Dr. Warnick, senior neuropsychologist testified in the afternoon. As she is a defense witness, she obviously has also reported that ayres is demented to some degree. Warnick did not meet with ayres with frequency or regularity, and observers report that she seemed much more objective than the other two who testified earlier in the day -- significantly more objective than the flaky Knoblauch.
Warnick did lots of testing with ayres, and come to the conclusion that while he performs well (even exceptionally well) on most tests, he is suffering mental deficit (Again, in the areas that everyone has been reporting -- the same areas that are most commonly faked by people trying to avoid "malingering" accusations -- the areas that are most difficult for a professional to refute.)
Warnick also stated that ayres is definitely "over-inflating" his memory impairment. When asked by the prosecutor if it was possible that ayres is over-inflating ALL of his impairment, the doctor said that yes, it is possible. (Yet, she stands by the conclusion that she had already drawn: that ayres is suffering deficit in a few areas.)
Warnick had other observations about ayres:
Warnick noted that ayres suffers sleep apnea and thyroid issues that could both contribute or cause the deficits that she is noting. (Earlier reports indicated that ayres was denying treatment for these issues while at Napa -- perhaps we'll see if this holds true later on in the trial...)
Warnick further noted that ayres was "unpleasant" and irritable, he had no concern over failure of tests. (Which flies in the face of flaky Knoblauch's testimony that ayres was malingering out of a sense of pride.) She also states that ayres has "poor emotional control," "poor behavioral control," and "poor judgement." She reports that he is verbally disinhibitive, ranting (more than 15 minutes of ranting at one point) and that he broke his pencil at one point during a fit of rage.
Warnick claims that ayres is not feigning dementia (concluding that McIlnay's claim that ayres is malingering is not accurate), and that ayres is over-inflating his memory impairment.
Conclusion for day one: We have a full-on pissing match between doctors at Napa, and it seems like the least flaky of the defense witnesses so far, Dr. Warnick, has done a pretty good job covering her ass.
In the press:
The Mercury News has a blurb up.
Don't bother reading: the guy sat there the whole time, and missed 99% of the significant details.
The San Mateo Daily Journal has an article up (pdf) today as well. Read it.
This is a pretty good article. Durand took her time, and dug a little deeper. Of note, she digs a bit more into some of Knoblauch's testimony (note that the emphasis below is mine):
Under cross-examination, Knoblauch agreed Ayres was consistent in drawing attention to his deficits like memory loss and said he thought he’d be convicted if tried again because society is currently less tolerant of child molestation.
Knoblauch, who found Ayres sufficiently understood several legal areas required for competency such as plea bargains and listening to his attorney’s advice, concluded he was impaired in “his ability to cope with incarceration pending trial.”
Remind me: if I ever get convicted of anything, I need to hire a shrink to say that I'll have a difficult time coping with incarceration, so that they will have some sympathy for me.
What a fucking waste of oxygen this Knoblauch character is. I assume taxpayer money is being used to pay this asshole... this really has gone too far.
william hamilton ayres was arrested on April 5, 2007 on charges relating to his molestation of many young boys while he was alleging to provide psychiatric care to private patients as well as referrals for evaluation from the juvenile court system in San Mateo County. ayres has been delaying his way through the system free from custody until this latest gambit to skirt prosecution by playing demented for the courts. ayres is currently under the conservatorship of his daughter Barbara Ayres of Sacramento, CA.
ayres has had significant interaction over the years with local politicians on boards like the "Children and Families First Commission," including the DA who was serving when prosecution began Jim Fox and Assemblyman Rich Gordon. In fact, Gordon nominated ayres for a lifetime achievement award for his "Tireless effort to improve the lives of children." ayres has also been vocally supported during his criminal trial by local head-shrinkers like Bart Blinder, Etta Bryant, Mel Blaustein, Harry Coren, Tom Ciesla, Robert Kimmich, Larry Lurie, Maria Lymberis, Richard Shadoan, Captane Thomson, and Harold Wallach.
I did some research on friend of the court or Amicus Curiae letters to the court.
ReplyDeletehttp://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Friend-of-the-court+brief
What I gleaned is that if someone can get some agent of the US (US Att?) to write it the judge is legally required to accept it. Otherwise his rejection of what was sent seems appropriately legal as the standard for such items is that all parties agree it be accepted.
Both the DA's office and the defense attorney had copies of the surveillance video two weeks before the Judge was notified of it. Actually what was sent to the judge was a copy of a letter to Attorney General Kamala Harris about the surveiilance.
ReplyDeleteThe judge went on a nasty and exceedingly ungracious rant as a result.
The judge is being investigated for the rant and for secretly changing the timing of a key Ayres hearing so that the victims and their families would not be there to hear that the DA would not retry Ayres.
A year ago the paper suggested that the judge and the DA colluded to keep victims out of the hearing. This is also under investigation.
Learn the DA would not retry Ayres
The DA also knew that the press and San Mateo County Supervisor Dave Pine were planning to be at the hearing, and the DA knew that that Pine was not happy about the ayres delays. So they moved the time. And the press didn't like the fact that they were snubbed, and that pine was snubbed.
