis, or. Ivory was at a distinct disadvantage, for the
interview with Mr. Ford on December 19 presented only a very
small part of Fr puch larger picture. Tre only symptom of illness

| i i F
presented there was marked incoherence of speech. Because of his
: b

————— i
2 } ont .
9 By contrast, the reports of Dr. Mhatre and br. Afield relied
expressly upon those materials. See Appendix, /Mhatre Report and

Afield report. ; ey

self-imposed blindness to matters not presented on December 19,

cather than evaluating this syapiem-in the context of all of Mr.
| |
Ford's other pr viously documented symptoms of illness, ‘pr. Ivory

. ! -
treated this symptom as the only one. Within this framework,

when he observed that Mr. Ford's alért and appropriate non-verbal
behavior during’ the interview, his wéll-organized cell, and his
apparent ability) to function independently on a day-to-day level,

. . | A

were in sharp conflict with the "pervasive disorganization"
|
i
|

Ivory quite naturally concluded that Mr. Ford's “disorder,

suggested by Mr. Ford's verbal behavior during the interview, Dr.

although severe, seems contrived and recently learned." The
pervasiveness GE, the disorder suggested by his verbal behavior
simply was not ‘confirmed by anything else Dr. Ivory observed, 10
In light of: the digcuawsion, supra, of Mr. Ford's additional,
solidly documented symptoms of psychosis, it should be obvious

that Dr. Ivory's self-imposed ignorance of the array of other

symptoms of psychotic iliness presented by Mr. Ford thoroughly
invalidates his conclusion that Mr. Ford suffers only from a
"contrived illness." By ignoring Mr. Ford's prominent persecu-
tory, grandioaey and bizarre delusions, his increasingly: (over
time) incoherent speech and loosening of associations, his

impaired level of functioning since the onset of his illness, and

10 pr. Ivory also seemed to find some support for his “contrived
iliness" analysis on the basis of unnamed guards’ accounts that
Mr. Ford “talks normally to the guards, but during the last week
they have heard him practicing strange speech from lists of words
he had written in nonsensical order." Appendix, Ivory Report.
While there is no reason to doubt that such a comment was made to
Dr. Ivory,-there is substantial reason not to give the same
meaning to this statement which Dr. Ivory seemed to give it. In
the first-place, there is no indication that the guards who
observed this (if it happened) knew what they were observing. We
know that at least three weeks before this statement, Mr, Ford
was writing. letters in the same nonsensical manner. See
Appendix, Letters, AA. The guard(s) could well have observed Mr.
Pord reading ithat letter. Moreover "practicing" is in the eye of
the beholder; and it would be quite easy for a lay person to mis-
perceive as “practicing” Hr.-ford's psychotic muttering to
himself. Indeed, Dr. Mhatre's: account ef the same statements by
the guards made Mr. Ford's ‘strange speech seem much more like
spontaneous outbursts. See Appendix, Mhatre Report. In short,
there simply are too many other explanations for this behavior ~~
if it did occur -- to conclude that. it supports a hypothesis of
contrived illness. In the second place, we have no way of
knowing whether the guards’ statements are even remotely true. We
do not know who the guards are who made these statements, whether
they observed the behavior first-hand,’ whether their view of the
need for executions to take place colored their reported
"observations," etc. Accordingly, this’ matter has little
relevance to any of the issues to be decided by the Governor.

the two-year duzation of his illness, Dr. Ivory ignored virtually
all of the documented symptomatology concerning Mr. Ford. Had he
taken all of these facts into account -- as brs. Amin, Kaufman,
Mhatre, and Afield did -~ he simply could not have reached the
same conclusion. As the other four paychiatriste implicitly
recognized, a‘ person can very well be psychotic yet still be
alert and responsive to non-verbal or verbal stimuli, and also
appear well-organized in the day-to-day matters of life,11

Accordingly, Dr. Ivory's conclusions are the result of a
flawed process of analysis and cannot be accepted. Since,
therefore, a DSM-I1I-based analysis of -the material facts and all
of the reliable psychiatric opiniGn concerning Mr. Ford’ point to
the same conclusion -~ that Me. Ford is psychotic -- the finding
should be made by the Governor that Mr. Ford is psychotic.

With this finding, there can be no doubt that Mr. Ford
suffers from a disorder that could affect his sanity under
Section 922.07, “AS previously noted, a person who is psychotic
suffers from a disorder characterized by

bat ;

..-gross impairment in. reality testing....
When<there is gross impairment in reality
testing, the individual incorrectly evaluates
the accuracy of his or her. perceptions and
thoughts and makes incorrect inferences about
external reality, even in the face of contrary

evidence a
DSM-III, at 367: Since Section 922.07 is concerned with whether
a person sunderstands" or “reasons accurately" concerning the
nature ana effect of the death penalty and why it is to be

imposed, it follows that if a particular person suffers froma

came

disorder which causes him to -xraasen inaccurately about external
reality -- as psychosis does -- he could very well not

“understand” the nature and effect of the death penalty and why

it is to be imposed.

See DSM-III at 184 ("(tlypically/ no. disturbance in sensorium is
’ “evident, although during a period of exacerbation the individual
may be confused or even @isoriented, or have memory impairment"),
and at 191 (if the schizophrenic disorder is of the paranoid
cyr?t, “(t]he impairment in functioning may be minimal if the
jelusional material is not acted upon, since gross disorgani~
zation of behavior is relatively rare({;] (s]imilarly, affective
ness may be preserved[;J [o]f&ten a stilted, formal

responsive: ate} ‘ : ; a
quality, or extreme intensity in interpersonal interactions is

noted").
B. Mr. Ford's Disorder Has Caused Him To Be Insane Under
Section 922.07's Test Of Sanity

In the previous section or pais memorandum, we have estab-

lished that Mr. Ford suffers from a form of ps ychosis” which, by

its nature, could cause him to.be insane under the test of of

sanity prescribed by Section pee. 07. In ‘this sect ion of the
memorandum, | will show why Mr. Ford's psychosis has paused him
I

|
The process of analysis necessary to determine whether Mr.

to be insane under the 922.07 test.

Ford's psychosis has made him insane involves two steps. First,
the content of his delusions must be examined to determine
whether he has “mafde] incorrect inferences’ about external
reality® concerning the nature and effect of the death penalty or
why it ie to be’carried out against him, Second, if his delu-
sions do extend to either or both of these matters, the genuine-~-
ness of the particular delusion must be re-examined to determine
whether there a any reason to find that, despite his otherwise
psychotic state, he does genuinely know what reality is with
respect to both of these matters. _

With eeebect to the first step, while Mr. Ford's delusions .
have not caused him to make incorrect inferences about the nature

and effect of the death penalty, they have caused him to make

incorrect. inferences about why the death penalty is to be carried

out against him. There is nothing in Mr.. Pord's delusions to

Ss gest that he does not understand the nature and effect of the

de h penalty. Dr. Kaufman found nothing, and the psychiatric
commission found nothing. To the contrary, even in Mr. Ford's
most incoherent presentation of himself -~ in the interview with
t- conditiea'fon,con December 19, 1983 -- Mr. Ford appeared to

exstand that if the death penalty were carried out, he would

a « See Appendix, Ivory Report, Mhatre Repart, and Afield

Ret. ‘ a
ere is, however, striking evidence that Mr. Ford's

-us ...3 have fundamentally impatred his understanding of why

a death penalty would be carried out against him. One aspect
fur. Ford's delusions which Dr. Kaufman so clearly documented
s his belief that he no longer has a death sentence because he

+s won his case, and accordingly * can't be executed)..." As

i
recounted verbatim by Dr. Kaufman, Mr. Ford's “incorrect in-

I
ferences about [the] external reality" of his “re sentence are

the following

I know i here is some sort of ‘death phir, but
I'm free to go whenever I want because Ht would
be illegal and the executioner would be
executed.... I won't be’ executed because of no
crime...maybe because I° ‘ma smart ass.... My
‘case, is’ gonna save me.... ~~ I*can't be executed
because of the landmack.case. I won. | Pord v.
State will prevent executions all over.

