NCJ Number
189051
Journal
Forensic Examiner Volume: 10 Issue: 3/4 Dated: March/April 2001 Pages: 15-19
Date Published
2001
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article presents a case study of postsentencing forensic work and shows how it can prove important for a person's parole and release chances.
Abstract
The convicted female offender apparently viciously attacked a man (her illegal drug supplier), stabbing him to death. Police counted over 70 entrance wounds with a kitchen knife. This article reviews the events and processes that led to the killing, as well as the post-sentencing therapeutic investigation that analyzed them. The post-sentencing forensic analysis was done in prison, and the process involved psychiatrists, physicians, nurses, case managers, therapists, correctional officials, and eventually State administrators. The analysis focused on the client's background and psychological dynamics underlying her behavior. Therapy eventually focused on the relationship between the woman's being raped by a gang that entered her home and the subsequent stabbing of her drug dealer. The evidence of posttraumatic stress after the rape was overwhelming. The woman continued in individual and group therapy throughout her incarceration. At her first parole board hearing she was released, which is rare in a drug-related murder. The importance of the post-sentencing forensic analysis, along with the related therapeutic treatment, provided a new and important perspective on the offender, which eventually had a favorable influence on her release. This involved the cooperation of many people in discovering new truths about the offender and convincing power-holders of their findings. 20 references