By Laurel Brubaker Calkins
Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- R. Allen Stanford, whose lawyers failed to convince a judge that he’s mentally unfit to stand trial, was ordered to face a jury next month on charges he swindled investors of more than $7 billion. The trial is to begin with jury selection on Jan. 23.
Stanford’s defense team argued unsuccessfully that his mental capacity was diminished by head injuries he suffered in a 2009 jailhouse assault and the effects of powerful anxiety medications prescribed in prison after the beating.
“I have found by a preponderance of the evidence that Stanford is competent to stand trial,” U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Houston said yesterday in finding Stanford able to assist in his defense.
Hittner’s ruling followed 2 1/2 days of debate over the extent of brain damage Stanford, 61, suffered from the assault and the extent to which he might be faking memory loss.
“He wants to con his way out of this case the same way he conned investors for more than 20 years,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Costa told Hittner yesterday. “Don’t let him do it.”
Robert E. Cochrane, the psychologist who was Stanford’s lead evaluator at the federal prison hospital in Butner, North Carolina, testified that the former financier failed every test designed to expose fakers.
Stanford’s claim of complete retrograde amnesia, the loss of the memory of what happened before the event responsible, is “remarkable” because it is so rare, Cochrane said.
First Amnesia Report
Stanford first reported having lost his memory after he arrived at Butner in February, more than a year after the assault, the government said.
“Every doctor on the stand agreed that Mr. Stanford is not suffering from the complete retrograde amnesia he repeatedly claimed he had,” Costa said. Once it is accepted that Stanford is exaggerating his memory loss, “it pulls the rug out from under all the other psychological problems he’s reporting,” the prosecutor said.
Ali Fazel, Stanford’s lead lawyer, argued that all the examining doctors agreed “He’s not right. There’s something wrong with him.”
Fazel said Stanford’s brain trauma and psychological impairments leave him incapable of assisting his lawyers or testifying in his own defense.
“Mr. Stanford isn’t running away from anything,” Fazel said. “He wants to fight.” Fazel said.
Desire to Help
Stanford was assaulted and over-medicated while in government custody and wanted the “opportunity to get better and help his counsel,” Fazel argued.
The defense put on testimony from three psychiatrists or neuropsychologists who all said the former billionaire is incompetent.
“He says it’s like there’s a blackboard with all his life written on it, but there are clouds that obscure it,” Victor Scarano, a forensic psychiatrist who examined Stanford for the defense, testified Dec. 21. “Every once in a while, a cloud opens up and he can connect with the memory, and then the clouds comes back.”
Scarano testified Stanford can’t recall some of his children, romantic encounters or business details. He retains “partial pieces” of memory, Scarano said.
Ralph Lilly, a neurologist for Stanford’s defense, testified Dec. 21 that the ex-financier’s brain damage and health problems, including depression, heart and liver disease, have put him “at risk for suicide.”
All-Night Observation
Based on news media reports of that testimony, Stanford was placed under psychiatric watch last night at the federal lockup in Houston. He arrived in court this morning complaining heatedly to his attorneys of having been kept awake and under observation in the jail’s “psyche hole” all night.
A prison official told Hittner an overnight mental evaluation was conducted out of “an abundance of caution,” given Stanford’s high profile and his own doctor’s testimony. She said Stanford will be re-evaluated tonight to determine if he can be returned to the general prison population.
Stanford has been held as a flight risk since his June 2009 indictment on charges of defrauding investors through a scheme built on allegedly bogus certificates of deposit at Antigua- based Stanford International Bank Ltd.
Hittner delayed Stanford’s trial, first set for last January, after three doctors testified that the financier was incapable of assisting in his defense because of his drug dependency and potential effects from the head injury.
Houston Jail
Stanford was sent back to a Houston lockup in November after Butner medical officials certified him competent to stand trial.
Prosecutors say Stanford skimmed more than $1 billion of investor funds to acquire a fleet of jets and yachts, multiple mansions and a private Caribbean island, as well as to give money to women with whom he had children. He has denied wrongdoing.