Appendix, Kalitean Report, at 2-3.) Thus, Hecause Mc. Ford
believes that /his death sentence has been overturned, he believes
that the state cannot execute him. While he is less sure about
whether the alate might try to. execute him anyw , he is.certain
that, because of his victory in *pord v. Sta e.* he "won't be
executed because of no crime.” If he ise executed, the state
would do so “maybe [only] because I'm a smart ass." Certainly
there can be no dispute that this delusion shows that Mr. Ford
does not "understand" why the death penalty is to be imposed
against him. (

The first step of the 922. 07. ‘analysis having been satisfied
-~ by the evidence that Mr. Ford believes that his death sentence
has been ovestijrned and that as a result he cannot be executed

for any crime hej might have. committed -- the second step must be
undertaken. The genuineness of this delusion must be re-examined
to determine whether there is any TeAsony despite Mr. Ford's
otherwise psychotic state, to find that this particular delusion
is not genuine -- that Mr. Ford really does know that if he were
electrocuted he would be electrocuted because of the death
sentence which has been imposed against him and upheld in the
courts. This step of the analysis requires an examination of the
opinions of the psychiatrists wha have considered this matter.
The starting point must be the opinion of Dr. Kaufman, for
he is the person who has documented the. delusion which demon-

strates 922.07 insanity. Based upop his interview with Mr. Ford,

Dr. Kaufman expressed the following opinion:
Pullin ‘this material together I have. come to
the cor clusion that Mr. Ford is sefferilng from
schizophrenia, undifferentiated type, acute and
chronic, The delusional material, the free-
floating and disorganized ideational an¢ verbal,
productivity, and his flatness of af fect are
the highlights of the signs. leading |to this

: ge '
diagnosis of psychosis.” The possibility that
he could be lying or malingering is indeed
remote in my professional opinion.
‘ t
oa i
You have asked me to relate: Mr.) Ford's
psychiatric condition. to-several ‘standards
which “might be used to determine his ‘competence
to be executed, It is my conclusion, using the
Florida Statutory standard you have Supplied me
with, that because of his psychiatric illness,
while he does understand the nature of the
death penalty, he lacks the mental capacity to
understand the reasons why it is heing! imposed
on him. His ability to reason is occluded,
disorganized and confused when thinking about
his possible execution. He can make no
connection between the homicide he committed
and the death penalty. Even-when I! pointed
this connection out to “himhe laughed derisive-
ly ati me. He sincerely believes that his is
not going to be executed because he owns the
prisons, could send mind waves to the Governor
and centrol him, President Reagan's interfer-,
ence ini the execution process, etc.

Appendix, Kaufman Report, at.3 (emphasis in original). Having
found that nz. Ford was psychotic and that the possibility that
his psychosis was contrived was” “indeed remote,"12 pr. Kaufman
then found that Mr. Ford's delusional process deprived him of
"the mental capacity to understand the reasons why [the death
penalty] is being imposed on him." Dr. Kaufman found no reason
to doubt the sincerity of Mr. Ford's inability to understand why
the death penalty could be carried out against him. To the
contrary he found that numerous factors, recounted in the excerpt
from his report,~ supra, confirmed the sincerity of Mr. Ford's
delusion. . :

The: report of Dr. Mhatre indicates his agreement with Dr.
Kaufman's finding that Mr. Ford suffers from psychosis. However,
Dr. Mhatre found that Mr. Ford, nevertheless, “has enough
cognitive faunal anid to understand the nature and the effects of
the death penalty, and why it is to be imposed upon him."
Because of pe Mhatre's finding, it is necessary to analyze the
basis for his opinion that Mr. Ford still has “enough cognitive

|
I
A Fs
17 an a previous agetion of his cenit Ore tae chaubne fed ts
another with no seeming relation to the previous one with such
rapidity that I have come to the conclusion that there is no
reasonable possibility that Mr. Ford was dissembling, malingering

or otherwise putting on a performance to induce me to believe him
to be psychotic or incompetent to be executed.

‘ca neclean ese assaccha cat

!

functioning” to meet the 922.07 test of sanity

entire basis for his opinion, as well as his opinion, must be
. I

examined. He reported these as follows:

Mr. Ford was evaluated at 11:00 a.m.
courtroom of Florida State Prison..

. To do so, the

‘in the
He was

appropriately dressed, and exhibited good eye

contact with all the people in the room,

ihe did

not exhibit any stranger anxiety or fears. He

settled down in a chair, accompanied

“by his

lawyers, and his friendS through the Florida

Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice,

As per

prior arrangement, Dr. Afield began to ask him

questions, Mr. Ford did not initially

respond

but did so after his lawyers encouraged him.
Most of his responses to the questions were
bizarre... He continued to respond by jibberish

talk such as “break one", "God one®,

“heaven

one", However, throughout these bizarre

responses, Mr. Ford kept good eye conta

ct with

the examiners. After awhile, his responses to
questions became a little more appropriate
indicating that he did understand the meaning

of the questions asked of him, even tho

ugh hig

responses remained somewhat bizarre. Throughout

the interview which lasted about

thirty

minutes, there was no evidence of any halluci~

nations and Mr. Ford exhibited good abi

lity to

concentrate. He was relaxed and did not exhibit

any physical aggression. Inf response

to Dr.

Afield‘s.question, “what will happen when you
die?",. Mr. Ford responded “heaven one, hell
one", indicating that he did understand the

meaning of the question.

ae .
His moo@ appeared to be normal and affect was
blunted. He did however ‘smile and exhibited
good range of affect with his friends from his

lawyer's office. His crientation and
were nor formerly [sicj “tested, but
appear:to be oriented to people and pla

did not
thoughts,-

memory
he did
|

ce, He

exhibit any suicidal or homicidal

The conversation with the guards at Florida
State Prison who have been working with Mr.
Ford, furnished the following information. His

jibberish talk and bizarre behavior
after all his legal attempts failed.

pcarted
He was

then noted to throw all his, legal papers up in
the air and was depressed for several days
after’ that. He especially became more de~
pressed after another inmate, Mr. ‘Sullivan, was
put to death and his behavior has rapidly

deteriorated since then. . In spite of th

is, Mr.

Ford continues to relate to other inmates and

with the guards regarding his personal

needs.

