“He is a sick guy,” Tinari said.
But Roberto is “always nervous about hospitals getting a hold of my clients,” she said. “If I’m thinking maybe I can get it from first to third under diminished capacity, I get a psychologist to say, ‘Yes, he’s bipolar, and it affects his cognition.’”
She said a defense lawyer would be required to notify the prosecutor that he is raising this defense as soon as possible, and that the prosecution would then have the right to interview the defendant—effectively eliminating the accused’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Roberto said Ali’s medical history would help such a defense. “But it’s not a slam dunk,” she said.
Thomas Malone, the Assistant District Attorney assigned to the case, dismissed the possibility that Ali’s medical history will shield him from prosecution for first degree murder.
“If you walked down the street, you’d pass 15, maybe 100 people who you didn’t know were diagnosed with something,” Malone said. “That doesn’t mean they’re criminally insane, and it doesn’t mean [Ali] is criminally insane.”
He added, “and he wasn’t criminally insane.”
Malone said he was confident that he would be able to overcome either of the insanity defenses. He said he could prove that Ali understood the nature and quality of his actions and the wrongfulness of his actions.
He said that Ali’s actions before, during and after the crime reflect the ability to form specific intent.
“There was forethought galore, there was planning, the attempt to disguise his appearance, the effort to evade capture,” he said.
Sullivan’s parents declined to speak with reporters, but have established The Lea Fohrder Sullivan Scholarship Fund for Women Medical Students at Thomas Jefferson University in her memory.
Phyllis Fisher, director of public relations for Thomas Jefferson University, declined comment, citing the Sullivan family’s request for privacy. She said the Jefferson Medical College Dean’s office and Sullivan’s friends will be selling a memorial pin to raise money for the scholarship fund.
—Staff writer Daniel L. Wagner can be reached at dwagner@fas.harvard.edu.