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Incarceration extended for violent sex offender
What school is meant to be.
By Sandy Brundage
tal health community. Renowned psychiatrist Allen 51-year-old Menlo Park Frances posted his recent expeman convicted multiple rience with a review of 28 sexutimes for rape will remain ally violent predator cases on incarcerated under California’s the Psychology Today website. sexually violent predator law, a Noting that the review was jury has decided. unsystematic and not necesLamar Damian Johnson’s con- sarily representative, he found victions date back to 1984, when that only two of the cases met he was found guilty of felony the clinical definition of the statutory rape, according to disorder. the San Mateo County District “My experience indicates that Attorney’s Office. He was con- the SVP laws are being implevicted again in 1993 following mented in a highly arbitrary the rape and beating of a woman and idiosyncratic fashion with he met in a bar in San Jose, who judges and juries easily conthen accompanied Mr. Johnson fused by misleading expert to his Carlton Avenue home testimony,� Dr. Frances wrote in Menlo Park. He was sen- on March 29. He concluded tenced to 36 years that “a very small in state prison and proportion of required by law to criminal rapMenlo Park man ists committed serve at least half that time. SVP statretains classification under The trial to utes do qualify extend his incar- as ‘sexually violent for a Paraphilia ceration ended diagnosis. But predator.’ after seven days the overwhelmwith a jury’s vering majority of dict on Sept. 5 committed rapthat Mr. Johnson continued to ists do not qualify for a diagfit the state’s criteria of a sexually nosis of ‘Paraphilia NOS.’ This violent predator (SVP). Chief term is currently being misused Deputy District Attorney Karen and wildly over-diagnosed by Guidotti listed the reasons: “His evaluators who have a fundaprior sex offenses. The fact that mental misunderstanding of he was diagnosed with paraphil- (the clinical criteria).� ia not otherwise specified, and The controversy has attracted the doctors’ opinion that he is the attention of the California likely to re-offend.� Department of Mental Health, Ms. Guidotti estimated that which administers the commore than 25 felons in San mitment program. It recently Mateo County have been com- launched a retraining program mitted as sexually violent preda- aimed at improving the accutors to date. racy of its diagnosticians. In general, those committed Mr. Johnson’s case goes to under this law have been con- court again on Sept. 13, when victed of specific sex offenses defense attorney John Halley is against at least one victim, and expected to argue for a comdiagnosed with a mental disor- mitment term of two years, der that suggests they’re likely to instead of one of indeterminate re-offend if released. The law, length. Mr. Halley declined to which took effect in 1996, allows comment on the case. the offenders to be incarcerated at state mental hospitals after serving their original prison sentences as long as certain conditions are met, leading to attack by civil rights proponents who argue that it allows unfair punishment for those who have Support served their time. Almanac Staff Writer
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Diagnosis challenged
Witnesses testifying on Mr. Johnson’s behalf included his wife, sister, son and two psychologists who challenged the mental diagnosis, according to court records. The appropriate classification of an offender as having a “paraphilia not otherwise specified� is a current controversy within the forensic men-
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September 12, 2012 N TheAlmanacOnline.com N The Almanac N 15