He has also borrowed books from the library and

has been -.reading them on a daily bas

is. A

visit to his cell indicated that it was neat,

clean and tidy and well organized.

The review of the extensive material provided
by his lawyers including reports by Dr. Kaufman
and Dr.jAmin, and his correspondence with Gail
Rowland of [the] Florida Clearinghouse [on]
Crimindgl: Justice indicate that Mr. Ford has
been ‘gradually decompensating since July and

has worsened since the death of Mr. Sull

are

vere

|
|
|

It is my medical opinion that Mr. Ford has been
suffering from psychosis with paranoia,
possibly as a result of the stress of being
incarcerated and possible execution in the near
future. In spite of psychosis, he has shown
ability to carry on day to day activities, and
relate to his fellow inmates and guards, and
appears to understand what is happening around
him. It is my medicai opinion that though Mr.
Ford is suffering from psychosis at the present
time, he has enough cognitive functioning to
_understand the nature-and.the effects of the
death genalty, and.why it is to be imposed upon
him

Appendix, Mhatre “Report.

ay
At the outset, the significance of Dr. Mhatre's diagnosis

| - .
that Mr. Ford suffers from “psychosis with paranoia" must be

fully understiood, for this dieenosis dictated how he had to
assess Mr. Ford's sanity under Section 922.07. Because Mr.
Ford's verbal presentation in the short interview with Dr. Mhatce
and the other commission members was so incoherent. and limited,
to reach this. diagnosis Dr. Mhatre had to rely on Mr. Ford's
letters and Dr. Amin's and Dr. Kaufman's evaluations, as he
reported he did.13 Included in the letters and the evaluations
was overwhelming documentation of: Mr. Ford's delusional thinking,
including documentation of his delusion that he could no longer
be executed because his death sentence had been overturned. Since
a diagnosis of, 2psychosis”® refers essentially to the presence of

delusional thinking,14 in order for Dr. Mhatre to have diagnosed
¥ & | “
Mr. Ford as “psychotic,” he therefore had to accept this docu-

mentation as accurate, as demonstrating that Mr. Ford genuinely

suffered from delusional thinking, Thus, Dr. Mhatre's diagnosis

of Mr. Ford meant that he believed that Mr. Ford suffered from
delusional thinking. Accordingly, Dr. Mhatre's diagnosis of Mr.

Pord required that he account for Mr. Ford's delusional thinking

: i
ER . sf
13° see pages 55-57, supra, (explaining why Dr. Ivory's evaluation
was unreliable due to his failure to consider the letters and

prior evaluations).

- . "Gross impairment in reality testing® is the central feature of
osychosis. DSM-III, at 367. When this impairment is present,
the individual incorrectly evaluates the accuracy of his or her
serceptions and thoughts and makea incorrect inferences about
extecnal reality, even in the face of contrary, evidence." Id.
Likewise, a "delusion" is a "false belief based upon incorrect
inference about external reality and firmly sustained in spite of
what almost everyone else believes and in spite of what consti-
tutes incontrovertible and obvious proof or evidence to the
sontrary." (DSM-III, at 356.

& ot

in assessing “his 922.07 sanity. Since one of Mr. Ford's
documented delusions Squarely negated nis neheal Capacity to
understand why the death Penalty was to be imposed upon him --
his unshakeable belief that his death sentence ‘had been over-
turned and that as a result he could not be xecuted for any

crime he may nate committed -- pr. Mhatre had to examine this

delusion and deternine that it was not genuine) in order for him

to conclude, %) he did, that Mr. Ford “has enough cognitive

functioning to;understand...why [the death Penalty] is to be

imposed upon him."

As Dr. nin 8 ‘report demanaveades, ‘howe er, he undertook

no. such analysis. He did not address at all, explicitly or

implicitly, the delusion which was material to bhe! 922.07 inquiry
in order to determine whether it was sincerely heua or contrived.
He merely found that Mr. Ford (a) was appropriately dressed, (b)
exhibited good eye contact with the commission Members, (c)
exhibited no stranger anxiety, (d) understood the meaning of the
questions asked of him, (e) exhibited no evidence of hallucina-
tions, (£) exhibited a good ability. to concentrate, (9g) presented
a blunted affect although exhibiting a good range, of affect, (h)
showed an seSnIEY to carry on day to day activities and to relate
to his fellow innates and guards, and (i) appeared to understand
what wags happening around him, None, absolutely none, of these
findings tends Ly show that Mr. Ford is able or unable to
perceive external reality accurate}y.or to make accurate infer-
ences from external reality. fhey show Only that Mr. Ford
appears to be able to function in 4 social context in an adequate

and appropriate tanner. As the DSM-III makes clear, the ability

to function appropriately cannot, however, be taken as evidence

that a person ig ‘Rot delusional, for.

{the] ispeirwsne in functioning may be minimal
if the delusional material is not acted upon,
since gross disorganization of behavior is
extremely rare. Similarly, affective respon-
siveness may be preserved. ,

DSM-III, at 191,15

= i

15 Phe only other facts -- not findings ~~ mentioned by Dr. Mhatre,
which might be taken as an oblique effort to evaluate the
sincerity of ar Ford's delusion, were the guards’ recounting of
Mc. Ford's onset of depression "after all his legal attempts
failed" and his increased depression following the execution of

|

vee SUBSRGLS, ase ts enearety, of the

following:

i i
At your [the Governor's} request, I examined
Alvin Bernard Ford in the Florida State Prison,
at Starke on December 19, 1983. aa part of
this evaluation, I reviewed the extensive
records provided to me by legal counsel from

e inmate’and reviewed the

psychiatrist ana examined the man in the
Presencé of all counsels and two other jState-
appointed. Psychiatrists, My ‘examination
i te mental status examina
« T spoke at length with
Attorney Burr and reviewed complete medical

. prison, which included
Psychiatric evaluations and reports) from .
several prison PS8ychologists.. J teviewed in
depth Dr. Kaufman's findinge, : {
It is my medical Opinion that mr, Ford does
indeed suffer from serlous emotional Problems.
He is Presenting himself in a very disorganized
manner with a bizarre picture which does not
fit any classical description of a Psychiatric
illness, The nature of his disorganization is
somewhat "put on,* but the profoundness| of it
forces me.to Put a “psychaotic" label on the
inmate. Again, this is, not’ a classical

is on death row and may be electrocuted. the
bottom line, in Summary is, although sick, he

Afield thus diagnosed Mr. Ford as “psychotic® ~~ necessarily on
the basis of ur. Pord's delusional thinking as documented in his
letters and the reports of Dr. Amin and Dr. Kaufman. See the
discussion, supra, at pages 62-63. Having reached ands diagno-
sis, Dr. Afield then totally ignored mr. Ford's delusion about
his death sentence having been. overturned ang concluded simply
that Mr. Pord "does understand the nature of the death penalty
that he is facing and is aware thet he is on death row and may be
electrocuted. The bottom line, in summary is, although sick, he

does know fully what can happen to hime" Unlike Dr. Mhatre,

however, Dr.