The case is U.S. v. Stanford, 09-cr-342, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston).
Showing posts with label amnesia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amnesia. Show all posts
Friday, 23 December 2011
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Stanford Failed Every Mental Test for Uncovering Fakes, Doctor Testifies
By Laurel Brubaker Calkins - Dec 20, 2011 2:22 PM GMT-0400
R. Allen Stanford, the accused financier claiming he’s mentally unfit to stand trial next month, failed every test designed to expose fakers, a government psychologist testified.
“When it comes to the amnesia, I’m convinced that complaint is malingered,” Dr. Robert E. Cochrane, a staff psychologist at the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ medical center in Butner, North Carolina, said today at a hearing in federal court in Houston.
Depending on a ruling by U.S. District Judge David Hittner, Stanford, 61, will undergo further treatment or face a trial Jan. 23 on charges of running a Ponzi scheme that cost investors more than $7 billion and might put him prison for the rest of his life. Cochrane was the government’s first witness.
Stanford claims he can’t recall family vacations, his business dealings or romantic encounters with women because “59 years were stolen” by a jailhouse beating and anxiety drugs, the government said in court papers. The government says he is faking.
Stanford arrived in court today shackled, looking thin and alert in green prison clothes. He smiled at family members in the back of the courtroom after greeting his attorney and the lead prosecutor, saying softly, “Good Christmas.”
On every neuropsychological test designed to unmask feigning, “Mr. Stanford failed,” Cochrane said, “and that was pretty strong evidence he was exaggerating the memory loss.”
Rare Condition
The claim of complete retrograde amnesia, loss of the memory of things that happened before the event that caused it, is “remarkable” because the condition is so rare, the doctor said.
“ It happens so infrequently it’s hardly documented in the medical literature,” he said.
He said Stanford’s purported amnesia didn’t fit the pattern, because his memory was normal immediately after the jailhouse beating that his lawyers say caused the condition, then supposedly deteriorated when he arrived at the medical center more than a year later.
“ If the head injury was the source of his amnesia, how could he remember then and not now?” Cochrane asked. “You have amnesia right after the head injury, not after a delay.”
Stanford, the doctor said, performed so poorly on certain memory tests that “mentally retarded children did much better” on them.
Defense Filing
Ali R. Fazel, one of Stanford’s attorneys, said in a filing before the hearing that doctors’ testimony will show the Texas financier suffered a traumatic brain injury in jail made worse by “the cocktail of medications” administered in the federal lockup.
Hittner today ruled that Stanford’s former lawyer and mother, listed as witnesses by the defense, won’t be allowed to testify.
The judge said he’ll hear from “only the treating doctors” who can address Stanford’s ability to proceed to trial.
Stanford has been imprisoned as a flight risk since his June 2009 indictment on charges of defrauding investors through a scheme built on allegedly bogus certificates of deposit at Antigua-based Stanford International Bank Ltd.
Prosecutors say Stanford skimmed more than $1 billion of investor funds to acquire fleet of jets and yachts, multiple mansions and a private Caribbean island, as well as to give money to women with whom he had children.
Hittner delayed Stanford’s trial, first set for last January, after three doctors testified that the financier was incapable of assisting in his defense because of his drug dependency and potential effects from the head injury.
The case is U.S. v. Stanford, 09-cr-342, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston).
R. Allen Stanford, the accused financier claiming he’s mentally unfit to stand trial next month, failed every test designed to expose fakers, a government psychologist testified.
“When it comes to the amnesia, I’m convinced that complaint is malingered,” Dr. Robert E. Cochrane, a staff psychologist at the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ medical center in Butner, North Carolina, said today at a hearing in federal court in Houston.
Depending on a ruling by U.S. District Judge David Hittner, Stanford, 61, will undergo further treatment or face a trial Jan. 23 on charges of running a Ponzi scheme that cost investors more than $7 billion and might put him prison for the rest of his life. Cochrane was the government’s first witness.
Stanford claims he can’t recall family vacations, his business dealings or romantic encounters with women because “59 years were stolen” by a jailhouse beating and anxiety drugs, the government said in court papers. The government says he is faking.
