THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 26, 1995 TAG: 9507260416
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: THE BOSTON GLOBE
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
A psychiatrist who examined John Salvi III, the suspect in the fatal shootings of two women at two Brookline, Mass., abortion clinics last year, said Salvi told him he had no alibi for his whereabouts on the day of the shootings.
Dr. Phillip Resnick, a professor at Case Western Reserve Medical School in Cleveland, testified Tuesday that he questioned Salvi, 24, of Hampton Beach, N.H., but that Salvi declined to talk about the shootings.
Resnick also said Salvi wrote a letter to the FBI asking to plead guilty to charges and requesting the death penalty. Salvi's lawyer had no knowledge of the letter, Resnick testified.
Resnick's testimony came during the second day of a hearing to determine whether Salvi is competent to stand trial. Resnick and two other psychiatrists called by Salvi's lawyers have testified that they believe Salvi is delusional and incompetent.
``My opinion with a reasonable medical certainty is that Mr. Salvi suffers from schizophrenia and is not competent to stand trial,'' said Dr. Ronald Schouten, director of law and psychiatry services at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Dr. Robert Kinscherff, another MGH psychiatrist, testified that he used a battery of tests to determine that Salvi's IQ was 75. But, he said, Salvi's uncooperative behavior and his refusal to answer some questions affected that score.
``In my mind, that number underestimates his intellectual capacity,'' Kinscherff said.
Marianne Hinkle, assistant district attorney, argued that Salvi's uncooperative behavior should not be an issue. ``The question of this trial is about Mr. Salvi's abilities, not his willingness to cooperate,'' she said. ``There are other ways to deal with people who are disruptive in the courtroom rather than find them incompetent.''
Salvi, handcuffed and manacled throughout the proceedings, occasionally bowed his head and shut his eyes. On Monday, he stood up and told Judge Barbara Dortch-Okara he wanted to make a statement. Court officers escorted him out of the courtroom when he refused to sit down.
Dortch-Okara declined to allow Salvi's lawyer, John LaChance, to read a statement from Salvi on Tuesday. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo<
John Salvi III talks with an attorney during competency hearings at
Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., Tuesday. A psychiatrist
testified that Salvi, accused of killing two women at abortion
clinics last year, suffers schizophrenia.
KEYWORDS: ABORTION CLINIC SHOOTING NORFOLK HEARING JOHN SALVI by CNB