see Be

r _¥ |
|

that Mc. Ford “has enough cognitive functioning to understand...
why [the death penalty) is to “is Emposed ‘upon hin.” His findings
are not even material to this sereauatane dis findings support
only the conclusion thet Hr. Ford has = duough cognitive

functioning to, be able to function adequa

ely in a social
environment. | Since DOr. Mhatre diagnosed Mr. gord as psychotic,
hence delusional, and made no findings which suggested that Mr.
Pord'a delusion concerning his death sentence was not sincere, he
was obligated, as wag Dr. Kaufman, to conclude that Mr. pord did
not have the mental capacity to ‘anderstand, why the death penalty
is to be imposed upon him. His conclusion to the contrary, given
his diagnosis of Mr. Ford and his findings as a result of the
interview with Mc. Ford, is abgolutely unsupported and
unsuppoctable. | |

The report of Dr. Afield suffers from the same defect as the

report of Dr. Hhatre. Moreover, Dr. Afield has failed altogether

tical igsue:. whether Mr. Ford

to render an.opinion on the ¢

understands why he is to be executed.

o

Bob Sullivan Dr. Mhatre drew no inference from these facts
concerning Mr. Ford's delusion that he no longer has a death
sentence. There could be an inference drawn, however, that at
the time hia legal attempta failed Mr. Ford accurately understood
the meaning of that failure -~ that he could be executed -- and
this was why he became depressed. However accurate that in-
ference might be, it muat be-understood in context, Mr. Ford's
"legal attempts failed” on October 3, 1983, when the United
States Supreme Court denied certiorari in his case. One month
later, Dr. Kaufman documented Mc. Ford's gincerely held delusion
that hie death sentence had been vacated. Thus, if on October 3,
Mc. Pord accurately understood that he could be executed, in the
succeeding:month, it is entirely probable, given Mr. Ford's
psychosis, that he becawe delusional -- sincerely ~-about that
possibility (that he could be.executed). Accordingly, the
inference doeg not undermine Dr. Kaufman'g agsessment of the
sincerity of Mr. Pord's delusion. Unlike Mr. Ford‘'g onset of
‘depreasion.on October 3, the increased depression over Mr.
Sullivan's execution can support no inference concerning Mr.
Ford's. undersganding of whether. he could be executed. AWNr.
Sullivan was Mr.-Pord's friend, one ofthe few remaining. friends,
he had. The only reasonable inference to be drawn from Mr.
Ford's incteased depression over Mr. Sullivan's execution,
therefore, is the depresgion that naturally follows the loss of a
friend. (It |should also be noted, for the same reasons set forth
in Pootnote’'10, supra, that we do not even know whether the
officers recounting these incidents‘of Mr. Ford's behavior were
telling the truth.} Accordingly, these facts @o not tend to show
that Mr. Ford's delusion concerning his death sentence is
insincere. * * ies : :

following:

At your [the Governor's] request, I éxamined
Alvin Bernard Ford in Che Florida State Prison,
at Starke on December 19, 1983. As part of
this evaluation, I reviewed the extensive
records provided to me by legal counsel from
your office, I had an in-depth conference with

Presence of all counsels and two other stiate-
appointed psychiatrists. .. My examination
consisted of a complete mental status examina-
tion. Subsequently, I Spoke at length with
Attorney Burr and reviewed complete medical
records from the prison, which included
psychiatric evaluations and reports from
several prison Psychologists, J reviewed in
depth Dr. Kaufman's findings, - |

It is my medical Opinion that mr. Ford does
indeed suffer from serious emotional Problems,
He is presenting himself in a very disorganized
manner with a bizarre picture which does |not
fit any classical description of a Psychiatric
illness, The nature of his disorganization is
somewhat “put on,* but the profoundness of it
forces me. to Put a “psychotic” label on |the
inmate. Again, this is. not’ a classical
Psychiatric’ diagnosis, but the man clearl vis
quite emotionally ill, Much of this had to do
with the sentence that he is currently facing
and his situation within the prison setting.
On the basis of all the data and in light) of
the Florida Statute 922.07, it is my opinion
that althaugh this man is severely disturb a,
he does understand the nature of the death
penalty that he is facing and is aware that! he
is on death row and may be electrocuted. The
bottom line, in summary is, although sick,/|he
does know: fully what can happen to him. |

: |
S |
Appendix, Afield Repert. In the same manner.as Dr. thatre, Dr.

Afield thus diagnosed Mr. Ford as’ “psychotic* -- necessarily on

rv |
the basis of Mr.:Pord's delusional thinking as documented in his

letters and the réporta of Dr. Amin and Dr. Kaufman, | See the
discussion, su ra) at pages 62-63. Having reached this diagno-
sis, Dr. Afield then totally ignored mr. Ford's delusion about
his death sentence having been overturned and concluded simply
that Mr. Ford “does understand ‘the nature of the death penalty
that he is facing and is aware that he is on death row and may be
electrocuted. The bottom line, in summary is, although sick, he

does know fully’what can happen to him." Unlike Dr. Mhatre,

limited his conclusign to the determination

however, Dr. afield

that Mr. Pord-understands the nature Ox the death penalty and
that he may be elecprocated. He did not determine whether Mr.
Ford understands why he may be electrocuted, 16 Accordingly, Dr.
Afield‘'s report not only failed to evaluate the delusional
material which is centrally relevant to the 922.07 determination
and which he necessarily relied on in concludiing that Mr. Ford
was psychotic, but also failed to address. altogether the question
upon which the 922.07 devermlueedod. concdrniag Mr. Ford rests:
whether he understands why the death penalty is to be imposed
upon hin. As, a result, Dr. Afield's report is useless in
determining whether Mr. Ford is dasane under Section 922.07.
Finally, the remaining two evaluations of Mr. Ford -- by Dr.
Ivory and Dr. Amin -~ add nothing to the process. of ‘determining

|
Mc. Ford's sanity under Section 922.07. As previously discussed,

Dr. Ivory erroneously concluded that Mr. Ford was not psychotic
and that his symptoms of mental disorder vere contrived. His
opinion that Mv. Pord is sane under the test: of 922.07 is
therefore flawed for the same reasons. While pr. Amin did find
that Mr. Pord was psychotic, he was not asked to address Mr.
Ford's sanity under Section 922.07: Thus, he has not rendered an
opinion that eoua offer guidance for the 922.07 determination.

tia

On the basis of the facts known about Mr. Ford's psychosis,
therefore, the a should be made that Mr. Ford is
insane under the ‘test of sanity prescribed by Section 922.07. The
central fexcuce of Mr. Ford's Bayenouts, his delusional thought
process, has ‘caused him to believe erroneously that his death
sentence has been overturned and that he cannot as a result be
executed for the crime he may have committed. There is no reason
that anyone has/ found to disbelieye the sincerity of Mr. Ford's

delusion. Accordingly, Hr. Pord does not have the mental

capacity to “understand” or “reason accurately"-why the death
“| "

16 Clearly there is a difference between understanding that you may
be electrocuted and why you may be electrocuted. Mr. Ford
understands, that he may be electrocuted (“maybe because I'm a
smart ass"), but he does not understand -- accurately, which is
essential under Section 922.07 -- why he may be electrocuted ("I
won't be executed because of no crime..,. I can't be executed
because of ‘the landmark case. I won."). i

1

It is wiEpER this historical and jarisprudential context

that we aax ‘che Governor to getecmine’ aivin Bernard Ford's
Present sanity. In this context, the Governor cannot simply act
as a rubber stamp for the opinions of the three psychiatrists
whom he has appointed to assist in the determination of sanity.
If there were a tendency to do this, Mr. Ford's case presents in
a dramatic fashion why that should not be done. In his case
there are competing psychiatric opinions, not so much on the
question of whether he suffers a serious mental disorder, but on
the question of whether that disorder has made him insane under
the test of sanity provided by Section 922.07. We have presented
in this memorandum the reasons why we think that the view that
Mr. Ford is insane, which is admittedly the minority view
~-espoused by only one of three psychiatrists -- is nevertheless
the most reliable view. The trust impressed upon the Governor by

Section 922.07 demands no less than chat these reasons be given

: |
careful, unbiased consideration.

