Newz Forum: FOOTBALL: Judge orders mental health evaluation for Clarett

With the ever-expanding Soap Opera that is Maurice Clarett, this may be the best thing for this guy. Hopefully it will help him pull his head out of his arse.

CBS Sportsline Story Link

Maurice Clarett was ordered to have a mental health evaluation following a bizarre and violent encounter with police in which the former Ohio State football star was caught with four guns after a highway chase.

The judge delayed a trial set to begin Monday on previous charges in which the player is accused of holding up two people outside a bar on New Year's Day.

Judge David Fais ordered the evaluation against the wishes of Clarett and his attorneys, citing the events surrounding the arrest early Wednesday.

I clearly understand everything and I don't know why we have to drag this thing out," said Clarett, who scoffed, smiled and rolled his head back when Fais announced his ruling.

Mental health evaluation? I've practiced Criminal Law for 20 years, and, although I have no background in Psychology except what I've picked up from reading many thousands of pages of psychologists' testimony, I can give you an evaluation of Clarett:

He's not insane. He knows the difference between right and wrong as society views those concepts. He simply doesn't give a damn and doesn't think he should be bound by rules, because he's still under the illusion that his life, now flushed down the toilet because of his own misdeeds, is going to be something special, and that he will be treated by the special, hypocritical rules that apply only to certain athletes, movie stars, presidents (ok, let's not go there, Jim), etc.

He has what shrinks call Antisocial Personality Disorder, which means he's a "sociopath," or what used to be known as a "psychopath." It's the worst diagnosis there is, because it means he was born without the capability to feel for others or to develop a moral compass in life. He's incurable and can no more develop a conscience about his misdeeds than your cat can about killing birds. He can only feel for himself, can never truly love or care for another, will never give a s--- about anyone he hurts, and will go through his life thinking about the enormous number of things to which he was entitled... unencumbered by the notion that society's rules and mores apply to him.

About 40% of the prison (not jail) population is currently thought to have Antisocial Personality Disorder. I believe that figure is too high, when applied to the entire prison population, but when applied to the clients whom I get--Death Row inmates, other major murderers and major sexual predators--it's conservative, if anything.

So there's a diagnosis of Maurice Clarett from Doctor Jim, B.H.N. Oh, and I think he may have what shrinks call "colorings" of Borderline Personality Disorder, too--another terrible disorder.

BHN

So you're saying that Clarett is mentally ill, but not insane, right? Do either of those disorders you mentioned have any impact on his perception of right and wrong?

I don't think he has any disorders, but I agree with the rest of your assessment. He knows right from wrong and has chosen to do wrong. He is upset and angry at the world because of what has happened in his life. He always say himself as a star, and now still does, even though his football career is dead after having never gotten out of the infant phase. Clarett has no one to blame but himself in all this, and he doesn't want to 'fess up to that.

I have no idea, however, why Clarett did any of this. He had four loaded guns and a bulletproof vest. He was driving drunk, with a half empty bottle of vodka in the car. This man was either planning to shoot someone, or else he believed that someone else wanted to shoot him. Either way, he was up to no good.

There are "mental diseases" (good in court), "mental disorders" (some good in court, some not) and "mental defects" (good in court).

Probably THE two worst "mental disorders" are APD--Antisocial Personality Disorder--and Borderline Personality Disorder. Clarett may or may not have the second one, but I'd bet a ton of money than a neutral, court-appointed shrink who spent enough time with him would diagnose him with APD. And like I said, in very simple terms, APD = being born with neither a conscience nor the capacity to develop a conscience. You simply don't care about other people's rights, feelings, health, etc.

I don't know if you're a cat person--I'm not; I hate cats and love dogs--but if you ARE a cat person, would you expect your cat, even if it lived to be 20, to learn to feel badly about killing birds? Of course not. It's just not the way they're wired.

A sociopath is not going to be trained to give a damn about other people's rights, feelings or physical safety. I had a client once who broke into a home, along with two younger thugs, to commit a residential burglary in the daytime. They thought the occupants had all left, but they brought a pair of guns, just in case. Lo and behold, what did they find at home, but a 98-year-old woman. One of the two younger thugs horribly attacked her, first trying but failing to kill her with a phone cord, then trying but failing to kill her with a small paring knife, then finally killing her with a huge kitchen knife.

My client's comment to the killer, during the early part of the attack:

"Hey, man, I got a jacket [reputation] to go by in the joint. Attackin' an old lady like that's as bad as bein' a child molester, in the joint." Translation: Not, "Leave her alone because it's the gravest of sins to kill another being," nor, "Leave her alone because it's depraved beyond belief to attack a woman that age," but, "Leave her alone or it could go real bad on me during the next of my zillion trips to prison."

That is an extreme examle of sociopathy, but I don't think Clarett is too far behind that extreme. And the guy I'm talking about has never brutally assaulted, much less killed, anyone. I don't know how much longer Maurice Clarett will be able at least the former of those two things.

BHN