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At Antioch New England Institute in Keene, N.H., Professor William
Halikias, Psy.D., has come up with an innovative way to give students
a realistic experience of the courtroom drama that a forensic psychologist
deals with every day. For the past seven years, his class has run
a simulated trial, with doctoral students acting as expert witnesses
for both the defense and prosecution. Halikias, who also has an
independent forensic psychology practice in nearby Brattleboro,
Vt., and teaches several other courses at the school, has brought
legal professionals on board to help with cases, including seasoned
judges and attorneys. He has also invited an audience of students
and staff members and even had students and professors play the
roles of the defendants and complainants.
This year's mock case, scheduled to take place on April 14, involved
the imagined scenario of a 14-year-old boy who "allegedly" shot
and killed a teacher and several students. A hearing will be held,
in which the doctoral students will give testimony, to determine
if the boy will be tried as an adult or allowed to be transferred
to juvenile court.
Halikias spoke with New England Psychologist's Catherine
Robertson Souter about the case, his work with the students and
the benefits of such a simulation in the classroom.
Q: First off, is this type of simulation unique to a doctoral
program?
A: I know it is being done in one or two possible locations,
but it is quite unique in New England. J.D.-Ph.D. programs will
do it, but I think that the realism of the cases that students confront
and the fact that we are bringing in actual legal professionals
to do it is fairly special.
Q: For the students, what kind of time commitment does this
take?
A: They are expected to do a significant amount of work outside
of class, researching the issue, and preparing for their testimony.
There are two sides in this case: a prosecution and defense. Two
of the students from each team will testify and they will receive
a direct examination and then a cross examination, which will take
about an hour and twenty minutes each that they are on the stand.
Q: Do you have someone play the part of the defendant?
A: I do. I have never brought an actual minor into it but I
have one of my second-year students, a female actually, who is going
to dress up as "Damion." She has the combination of a vulnerable,
young face with the ability to give a dirty look. She is going to
be sitting at that table with the defense attorney. It's set up
as it would be in a courtroom.
Q: What role does the prosecution team play?
A: They are developing the notion that "Damion" has the profile
of a career criminal and that rehabilitation probably won't help
him. They will be citing the research on that. I think they will
also be talking about the act being planned rather than an impulsive
act. I think they will also be saying he is competent to stand trial
in an adult court.
Q: Reading the trial simulation information, at first you say
what a horrible kid but then you read about the life he has had…
A: Well, that's the other side - the defense. The defense are
presenting that he is a kid who has had a horrible life and the
system failed him. He has never received treatment. He never received
an appropriate educational program for his disability. He certainly
didn't have appropriate caretakers. And they are also going to testify
that he is not competent to stand trial. He doesn't understand who
the different players are, what the scene is and he's likely not
going to be able to help his attorney.
They will probably also say that he is 14 and that four years in
the life of an adolescent is a long time and that nobody could judge
that he won't be able to be helped in an appropriate program.
Q: This trial is unique. They are not the same each year?
A: No, we've had a different one each year. Last year, I had
a trial on repressed memory, an adult who suddenly remembered her
father killing her mother some 15 years after the event. The testimony
was around repressed memories and the accuracy about that.
Q: How did that one come out?
A: That was a jury trial, unlike this one (this one is just
being heard by the judge.) We had a jury of 12 first-year students,
and that was a hot topic. There were people in the audience who
believed in it strongly and a lot who didn't. In polling the jury
at the end, they tended to side with the defense. The testimony
about the veracity of repressed memory gave them pause.
The year before that was a very interesting one. It was of a man
who tried to kill himself after multiple hassles and denials from
his health insurance company and he sued the health insurance company
for mental injury.
Q: I'm sure a lot of psychologists would be ready to back him
on that…
A: These things take on a life of their own. I had that idea
because a faculty member here was having that experience. He hadn't
tried to kill himself but he had been diagnosed with cancer and
he was having a terrible time because his insurance company had
put down the wrong code.
The strange thing about it was that he was going to sit in the
plaintiff's chair, but he died five days before the trial. So, the
realism going into that case was intense. In fact, the defense witnesses
had to be helped quite a bit to get over their reluctance to testify
against him.
Q: How did that one turn out? The jury is not asked to turn
in a guilty or not guilty decision?
A: I try not to set up winners or losers but at the end of the
simulation, we poll people. The jury that year was split. There
was no clear feel for which way it would go - but of course in that
case there would have to be other witnesses. The experts just played
a small part in that one.
This year, everything hinges on the experts. There are no other
witnesses besides them around the question of transfer.
Q: Where do you get the cases?
A: I am a forensic psychologist and part of that is you get
to see a lot of human drama. So, these stories kind of have a feel
for the dramas that I have witnessed without replicating any of
them.
I also pull them out of noteworthy cases that exist in the literature.
For example, right now, juvenile competency is a big issue in legal
and psychological circles. We've gone through a period of retribution
against juveniles after a long period of trying to rehabilitate
them. So, the topic is current in that regard.
Q: Is this a popular class?
A: The limit for the class is supposed to be eight. In past
years, the department has allowed more students to take it. In some
years I've had 12, 13 or 14 students. Fourth year students who elect
to take this class are willing to work very hard or have an interest
in forensic psychology. It's known as a demanding class.
Q: The students - what percentage of them plan to go into forensic
psychology or do they take this class more to broaden their horizons?
A: I think mostly to broaden their horizons. On the other hand,
I have had letters from past students who tell me that they have
found themselves on the stand, not because they were forensic psychologists
but just in the course of their work. And an attorney or the judge
had complimented them about their deportment. They were writing
to tell me that they had learned that from the experience here.
I've had four of those letters so far.
Q: In your day-to-day job, are you doing as much work going
into a trial as what these students are doing?
A: I'd probably do more. If I were involved in this particular
one, I'd do much more than they are doing.
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