Stanford arrived in court today shackled, looking thin and alert in green prison clothes. He smiled at family members in the back of the courtroom after greeting his attorney and the lead prosecutor, saying softly, “Good Christmas.”
On every neuropsychological test designed to unmask feigning, “Mr. Stanford failed,” Cochrane said, “and that was pretty strong evidence he was exaggerating the memory loss.”
Rare Condition
The claim of complete retrograde amnesia, loss of the memory of things that happened before the event that caused it, is “remarkable” because the condition is so rare, the doctor said.
“ It happens so infrequently it’s hardly documented in the medical literature,” he said.
He said Stanford’s purported amnesia didn’t fit the pattern, because his memory was normal immediately after the jailhouse beating that his lawyers say caused the condition, then supposedly deteriorated when he arrived at the medical center more than a year later.
“ If the head injury was the source of his amnesia, how could he remember then and not now?” Cochrane asked. “You have amnesia right after the head injury, not after a delay.”
Stanford, the doctor said, performed so poorly on certain memory tests that “mentally retarded children did much better” on them.
Defense Filing
Ali R. Fazel, one of Stanford’s attorneys, said in a filing before the hearing that doctors’ testimony will show the Texas financier suffered a traumatic brain injury in jail made worse by “the cocktail of medications” administered in the federal lockup.
Hittner today ruled that Stanford’s former lawyer and mother, listed as witnesses by the defense, won’t be allowed to testify.
The judge said he’ll hear from “only the treating doctors” who can address Stanford’s ability to proceed to trial.
Stanford has been imprisoned as a flight risk since his June 2009 indictment on charges of defrauding investors through a scheme built on allegedly bogus certificates of deposit at Antigua-based Stanford International Bank Ltd.
Prosecutors say Stanford skimmed more than $1 billion of investor funds to acquire fleet of jets and yachts, multiple mansions and a private Caribbean island, as well as to give money to women with whom he had children.
Hittner delayed Stanford’s trial, first set for last January, after three doctors testified that the financier was incapable of assisting in his defense because of his drug dependency and potential effects from the head injury.
The case is U.S. v. Stanford, 09-cr-342, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston).
Stanford due in court today (20th December 2011) for Competency Hearing
Accused Ponzi Schemer Lying About Having Amnesia, Say Prosecutors
Federal prosecutors say R. Allen Stanford, the financier accused of defrauding investors of $7 billion, is mentally competent to stand trial and is faking amnesia, according to court documents.
A competency hearing is scheduled for Tuesday 20th December 2011 in a Texas court.
Stanford, 61, pleaded not guilty to all charges and later claimed he developed amnesia after a fellow inmate assaulted him in 2009. His defense attorney said in separate documents that the inmate smashed Stanford's face into a pole and threw him onto the concrete floor.
But in their motion to have Stanford declared competent, U.S. attorneys said doctors at the federal prison in Butner, N.C., determined that Stanford was "not credible" when he said he was "completely amnestic to his life prior to the assault." Stanford said he could not remember past romances, vacations with his children or any details about his business operations.
Additional psychological testing, the motion says, prove he was lying and faking cognitive impairments. On some of the tests, he even scored lower than people with brain injuries and dementia.
Defense experts, according to prosecutors, blamed Stanford's poor performance on depression and fatigue. In a separate motion, Stanford's attorney, Ali Fazel, said his client "suffered a traumatic brain injury" in the assault and the medications given to him by prison medical staff, which included anti-anxiety drugs and antidepressants, made his condition worse.
Stanford claims to have retrograde amnesia, the loss of memory of events that happened before an injury. Memories from a few days before to even a few years before could be lost with retrograde amnesia.
Cases in which decades of memories are lost are extremely rare, and in most cases, if memory loss is that severe, a person has likely suffered a very serious brain injury.
"In this situation, generally, brain damage is so severe that this person would not be walking, talking, conversing or reasoning," said David Loewenstein, a neuropsychologist and professor of psychiatry at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine. Loewenstein did not evaluate Stanford and was referring to amnesia in general.