DeleteHere's the link.
Mercury News says Ayres enjoyed dancing at Napa. Did he ditch the walker ?
ReplyDeleteGreat question. Maybe Wags would like to know the answer to this... After all, if we can just show that ayres doesn't need a walker, we'll be able to prove that he's not demented!!!
DeleteYeah.
My guess is that Ayres has been going through symptoms of withdrawal due to the dearth of little boys at Napa for him to ogle and fantasize about.
ReplyDeleteSnapping a pencil in two out of anger? My gosh: this out of cotrl nasty pedophile makes Jerry Sandusky look like Snow White.
But Ayres ... [refused] to participate in treatment and medication aimed at restoring his competency. The defense witnesses yesterday [claimed that Chester] worked hard to convince people he was not falling victim to loss of memory and cognitive ability.
ReplyDeleteErin Warnick ... testified that Ayres tends to “overinflate his memory deficits” but is not feigning dementia.
..It is possible Ayres did have lucid conversations with hospital staff, said psychologist Dr. Thomas Knoblauch.
- Above excerpted from the San Mateo Daily Journal (Defense claims Ayres still mentally unfit, by Michelle Durand, October 27, 2012).
1. If Chester had dementia two years ago, by now he would have Alzheimer's Disease (AD). A person who has AD has little to no executive function and, as such, has no ability to refuse to do anything. They can sometimes resist, but they cannot refuse.
The executive part of Chester's brain is intact and unimpaired. To wit:
- Chester REFUSED to participate in treatment and medication.
- Chester is feigning dementia to hide his criminal past.
- Chester snapped a pencil in half in response to an external event that angered him. Chester fully understands and remembers people say about him and he reacts accordingly. A person who has AD usually can't remember something that someone said two minutes ago - let alone, react to it!
2. Warnick ... testified that Ayres tends to “overinflate his memory deficits” but is not feigning dementia.
If Chester is overinflating his pretend memory deficits, then what else is he overinflating? The last thing a person who has dementia will do is exaggerate his dementia; instead, he will do just the opposite. The person will try to hide from others the signs of his mental impairment.
3. ... It is possible Ayres did have lucid conversations with hospital staff, said psychologist Dr. Thomas Knoblauch.
Lucid conversations? No, you usually can't have lucid conversations with someone who has AD. Someone who has AD and who responds to people with only one and two word answers and grunts or who speaks incoherently isn't able to have a conversation with anyone. Moreover, how can you converse with someone who can't remember what you said two or three minutes ago? How did Chester respond to hospital staff?
Why are we having two weeks of competency hearings? An MRI scan with contrast conducted by a neurologist who is currently licensed (without formal complaints or restrictions) by the state of California and who is independent of this case would prove that Chester does (or does not) have dementia, AD, or a related mental disease.
If Chester is released to the custody of his conservator (read: daughter), other (aging or would-be) child molesters and rapists might see San Mateo County as a potential legal safe haven for them. The County would protect itself financially and legally both now and in the future by sending a message, by way of Chester, to molesters and rapists not to do business here.
Once a pedophile, always a pedophile.
Once the aging Jerry Sandusky was charged, he was tried, convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned within months. Why isn't the same courtesy and respect extended to the survivors of Chester's decades-long predations?
Further, Warnick said that ayres didn't care at all when he failed a test, and yet Knoblauch claims that the reason ayres was "malingering" was because he didn't want people to treat him differently, that he wanted them to still respect him intellectually as they have in the past.
DeleteThese shrinks all have these dumb-ass theories that all conflict with each other, and none of them are able to see reality because they're so hung-up on their own theories.
ayres has had MRI and MMSE tests and they show normal for his age, and he even scored 29 out of 30 on the LATEST MMSE test.
"Knoblauch claims that the reason ayres was "malingering" was because he didn't want people to treat him differently, that he wanted them to still respect him intellectually as they have in the past."
DeleteLast night, I tried to reply to this comment, but for some reason (that's unknown to me) it didn't appear here. Hope I haven't been banned!
Here goes, again:
Well, no. A person who has Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is usually not aware - let alone, concerned by - the attitudes, opinions, or perceptions of others. Instead, the person is as preoccupied by concerns for his very survival as if he were a small child. Ego goes out the window when ones survival seems to be at stake. That Chester cares about his reputation convinces me he is deceiving and duping people into thinking he has AD.
* * *
This is off-topic, but here's something that has bugged me during the last few days: Chester appears to have Narcissistic Personality Disorder and I'd guess that he might also be a psychopath. How or why he apparently developed either personality disorder or any other mental disorder should hopefully not influence a judge or lawyer into being more lenient or sympathetic toward Chester than he or she would otherwise be. Chester is mentally competent and intellectually bright, so the hows or whys of his disorder(s) are irrelevant.
Yeah, I saw that comment... in fact, I have a copy in email... Not sure what happened to it. It's possible that I accidentally deleted it late at night while up late working on these posts, but it would normally leave a stub that I'd see, and I don't see that... so it's a mystery to me.. but you DID post it!!
DeleteYou're not banned. The list of banned people can be counted on half of one hand.