Only a small proportion of defendants referred for evaluation are found incompetent to stand trial. Most are floridly psychotic. It is a rare defendant who is found incompetent on the basis of depression, no matter how severe. Attorneys declared a doubt as to Steven Hayes’ competency when the suicidal defendant declined to participate in jury selection at his trial. He was on a trial in the high-profile murder of a mother and her daughters from a prominent Connecticut family. The competency evaluation was a bit unusual in that it was conducted by a team of mental health professionals. Mr. Hayes was found competent, and in early 2011 was sentenced to die, as he wanted.
Recent & Upcoming
Peer consultant
Dr. Franklin is excited to join the multidisciplinary Pacific Forensic Group as a peer consultant.
Podcast interview
Dr. Franklin converses with Laverne Cox about violence against transgender people.
Book chapter
Forensic Psychology in Military Courts, edited by U.S. Air Force Major Christopher Stein and forensic psychologist Jeffrey Younggren, includes a chapter by Dr. Franklin on psychological evaluations in military courts-martial.
NPR radio interview
Dr. Franklin discusses the career of forensic psychology with job coach Marty Nemko on NPR. Listen online or download the podcast HERE.
Career interview
An in-depth interview about Dr. Franklin’s career by psychologist David Webb is online at “All About Forensic Science.”
Training feedback
Participant evaluations of professional trainings has been updated with attorney feedback from a recent training for the Santa Clara County Superior Court on evaluating juvenile competency.
Book review
A review of the first-ever textbook on multiple-perpetrator rape, which includes a chapter by Dr. Franklin, has been published by the European journal Sexologies.
Profiled
Dr. Franklin was profiled in a high school forensic science textbook.