Forensic Evaluations

Mitigation is challenging work. You are advocating for someone who has committed or was involved in a serious crime that has changed people's lives. Perhaps you are preparing for the guilt/innocence phase, or fighting for a just and fair penalty as an outcome. Questions may arise such as: 

• How do I interpret my client's educational records? 
• Did he or she receive the right help in 'the system,' and if not, how did this impact their trajectory? 
• Does my client have a developmental disability? 
• What is their intellectual capacity? 
• Why is it a struggle to get through to my client? 
• How can I best address future dangerousness? 
• What are the impacts of my client's diagnosis on perception, behavior, relationships, managing impulses and emotions, and decision-making over the lifetime? 
• How do I retain the necessary expert services within time and budget constraints?

A timely and thorough evaluation will illuminate the mitigating circumstances and present your client's own, relevant, very human story. To get this done, you need a qualified professional with extensive experience in assessment and working in the field who the Court and jury can relate to. You also need an expert who can connect with you and with your client. 

I have over 15 years'  experience working directly with children and adults with learning and developmental disabilities. I have extensive training in childhood trauma and its impact on development. For more information about my background, please click here. 

If you would like to look below, you will see I use the most current, research-backed assessment tools you are familiar with and know the Court has accepted in the past.

Available In-Person Assessments:

· ADOS-2: Autism assessment

· WAIS-4: IQ test for adults

· WISC-5: IQ test for children and teens

· WIAT-4: Achievement test for adults up to age 50 

· TOMM: Test of Memory Malingering

· D-KEFS: A nationally standardized test of executive function that can identify deficits in abstract and creative thinking, problem-solving, attention

· CVLT-3: Assessment of verbal learning and memory deficits in adults

· PPVT-5: A measure of receptive vocabulary based on Standard American English

· EVT-3: A measure of expressive vocabulary based on Standard American English

· RBANS: Brief test measuring attention, language, visuospatial abilities, and immediate and delayed memory

· WMS-4: An assessment of memory in adults

· CTONI-2: A test of nonverbal intelligence, helpful for individuals with low verbal skills/difficulty verbalizing their thoughts. The examinee looks at pictures and points to their responses and does not need to speak. This can be used in place of a traditional IQ test when needed.

Available Rating Scales (self-reports and observer reports available):

· ABAS-3: A measure of adaptive behaviors

· SRS-2: Autism rating scale, correlates with the DSM-5

· SPM-2: Sensory processing (helpful in autism) 

· BRIEF-2: Executive function

· CAARS or Brown Scales: ADHD symptoms in adults, correlates with the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria

Skilled use of the most current, reliable, and widely recognized assessments available will reveal not only existing developmental disabilities but inform you of your client's cognitive and achievement skills, and executive and adaptive functioning.

Expert testimony is available as needed. I am a qualified expert in Autism Spectrum Disorder in the State of Texas and have contributed to capital cases in Texas, Oklahoma, and Washington DC for individuals with autism, intellectual disability, brain injury,  trauma histories, and learning disabilities. Speaking engagements have included The Center for American and International Law (CAIL)'s Capital Defense College, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, and Texas Regional Public Defenders Office (RPDO).