We believe that if such consideration is-given, the Governor

will find that Mr. Ford is inganel. |

Respectfully submitted,

i
i
|
RICHARD H. BURR, TIT
224 Datura Street, 13th Ploor
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

LAURIN A. WOLLAN, JR.
1515 Hickory Avenue
Tallahassee, FL 32303

February 29, 1984—

met

TO: Attorney Richard Burr
Oifice of the Public Defender
Appellate Division
224 Datura Street
West Palm Beach, Florida 3340}

|
FROM: Jamal A, Amin, M.D. ‘ |

|
RE: Mr. Alvin Ford
DATE OF REPORT: June 9, 1983

j
|
|
PURPOSE AND METHODOLOGY

Requested by Defense Attorneys to present my professional opinions
reyarding Mr, Alvin Ford's present mental status using the following
paradipm - in spite of his refusal to currently cooperate with any mental
health professional: (1) “A total of four separate in-person evaluations
at Florida State Prison commencing July, 1981 and ending August, 1982. (2) A
recently taped conversation between Mr. Ford and his attorneys. (3) Recent
letters written by Mr. Ford to Relatives, Attorneys, and Myself. (4) Interviews
with relatives, attorneys, other inmates, prison personnel, and others with
direct observations of Mr, Ford's behavior-in the. past three months. (5) July
and August, 1982 ~ Psychological Evaluations by Psychologists Pittman and
Fleet, (6) August, 1982 — Psychiatric Evaluation by Prison Psychiatrist Doctor
Innocent, (7) Florida State Prison Medical Records,

CURRENT SITUATION |
Mr. Ford is’ presently incarcerated-on Death Row at Florida State Prison
while his legal efforrs.proceed through the courts. He is not receiving treat-
ment for any mental disorder in:spite of gradual changes in his behavior first
noted in December, 1981. He has steadfast]y refused - -psychotrophic medication
and has become increasingly withdrawa, uncoopersttve:, and bizarre in his inter-
actions with familiar persons.

SIGNEFICANT FINDINGS RELATED TO MENTAL STATUS -

(1) During the last psychiatric evaluation - the examiner was impressed with
the feelings of “emotional distance" and an inability to establish a
previously on-going empathic rapport.

(2) Affect and moods are no longer appropriate or adequate to Mr. Ford's presen
situation indicating some disturbance in the regulation of his affect or
emotions,

(3) The content of Mr. Ford's speech increasingly leane toward the symbolic, th
esoteric, and the abstract.

(4) Episodes of the abrupt blocking of the stream of Fhopehe when Mr. Ford
ceases to speak in the middle of a sentence.

(5) Mr. Ford haa difficulty in organizing his thoughts by the usual rules of
universal logic and reality. His associations are loose, his attention.
span is diminished, and he appears unable to prevent the intrusion of irrel:
evant material into his thought processess. Also, he has difficulty in mait
taining appropriate levels of abstractness as he accentuates obscure
features while ignoring central issues. This decrease in his abstract
attitude has been accompanied by an increase in his concrete thinking.

(6) Mr. Ford 1s unable to differentiate fantasy from reality and his fantasies
become part of the basis for his dclustons. He Snakes fantasies which

a |
. x
(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

(12)

CLINECAL

indicate that he
by
Me.

= 2.-

eels his thoughts’ are being controlled or influenced
"“oucside forces" such as a female disk jockey in Jacksonville, Florida
Ford has developed complex, yet logical paranoid and delusional

systems usually after the false interpretation of some actual occurrence,

His paranoia and
Klan",
predicament,
There

and

that he sees and
murder;
or cleaver;

tions which were
guards and other

speaking out loud

delusional thinking have centered around "the Klu Klux

nonexistent love affairs with any female showing interest in his

aecret messages from the radio, televison, and books.

are convincing and consistent indications chat Mr, Ford suffers
trom auditory and :

viaual hallucinations.
hears incidents

He has consistently maintained
catia cell block involving his mother's

an unidentified inmate threatning to kill him with a gun, knife,
and an unidentified woman repeatedly being beaten und raped.
keality testing does nothing to shake Mr.

Ford's faith in his hallucina-
‘firat reported approximately twenty months ago. Prison
Death Row Inmates have reported episodes of Mr. Ford
and angryly to seemingly nonexistent persons.

There is strong evidence of suicidal ideation both past and present.
Florida Stare Prison Medical Records indicate that Mr. Ford has been
treated for "Peptic Ulcer Disease since’1978 and that there was one

instance of treat

‘ment for an “Agitated Depression" in 1982, His medical

records also reflect numerous stress related somatic complaints such as

chest pains,

There 1s a documented
LSD, Aicohol,

Cocaine,
Mr, Ford appears
any

stomach pains,

IMPRESSIONS AND DYNAMIC FORMULATIONS

joint pains, and skin reactions.

history of severe drug abuse of substances such as
and Amphetamines...

\co have very little.insight into the fact that he has

émotional problems and goes to great lengths to deny mental illness.

abnormal
Lensivuns
ly convincing for a psychiatric diagnosis related toa

Mr.- Ford's above

Breakdown",

Schizophrenic patients) to show the

signs and symptoms
and anxieties produced by Death Row: confinement should be overwhelmin

outlined list of at least twelve present and past
- coupled with the reality of severe on-going

"Paranoid Schizophrenic

cies i
Since there are no psychological tests for Schizophrenia which are compar
able to an empirical test for something like, Syphilis - it is not unusual for

“normal psychological profile” which Prison

Psychologists Pittman land Fleet obtaias¢ from adwinistering psychological test
approximately ten months ago.

Mr. Ford's psych

tic episodes which initially were intermittent have

increasingly become sustained and in the typical pattern of psychiatric decom-
pensation he goes to great lengths to deny any mental illness and to give the

appearance of being mentally intact.

