Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 17, 1990 TAG: 9005170441
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The tests could determine if Tommy David Strickler suffers from brain damage or some other impairment that affects his ability to understand what constitutes criminal conduct.
Strickler, who is being held without bond in the Augusta County Jail in Staunton, could get the death penalty if convicted of killing the James Madison University student from Roanoke. His trial is scheduled for June 18.
The neuropsychological evaluation was ordered by Augusta County Circuit Judge Thomas H. Wood at the request of Strickler's attorney, public defender William Bobbitt.
Bobbitt made the request at the recommendation of Dr. Gary Hawk, director of psychology for the Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy at Blue Ridge Hospital in Charlottesville.
Strickler underwent a less-extensive psychiatric exam at the institute in April, also at Bobbitt's request. That test indicated he may suffer from an "organic brain impairment," according to Hawk.
The condition can be caused by an injury, disease or brain defect that develops before birth or in early childhood, Hawk said.
Strickler, 24, has complained of chronic headaches which he says stem from an automobile accident last year, in which he flipped his car several times and suffered a head injury.
Friday's testing will be done at the Neuropsychology Assessment Center at UVa Hospital and is expected to take four to six hours. The $400 cost is to be paid by the court.
"It's extremely thorough," said Dr. Thomas Ryan, an assistant professor in behavioral medicine and psychiatry at UVa, who will conduct the evaluation.
Ryan would not comment specifically on the Strickler case, but agreed to describe neuropsychological testing in general terms.
Subjects are given tests that gauge memory functions, perception, intelligence, academic skills, attention span, concentration, problem-solving ability and abstract reasoning, he said.
Results then are compared to the results of the average person of the same age and same basic background.
Tests of this kind often are conducted in capital murder cases and the results sometimes can be used in arguing an insanity defense.
Bobbitt has not indicated whether an insanity defense is being considered.
Augusta County Commonwealth's Attorney A. Lee Ervin called the mental evaluation "routine."
Whitlock was kidnapped in the parking lot of a Harrisonburg shopping mall Jan. 5 and found dead 10 days later in a wooded area near Waynesboro.
A second man, Ronald Lee Henderson, also has been indicted on capital murder charges in Whitlock's death. He is still at large.
by CNB