While he couldn't comment on whether Stanford is lying about his memory loss, Loewenstein said skilled neuropsychologists can tell the difference between someone truly experiencing amnesia and someone who is faking it.
There are numerous tests available that psychologists and psychiatrists use that assess, among other things, a person's memory, personality and language.
"These tests are very sensitive, and you can tell with a high degree of accuracy whether someone really has amnesia," he said.
Prosecutors said in addition to psychological tests that prove Stanford is faking amnesia, they also have emails, phone calls and other evidence that they say show he does remember events prior to the prison assault.
If a judge rules Stanford is mentally fit for trial, his trial will begin Jan. 23.
Federal prosecutors say R. Allen Stanford, the financier accused of defrauding investors of $7 billion, is mentally competent to stand trial and is faking amnesia, according to court documents.
A competency hearing is scheduled for Tuesday 20th December 2011 in a Texas court.
Stanford, 61, pleaded not guilty to all charges and later claimed he developed amnesia after a fellow inmate assaulted him in 2009. His defense attorney said in separate documents that the inmate smashed Stanford's face into a pole and threw him onto the concrete floor.
But in their motion to have Stanford declared competent, U.S. attorneys said doctors at the federal prison in Butner, N.C., determined that Stanford was "not credible" when he said he was "completely amnestic to his life prior to the assault." Stanford said he could not remember past romances, vacations with his children or any details about his business operations.
Additional psychological testing, the motion says, prove he was lying and faking cognitive impairments. On some of the tests, he even scored lower than people with brain injuries and dementia.
Defense experts, according to prosecutors, blamed Stanford's poor performance on depression and fatigue. In a separate motion, Stanford's attorney, Ali Fazel, said his client "suffered a traumatic brain injury" in the assault and the medications given to him by prison medical staff, which included anti-anxiety drugs and antidepressants, made his condition worse.
Stanford claims to have retrograde amnesia, the loss of memory of events that happened before an injury. Memories from a few days before to even a few years before could be lost with retrograde amnesia.
Cases in which decades of memories are lost are extremely rare, and in most cases, if memory loss is that severe, a person has likely suffered a very serious brain injury.
"In this situation, generally, brain damage is so severe that this person would not be walking, talking, conversing or reasoning," said David Loewenstein, a neuropsychologist and professor of psychiatry at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine. Loewenstein did not evaluate Stanford and was referring to amnesia in general.
While he couldn't comment on whether Stanford is lying about his memory loss, Loewenstein said skilled neuropsychologists can tell the difference between someone truly experiencing amnesia and someone who is faking it.
There are numerous tests available that psychologists and psychiatrists use that assess, among other things, a person's memory, personality and language.
"These tests are very sensitive, and you can tell with a high degree of accuracy whether someone really has amnesia," he said.
Prosecutors said in addition to psychological tests that prove Stanford is faking amnesia, they also have emails, phone calls and other evidence that they say show he does remember events prior to the prison assault.
If a judge rules Stanford is mentally fit for trial, his trial will begin Jan. 23.
Friday, 16 December 2011
Allen Stanford Appears to Be 'Faking' Amnesia: Prosecutors
Published: Thursday, 15 Dec 2011
By: Scott Cohn
Senior Correspondent, CNBC
Federal prosecutors say accused Ponzi schemer R. Allen Stanford appears to be "faking" memory loss in order to avoid his criminal trial scheduled for next month.
The accusation comes in a court filing ahead of a hearing next week to determine if Stanford is competent to stand trial.
"Convincing, reliable evidence demonstrates that Stanford is faking memory loss," prosecutors say in the 20-page filing.
Stanford's attorneys say he has lost all memory of events preceding his assault in a federal detention facility in September, 2009. Following the assault, while still in federal custody, Stanford became addicted to prescription drugs.
Stanford was indicted in June of that year for allegedly running a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. In January of this year, a judge ruled him incompetent to stand trial and ordered him to undergo drug treatment and evaluation at the Bureau of Prisons medical center in Butner, NC.