Therefore, it is understandable how

Prison Psychiatrists concluded "Malingéring"™ because it is not unusual for
“Functional Schizophrenics" such as Mr. Ford cto muster enough "psychic glue"

to remain mentally
persons they distrust.
psychotic symptomatology

datact during periods of time when they are dealing with

seem to ignor

However, prison reports of “Malingering”™
all prison

noted in their own reports. For example,

reports state that Mr. Ford alleges that he sees and hears unusual things

(audicory & visual hallucinations) and that
tion against an imaginary enemy (paranoia).

he acquired a knife for his protec
Furthermore, prison evaluations

which state that part of their reason for concluding malingering is based upon
the"absence of paychological difficulties in the subjecc's history" are in
error when one considers a Prison Psychiatrist'e diagnosis of “agitated

Depression

known as “"Sinequan". |

"and che prescribing of tranquilizing/anti-depressant medication

It should be noted that in the typical fashion of
= @9 x

someone experiencing psychotic decompensation ~ Mr. Ford was suspicious of his
medication and refused to take it. .Also, his history of drug abuse and treat-
ment for Peptic Ulcer, Disease would cast doubts on statements indicating no
past psychological difficulties.

Mr. Ford's delusional thinking which cannot be corrected by reasoning or

reality testing - represents a desperate attempt to regain control because he

Is strictly confined and feels harassed, powerless, and Lucreuslnyly Prapmentes
He appears grandiese because he bas deluded himself into feelings of exagpyerated
importance because so much effort revolves around his prosecution and defense.

Alvin Ford's suicidal ideation is dynamically related to the following
fuctors: (1) The intense, on-going stress and anxiety of an impending electro -
cucion, (2) Psychotic behavior which is. becoming increasingly ineffective as
a defense against overwhelming depression. (3) An unconscious desire to succuml
to a mental disease so that himself and his socio-cultural community can bette
as cpt his disgraceful situation.

In my professional opinion - Mr. Alvin Ford is presently suffering trom
uo severe, uncontrollable, mental disease which closely resembles “Paranoid
Schizophrenia With Suicidal Potential", This major mental disorder is severe
enough cto substantially affect Mr. Ford's present ability to assist in the
detense of his life.

lt should be noted that Mr. Ford's ambivalence around whether to continue
his legal fight ‘is in and of itself an indication, of a psychotic disorder so
severe that it suicidally compels him to embracé his own death.
i

KECOMNENDATIONS

(1) Arrangements should be made for Mr. Ford to receive a complete Psychiatric
Neurological, and Nutitional Work-up to rule out causes related to
toxins, organic lesions, and/or Vitamin Deficiencies.

(2) Psycothrophic medication in a liquid or injectable form should be consider
to ameliorate some of the more blatant symtomatology.

Respectfully submitted,

Jamal A. Amin, M.D. ,M.
Psychiatrist/Nutritionist

HAROLD KAUFMAN, M.D. r.«.
2816 N STREET, H.W.
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20007

(202) 338 - 1960

December 14, 1983

Richard H. Burr, Esq.

Office of the Public Defender
13th Flpor Harvey Building
224 Datura Street.

West Palm Beach, FL. 33401

Rez. Alvin Berr

Dear Mr. Burr:

nard Ford

CONFIDENTIAL PSYCHIATRIC REPOKY

1 am writing this report in response to your request that I present che
findings of my three hour incerviaw.vith Alvin Ford which I conducted at
Sturke, Florida, on November 3, 1483, to determine his competency to be
executed. ,

You will recal} that both you and Professor Laurin Wollan, who has taken

an incerest in Mr. Ford's case, were present for about ninety minutes
of the interview which cook place in an interview room at the Starke

ipetency for

Prison. .I have received from you the standards for "con
execution," and, as discussed below, nave applied them co my psychiatric
findings. :

Mr. Alvin Ford efitered the interview room-in apparent high spirits and

bantered for about fifteen minutes with you and Professor Wolian.
It should be noted

veneraily ignored me and my occasional questions.
that your and Professor Wolian‘'s presence was deemed nec
‘allow the interview to progress at all because of Mr. Fo
(and 1 understand subsequent) extreme reluctance to be i
‘LT also suggested your presence in order to set him more
he would be more inclince to be trustful, open and relax
whom he had never before met.

‘After abour £Lfreen minutes of questioning by him and ain
of you he turned to me and said, “You a good guy? You
that I chought I Was “UK.”

Up to this point his questions had been disjointed, and
sonal detalis (food's OK - how you eatin’) to delus
"When's CBS comin’ in here.” suc after 15 minutes th
his mental associations and the almos; corally delusional
anything to do with his case emergeda2 his facade crumb]
thought led to another with no seeming relation to the pi
with such rapidity chac 1 have come to the conclusion chi

He

essary by me to
rd's previous -
nterviewed.
at ease so that
ed with me,

swers by the two
K?" TT replied

had ranged from
Honal questions
incoherence of
lL nature of

led. One
revious one

at there is no

reasonable possibility thac mr. Fora was dissembling, ma
otherwise putting on a perforniance to induce me to belie
psychotic or incompetent to be executed.

Lingering or
ve him £0 be
Richard H. Burr, Esq.
December 14, 1983

Page Two

HAROLD KAUFMAN. M. D. rc.
2816 N STREET, N. W.
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20007

|
|

(202} 338-1850 | a

ft dm unfortunate chat no tape, eupectally a videotupe, existe to
preserve for concerned observers the obvious fact that/ he was not
“acting" for my benefit--or for his own. J think che best way to
convey the spontaneous and psychotic nature of his ramblings is to
simply record them (see below). These are not selected passages,
but a Stream of consciousness, either spontaneously rendered, or

spoken in
there was

he spoke,
Mr. Ford:
RK

response to a previous question. It is to be noted that
very little animation or feeling in Mr. Ford!s voice as,
only a kind of “flatness or lack of intensity of affect.

The guard stands outside my cell and reads my mind. Then
he pura it on tape and sends ic to the Reagans and CBS...
I knew there is some sort of death penalty, ‘but I'm

free to go whenever 1 want because it would be illegai
and the executioner would be executed...€BS is trying

to do a movie abour my case...1 know the KKK and news
reporters all disrupting me and CBS knows ic. Just

call CBS crime watch...there are all kinds of people in
pipe ailey (an area behind Mr. Ford’s cell) bothering
mé--Sinatra, Hugh Heffner, people from the dog snow,
Richard Burr, my sisters aud brother trying to sign the
death warrants. so. they duu‘c keep bothering me...I never
see them, I only hear. them especially at night.

(Note that Mr. Ford denies seeing these people in his
delusions. ‘this suggests! that he is honestly reporcing
what his mental processes) are. }° I won't be executed
because of no crime...maybe because I'ma smart aseues
my family's back there Gin pipe ailey)...you can fe
evaluate me. 1 dida study in the army... -alot of
masturbation...1 lost alot of money on the stock market.
They're back there investigating my case. ‘hen this guy
motions with his finger like when I pulled the trigger.
Come on back you'il see what they're up to--Reagan’s
back there too. Me and Gail-bought the prisoa and I
have to sell it back. State and federal prisons. We
changed ali the other counties and because we've got a
pretty. good group back there 1'm completely harmless.
That's how Jimmy Hoffa got it. My case is gonna save me.

