So we
know, then, that Tommy lied to the police as well. He
lied to them over and over. Not only did he lie to
them, but he was laying it on thick. With Lesse, Tommy
even went as far as claiming he never had sexual
relations with girls or masturbated. Even more
remarkable is the fact that Lesse seems to have bought
it--all of it. He states, from his report:
I was particularly observant with regard to
his reactions to my questions and to his overall
demeanor during the repeated questioning. The patient
responded promptly to all questions. He did not
appear to take questions lightly on the one hand, nor
did he appear to be extremely apprehensive on the
other hand. He was questioned intensively as to who
he felt might have committed the crime. He had no
specific comments with regard to specific
individuals. The patient did mention that there had
been some kind of prowler in the area some time prior
to October 30th.
There is no need to speculate. Dr. Lesse was fooled.
Period. Does this indicate incompetence? Not
necessarily. It certainly indicaates that Tommy's
capacity for willful deceit is formidable. After all,
Dr. Lesse isn't the only professional who he
successfully snowed. However, I also suspect Dr.
Lesse's examination may have been tainted by a
sympathetic disposition towards the patient which
precluded his ability to notice obvious
inconsistencies--such as the Martha conversation v.s.
Tommy [Tommy's] studying recall. The most
glaring example of Dr. Lesse's inadequacy as an
examiner, however, is evident in the sodium amytal
interview section of his report:
[Tommy] was queried on a point by point basis as to
the events that had taken place on the night of
October 30th and on October 31st. He was repeatedly
questioned with regard [^] his attitudes and emotions
prior to, during and since October 30th. The
patient's responses did not deviate from that which
he [sic] had been obtained by direct
questioning when he was fully awake as they pertained
to the Martha Moxley murder.
The patient was questioned intensively with
regard to any referential trends towards his peers or
towards Martha Moxley. He was questioned intensively
with regard to strong sexual desires towards girls or
to Martha Moxley. I could not elicit any evidence of
strong feelings towards the murdered girl. Indeed,
this young man appears to be psychosexually very
immature. I believe this interview is very valid. The
patient was so anxious in relationship to the needle
that the level of anxiety that was present would have
tended to block or prevent a deliberate falsification
of the response.
Again, Lesse is wrong. Period. We
know that now. What is extremely negligent about this
section, however, are its unsupported conclusions.
Lesse does not include any quotes from Tommy's
testimony under sodium amytal, nor does he explain
what exactly Tommy's "attitudes and emotions" were.
Moreover, he seems just about willing to overlook
even the obvious when it comes to evaluating Tommy's
behavior. For example:
The test was performed in the patient's room.
As the needle was inserted, he became extremely
apprehensive once again, began to whimper and at
times cried openly. "Please take it out, please take
it out!" he held his body rigid and had to be
reassured that nothing would go amiss.
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