Sneak Preview: "Expert" Witnesses for the Good Doctor

We've heard that Dr. Gil Kliman will testify for the defense that Ayres' habits of masturbating boys to ejaculation and the fondling and groping were - you know - within the standard of care of medicine. We think he's gonna be twisting himself into a pretzel to explain this. We can't wait to hear his verbal contortions and obfuscations . We hope the jury will be as puzzled as we will when he tries to explain how molestation falls within the standard of care.

We think it's unfortunate that a number of victims who were subjected to Ayres' disturbing "proctology" exams - and much, much worse forms of abuse -- will not be testifying at this trial. We are dying to know how Kliman would try to explain proctology exams on little boys as falling within the standard of care.

We have read Dr. Kliman's resume and would like to share it with you. It seems to us that he's one of those trial whores for hire, who will say anything for the right fee.

We know he's helped victims who were abused by priests but for the life of us we can't figure out why he is turning around and defending the good doctor for doing the exact same thing that the priests did to their victims. Could it be because they're both doctors and are members of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry ? Oops, well, one of them is still a member. According to a prominent East Coast psychiatrist we've spoken to, at annual meetings of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry these days, no one dare mention Ayres' name, unless it is in a horrified whisper. According to this doctor, Ayres is a black spot on the history of the Academy - a dark spot they are still trying to scrub free from the annals of the Academy's illustrious history.

Here is Kliman's bio. We will let you decide whether you think he's a defense witness whore for hire:

Gilbert Kliman M.D. , The Psychological Trauma Center
2105 Divisadero Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
Phone: (415) 292-7119
Fax: (415) 749-2802

Profile:
Dr. Kliman is a Harvard Medical School graduate, with defense or plaintiff expert testimony in over 250 cases involving childhood psychological trauma, loss of parental services, and institutional neglect of children in schools, churches, treatment centers and foster care. He is often interviewed on TV network news concerning traumatic events. International literary prize winner and author of over 50 articles and books, recipient of over 50 grants. Distinguished Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association; Senior Fellow and Diplomate, American College of Forensic Examiners, Certified by American Psychoanalytic Association for Children, Adolescents and Adults, Senior Fellow and Diplomate, American Academy of Child Psychiatry.

Primary Area of Expertise: Child Psychiatry

Also testifying for the defense is memory "expert" Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, who also testified for Weinberg in the Phil Spector murder trial, which he lost, big time. Here's what USA Today said about Loftus during the Spector murder trial:

Loftus, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, and author of 22 books on human memory, witness testimony and repressed memory, told jurors that witness observations can be influenced by stress, lighting and time. She also said accuracy depends on whether distractions divert the person's attention.

"Memory does not work like a videotape recorder," she said, noting that individuals sometimes change their descriptions inadvertently because of information they receive after the event.

During cross-examination, prosecutor Alan Jackson suggested that Loftus was "to a certain degree, a professional defense witness." She acknowledged she has rarely been asked to testify by prosecutors.

We know that Loftus will testify that some victims just dreamed this stuff up, but how is she gonna explain victims like Greg H, Steve S and Thomas C, who told their parents about the molestation not long after it happened? We think she's in a pickle....

Finally, we would be remiss if we didn't mention Ayres' old pal Dr.Dick Shadoan, a white haired gent who showed up in court on Friday for his old pal Bill. They've been cronies from way back. Here's Shadoan's bio:

Local Acclaim: Richard A. Shadoan, MD
Dr. Richard A. Shadoan has worked tirelessly for over thirty years in both the public and private spheres of psychiatry to advance the interests of the chronically and severely mentally ill. The central themes of his career have been a belief in the need for alliances for the purpose of advocacy and the need to develop a marriage between the public and private sectors of service delivery in order to have effective psychiatric treatments.

As a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at University of California San Francisco, Dick Shadoan has presented Grand Rounds as well as teaching residents. He has served as president of both the Northern California Psychiatric Society and the California Psychiatric Association and
served as a trustee of the American Psychiatric Association. He also works closely with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill/California, NARSAD, and the Depressive Manic-Depressive Association.

In the early 1980s Dr. Shadoan was the moving force in the establishment of an innovative, award-winning Medically Indigent Adult Outpatient Program in San Francisco. When the State stopped funding the MIAs through Medi-Cal, limited funds were given to the counties. While elsewhere in California the funds went into traditional clinics, in the San Francisco program, 150 psychiatrists and psychologists in private practice combined to serve these "public" patients.

Dr. Richard Shadoan's consistence, innovation, perseverance and effectiveness make him a worthy recipient of the University of California's Dr. J. Elliott Royer Award.

We have heard that it was Shadoan who had the bad judgement to push for Ayres to run for President of the American Psychiatric Association back in 1987. Fortunately, the Association had the good sense to elect Dr. Rodrigro Munoz as President by a landslide - by something like 40 points. We think it had something to do with that nutty essay Ayres wrote for the American Pschyhiatric Association bulletin when he was running in which he wrote that that child psychiatrists care about the welfare of their clients unlike "businessmen who are free to profit from the vulnerabilities of others."

What a warped view indeed the good doctor has of all businessmen - as swindlers, con artists and the like. We can only surmise that his own view of businessmen comes from his own personal experience. For we know now that Ayres was profiting from the vulnerabilities of his sweet patients - boys who were looking for an adult they could trust and talk to. He was a swindler, a con man, a shyster, and above all, a criminal.

For the life of us we can't figure out why Dr. Dick Shadoan is defending the criminal. We hate to say it, but is Shadoan into nude boy picture books like the Coming of Age too?