** Comments in parentheses are my own.;

Richard H. Burr, Esq. oO |
December 14, 1983 a

Page Three |
HAROLD KAUFMAN,M.D.e,.c }
2816 N STREET, N. W. i
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20007 ‘
(202) 338 - 1960 ‘
At this pointe £ should comment that none of this "idea salad" is out of

context. Indeed there is no appurept context for these rambling, disorganized
delusional bits of ideacional material. * |

fe 1
I asked, “Are you going to be executed?" ~ Mr. Ford replied, "T can't be
executed because of the landmark case. i won. Ford v. State will prevent
executions all over. . an:

Dr. Kaufman (Q): Are you on death row?

Mr. Ford (A): Yes.

Q: Does that mean that the, State-intends to execute you?
A: No.

Q: Why not?

A: Because Ford v. State prevents it. They tried to get

me with the FCC cape but when the KKK came in it was
up to CBS and che Governor. Yhese prisoners are
rooming back there raping everybody. I told the
Governor to sign the deach Warrants so they stop
bothering mé.

Pulling this material’ together I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Ford
is suffering from schizophrenia, undifferenciated type, acute and chronic.
The delusional material, the free-floating and disorganized ideational and
verbal productivity, and his flatness of affect are the highlights of

the signs leading fo this diagnosis of psychosis. The possibiliry that

he ould be lying 8k, malingering ts indeed remoce in my prefesstonal opinion.

You have asked me to relate Mr. Ford's peychiatric condicien to several
standards which might be used to determine, his competence to be executed.
lt is my conclusion, using the Florida Siazutory standard: you have supplied
me with, that because of his psychi illness, while he does understand
the nature of the death penalcy, he lacks the mental capacity to understand
the reasons why it is being imposed on him. His ability to reason is
occluded, disorganized and confused when thinking about his possible
execution. He can make no connection between the homicide he committed
and: the death penalty. Even when I pojnted this connection out to him he
laughed derisively at me. He sincerely believes that he is noc. going to

be executed because he owns che prisons, could. send mind waves to the
Covernor and control him, President Reagan's interference in the execution ~
process, elc.

Kichaurd H. Burr, Esq.
December 14, 1983
Page Four
HAROLD KAUFMAN, M. D.e. c
2816 NSTREET,N.Wo
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20007

{202} 338 - 1860

Moreover, it is my conclusion that the disorganized state of his thinking
is sufficiently severe to prevent Mr. Foru from being executed under
the Solesbee v. Balkom standard of Justice Frankfurter which you
forwarded co ae. «In particular, Mr, Ford's “defects, of facilities"
prevent him from. being capabie of understanding "the purpose of his
punishment." . .

fie
in summary, it is therefore my professional opinion, based on my intervicw
with Mr. Alvin Ford, that he is suffering from schizophrenia, undif- .
ferentiated type, acute and chronic, which is of such severity that he
cannot sufficiently appreciate or understand either the reasons “wny tne
death penalty was imposed on him" @r-"the purpose" of this punishment.
It is therefore my opinion thar : Alvin Ford is incompetent to be
executed.

Sincerely yours,

| Nowed KasshrunyAD, and L16.

Maroid Kaufman, M.D. and LLB.
.Psychiacrise
TAMPA BAY NEUROPSYCEIATRIC INSTITUTE

January 19, 1984

Governor Robert Graham
Covernor's Mansion

700 Korth Adams Street
Taliahessee, Florida 32303

Dear Governor Graham: x,
At your request, I examined Alvin Bernard Ford in. the Florida State Prison,

at Starke on December 19, 1983. As part of this evaluation, I reviewed the
extensive records provided to me by legal counsel from your office. I had

an in-depth conference with both attorneys for the inmate and reviewed the
medical records that they had available. I talked at length with a variety

of guards who had dealings with the inmate and reviewed the contents of Mr.
Ford's writings in his cell. I discussed his medical condition with the

prison psychiatrist and examined the man in the presence of all counseis and
two uther state-appointed psychiatrists. My examination-consisted of a com-
plete meatal status examination. Subsequently, I spoke at length with Attorney:
Surr and reviewed complete medical records from.the prison, which included
psychiatric evaluations and reports from several prison psychologists. I re-
viewed in depth Dr. Kaufman's findings.

It. is my medical opinion that Mr. Ford does indeed suffer from serious emo-
tional problems. He fs presenting himself in a very disorganized manner with
a bizerre picture which does not fit any classical description of a psychia-
tric iliness. The nature of his disorganization is somewhat "put on," but
the profoundness of it forces me to put a “psychotic” labe? on the inmate.
Ageia, this is not a classical psychiatric diagnosis, but the man clearly is
auite emotionally 111. Much of this had to do with the sentence that he is
currently facing and his situation within the prison setting. On the basis of
all the data and in light of the Florida Statute 922.07, it is my opinion that
alihough this man is severely disturbed, he does understand the nature of the
death penaity that he is facing and is aware that he is on death row and may
be electrocuted. The bottom line, in summary ig, although sick, he does know
fully what can happen |to him. If there is anything further you wish please

Tex me know. : : i? |

Sincerely yours,

‘Desde E- oud r z
walter E. Afield, 4.0. ’ 7 '

WEA/mgp

4308 West Cypress Street
Umesh Wi Mhatee, MD. PA. PE Mi

DIPLOMATE, AMERICAN BOARD OF PSYCHIATAY AND NEUROLOGY 60 Ta
DIPLOMATE, AMERICAN BOARD OF CHILD PSYCHIATRY rea: wag is VE 0
650 EAST BAYA AVENUE ~ i.
LAKE CITY, FLORIDA 32056 vp s Fite

TELEPHONE 1804) 785-1800

December 28, 1983
Honorable Governor Bob Graham

The Capitol
Tallahassee, Florida 32301

L&
hr

RE: ALVIN BERNARD FORD
Dear Mr. Governor:

As per your order I examined Mr. Alvin
Ford, on December 19, 1983 at Florida State Prison,
along with my distinguished colleagues, Dr's. Peter
Ivory and Walter Afield. Follcewing is the summary of
my evaluation with my conclusions:

Mx. Ford was evaluated at 11:00 a.m. in the
courtroom of Florida State Prison. He was appropriately
dressed, and exhibited good eye contact with all the
people in the room, he did not exhibit any stranger
anxiety or fears. He settled down in a chair, accompanied
by his lawyers, and his friends through the Florida
Clearinghouse gn Criminal Justice. As per prior
arrangement, Dr. Afield began to ask him questions.

Mr. Ford did not initially respond but did so after his
lawyers encouraged him. Most of his responses to the
questions were bizarre. He continued to respond by
jibberish talk such as "break one", "God one", “heaven
one". However, throughout these bizarre responses, Mr.
Ford kept good eye contact with the examiners. After
awhile, his responses to questions became a little more
appropriate indicating that.he did understand the meaning
of the questions asked of him, even though his responses
remained somewhat bizarre. Throughout the interview
which lasted about thirty minutes, there was no evidence
of any hallucinations and Mr. Ford exhibited good ability
to concentrate. He was relaxed and did not exhibit any
physical aggression. In response to Dr. Afield's question,
“what will happen when you die?", Mr. Ford responded
“heaven one, hell one", indicating that he did lunderstand
the meaning of the question.

Page 2.

