When forensic neuropsychologist James P. Sullivan went to see Shawna Forde in the Pima County jail, she told him he was wasting his time; he would find nothing wrong with her.
In fact, Sullivan said, Forde has many deficits brought on by the trauma she suffered during her childhood and a stroke she had 16 years ago.
Sullivan testified Wednesday, the second day of the mitigation phase in Forde's capital murder trial.
A Pima County jury convicted Forde, 43, Monday of first-degree murder in the May 30, 2009, deaths of Arivaca residents Raul Junior Flores, 29, and Brisenia Flores, 9.
The Floreses were shot after a man and a woman claiming to be law-enforcement officers demanded entrance into their home ostensibly to look for fugitives.
Prosecutors presented evidence Forde recruited a group of people to rob Flores of drugs, weapons and cash to fund her border protection group, Minutemen American Defense.
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The jurors decided Tuesday that Forde is eligible for the death penalty, now her attorneys hope to convince them not to impose it.
Sullivan met with Forde about 12 hours over four days, he said. During that time he performed clinical interviews with her and a variety of tests.
The doctor testified Forde tried to manage his impressions of her by embellishing her personal history, she did not and could not fake her deficits.
The tests indicate Forde's brain has suffered damage and as a result, she is unable to change courses once she sets them, has problems making executive decisions and is unable to read the environment around her and respond appropriately, Sullivan said.
In a room of 100 people, 82 would score better on an IQ test; Forde's IQ is 86, Sullivan told defense attorney Eric Larsen.
Under cross-examination from Deputy Pima County Attorney Rick Unklesbay, Sullivan acknowledged he did not have police reports, interview transcripts, secretly recorded FBI tapes or Minutemen videos when he wrote his report - things that would've given him insight as to how she managed her life.
When asked to explain how Forde could have worked for several years in various occupations with all of these deficits, Sullivan said he would have to know more about each circumstance.
She was a music producer for seven years, but did the company turn a profit or did Forde have help, Sullivan asked.
Most criminals try to convince doctors and jurors they are less intelligent than they are, Forde was the opposite, Sullivan said.
"She'd rather me tell everyone she has an IQ of 145 and is smarter than everyone else in this room," Sullivan said.
Studies have shown people with the least amount of skill are the most likely to believe they are the most skilled; they will tell you they performed in the top 10 percent, when actually they performed in the bottom 10 percent, Sullivan said.
When he first met Forde, she told him he was wasting his time with her and acted as though she was a genius "who had it all going on," Sullivan said.
The doctor testified Forde often embellished and lied about her personal history, often coming across as a "big shot, a big operator with a lot of irons in the fire."
She told him grandiose stories about large donations to her organization and her status in a group dedicated to getting Gov. Jan Brewer elected president.
"Her ego seems much more important to her than anything else," Sullivan said.
When Unklesbay informed Sullivan that Forde has been recorded telling supporters she faked her way through his tests because she doesn't want the jury to believe she's intelligent enough to be the manipulative person portrayed by prosecutors, Sullivan said he was not surprised.
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com On StarNet: Follow the news and events at Pima County's courthouses in Kim Smith's blog, At the Courthouse, at go.azstarnet.com/courthouse