‘
Honorable Governor Bob Graham
Tallahassee, Florida

RE: ALVIN BERNARD FORD

His mood appeared to be normal and affect
was blunted. He did however smile and exhibited good
range of affect with his friends from his lawyer's
office. His orientation and memory were not formerly
tested, but he did appear to be oriented to people and
place. He did not exhibit any suicidal.or homocidal
thoughts. .

The conversation with the guards at Florida
State Prison who have been working with Mr. Ford,
furnished the following information. His jibberish
talk and bizarre behavior started after all his iegal
attempts failed.. He was then noted to throw all his
legal papers up in the air and was depressed for several
days after that. He especially became more depressed
after another inmate, Mr. Sullivan, was put to death
and his behavior has rapidly detériorated since then.
In spite of this, Mr. Ford continues to relate to other
inmates and with the guards segaxding his personal
needs. He has-also borrowed books from the library
and has been reading them on a daily basis. A visit to
his cell indicated that it was neat, clean and tidy and
well organized. :

The review of the extensive material provided
by his lawyers including reports by Dr. Kaufman and Dr.
Amin, and his correspondence. with Gil Roland of Florida
Clearinghouse and Criminal Justice indicate that Mr. Ford
has been gradually decompensating since July and has
worsened since the death of Mr. Sullivan.

It is my medical opinion that Mr. Ford has
been suffering from psychosis with paranoia, vossibly
as a result of the stress of ‘being incarcerated and possible
execution in the near future., In spite of psychosis, he
has shown ability to carry on day to day activities, and
relate to his fellow inmates and guards, and appears to
understand what is happening around him. It is my
medical opinion that though Mr. Ford is suffering from
psychosis at the present time, he has enough cognitive
functioning to understand the nature’ and the effects of
the death penalty, and why it is to be imposed)upon him.

| :

I may further ‘add that considering |his present
state of mind, 'Mr. Ford is in need of appropriate anti-
psychotic medication, without such treatment he is likely
to deteriorate: further and may soon reach a point where he.
may not be competent for execution, I have discussed this <

Page 3.

Honorable Governor Bob Graham
Tallahassee, Florida

RE: ALVIN BERNARD FORD

with the psychiatrist of the Florida State Prison and ,
hopefully, by the time you receive this report, Mr. Ford
will be on appropriate treatment regiment.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to
be of some help to you. If I can be of any further
assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to call
upon me. :

_ Umesh Mh@tre; M.D.
UM:cmh

CU Be
& to ee Fe

STATE OF FLORIDA . , PuyR S57 VR
. RECEIVED
DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNCR'S OFFICE pos Graham, Governor

Health & RehabilitativakServicss 43

age . FLORIDA STATE HOSPITAL
District Two CHATTAHOOCHEE, FLORIDA 32324

December 20, 1983

The Honorable Bob Graham:
Governor
State of Florida

The Capitol a
Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Dear Governor Graham:

Pursuant to Executive Order Number 83-197, accompanied by
Doctors Afield and Mhatre, I examined inmate Alvin Bernard Ford
from 10:50 a.m. to 11:25 a.m. at Florida State Prison on December
19, 1983. We later talked to prison officers, viewed the inmates
cell, and talked to a prison psychiatrist.

The interview was conducted with great difficulty, froma
verbal point of view, since the inmate responds to questions ina
stylized, manneristic doggerel!. Thus, an answer to a question
might be "beckon one, cane one, Alvin one, Q one, king one",

- It soon became apparent that our opinions would have to be
based largely on inferential ‘deduction from physical behavioral
observation, and only to a limited extent from his verbaliza-
tions. . .

From a behavioral point of view, then, the inmate entered
the examination room in a quiet, cooperative, and appropriate
manner. By helpful and responsive body movements, he helped the
officer adjust the handcuffs. In an alert fashion he seemed
interested and concerned about meeting the group of us, who also
included attorneys-and legal interns. When questioned, he
answered promptly and then awaited. the next question quietly and
alertly. During his doggerel, end isensical, answers, if one
of the examiners asked a question before he was finished, the
inmate would raise his voice so as to dominate the situation and
thus maintain control. ‘i ; |

I formed the opinion that the inmate knows |exactly what is
going on and is able to respond promptly to external stimuli. In
other words, in spite of ‘the verbal appearance of severe inca-
pacity, from his’ consistent an@ appropriate general behavior, he
showed that he is in touch with reality. -
Later exchanges seem to bear this out, if one “reads between
the lines®:

Q "Are you aware they can electrocute you?"
A "Nine one, C one, hot one, die one"

A “Die one, gone one"
Q
A

"Are your attorneys trying to prevent your death?" —
“Assasinate one, Bob Graham liable one, Jim Smith liable
one, Senate one"

Q “What happens if you die?"

‘A “Hell one, Hedven one” 4. *

Q "Which?" : .

A “Hopefully it'll be Heaven; Sut if I listen, it'll be
Hell" .

And later:

A “If I die - no more fat cats |
- no more homicide
- no more racism
- in Heaven with God"

Q "Are you crazy?"
A “Are you crazy?" (Said in such a tone as to indicate
that he was no more crazy than I was)

At a time when we had been trying to establish if he read
the Bible, he commented: “blood on the door posts, you know"
(said with a knowing smile that indicated that he would be spared
by the Angel of Death, Exodus 12:7)

By this time, I had formed the opinion that the inmate did
comprehend the nature and effect of the death penalty and why it
was imposed on him. .

However, because of the severe adaptational disorder that
had been developed by the inmate, by which he is trying to "hold
at bay" on intolerable future that he cannot otherwise deal with,
1 decided to validate my ideas by examining his cell and talking
to staff members. The rationale for this course of action was
dictated by the reasoning that if the inmate was truly as
disorganized as he would have oné séiieve, there would be ample
signs of it in his environment. ‘fhe results were as follows:

1) the cell was spotlessly clean and in order

2) his toilet articles were neatly arranged around the
sink .

3) his personal papers were all stacked neatly in the cell
bars,: arranged by category -

4) his writings were extensive, and the choice of vocabulary
showed a good intelligence

5) the arrangements were all logical, and there was nothing

in the cell that seemed bizarre, as, if he was out..of,,
contact with the real world :

6) the officers stated that the inmate behaves normally in
that he feeds himself, clothes himself and keeps himself
clean. He utilizes the available resources to his
maximum advantage. . |

7) he talks normally to the quards, but during the last week
they have heard him practicing the strange \speech from
lists of words he had written in nonsensical order

To comment briefly, a natural insanity is not ‘selective, but
is pervasive. This inmates disorder, although severe, seems
contrived and recently learned. %

My final opinion, based on observation of Alvin Bernard
Ford, on examination of his environment, and on the spontaneous
comments of group of prison staff, is that the inmate does
comprehend his total- situation including heing sentenced to
death, and all cf the implications of that penalty.

From a humanitarian point of wiew, this inmate is obviously
having enormous problems dealing with his possible destiny. It
is suggested that & medical review to look into the feasibility
of psychotropic medication might be helpful, to allow the inmate
to better assist his attorneys, and to set his affairs in order.

Please let me know if I can provide further information or
be of other assistance.

Very truly, :
01 fey 0

Peter B.C.B.. Ivory, M.D.
Psychiatrist - .

PLCBI/1do