That treatment ended last month, and doctors at the medical center declared Stanford competent. But doctors hired by the defense have claimed — and apparently continue to claim — that Stanford has "no independent recollection of personal life events or business dealings that predated the head trauma he sustained in the September 2009," according to the filing.
Stanford even indicated to prison doctors "feeling bad after being informed by his family that he was known as a 'womanizer'," according to the filing.
Stanford, 61, has been separated from his wife for years, and has fathered multiple children with mistresses he referred to as his "outside wives."
Prosecutors, citing doctors at the Butner medical center, say Stanford's claims of memory loss are not credible, since he had no trouble with memory immediately following the assault and only claimed amnesia much later.
As late as last December, according to the prison doctors, Stanford was able to recall specific experiences, including prior interactions with then-Congressman, now House Speaker John Boehner.
The filing says prison doctors testing Stanford's memory found he "either was not trying or was faking."
Defense attorneys have not yet responded to the prosecution's filing. It will be up to U.S. District Judge David Hittner to decide if Stanford is competent for trial. Hittner has scheduled a competency hearing for Tuesday in Houston.
Stanford faces 14 criminal counts in the alleged fraud. He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing
By: Scott Cohn
Senior Correspondent, CNBC
Federal prosecutors say accused Ponzi schemer R. Allen Stanford appears to be "faking" memory loss in order to avoid his criminal trial scheduled for next month.
The accusation comes in a court filing ahead of a hearing next week to determine if Stanford is competent to stand trial.
"Convincing, reliable evidence demonstrates that Stanford is faking memory loss," prosecutors say in the 20-page filing.
Stanford's attorneys say he has lost all memory of events preceding his assault in a federal detention facility in September, 2009. Following the assault, while still in federal custody, Stanford became addicted to prescription drugs.
Stanford was indicted in June of that year for allegedly running a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. In January of this year, a judge ruled him incompetent to stand trial and ordered him to undergo drug treatment and evaluation at the Bureau of Prisons medical center in Butner, NC.
That treatment ended last month, and doctors at the medical center declared Stanford competent. But doctors hired by the defense have claimed — and apparently continue to claim — that Stanford has "no independent recollection of personal life events or business dealings that predated the head trauma he sustained in the September 2009," according to the filing.
Stanford even indicated to prison doctors "feeling bad after being informed by his family that he was known as a 'womanizer'," according to the filing.
Stanford, 61, has been separated from his wife for years, and has fathered multiple children with mistresses he referred to as his "outside wives."
Prosecutors, citing doctors at the Butner medical center, say Stanford's claims of memory loss are not credible, since he had no trouble with memory immediately following the assault and only claimed amnesia much later.
As late as last December, according to the prison doctors, Stanford was able to recall specific experiences, including prior interactions with then-Congressman, now House Speaker John Boehner.
The filing says prison doctors testing Stanford's memory found he "either was not trying or was faking."
Defense attorneys have not yet responded to the prosecution's filing. It will be up to U.S. District Judge David Hittner to decide if Stanford is competent for trial. Hittner has scheduled a competency hearing for Tuesday in Houston.
Stanford faces 14 criminal counts in the alleged fraud. He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Allen Stanford claims amnesia, and it seems contagious
Source: Loren Steffy
Chron.com
R. Allen Stanford, accused of running a $7 billion Ponzi scheme from offices in Houston and the Caribbean island of Antigua, apparently has a new defense tactic: amnesia.
Stanford has been held without bail since his arrest in 2009. He was later beaten in prison by another inmate, then became addicted to pain killers as part of his recovery. His trial has been delayed while he is weaned off the medication, but it was expected to begin in the spring.
Standford now claims he can’t remember anything prior to his 2009 arrest, according to the Wall Street Journal. It’s an awfully convenient medical condition, but it’s hardly unique in the Stanford case.
The Texas Department of Banking, for example, also seems to have some memory loss. Back in May, I wrote about how state banking regulators, who granted Stanford’s request to establish a trust company here in 2001, had entered into an unusual arrangement with Antiguan authorities that enabled them to review the books of Stanford’s bank in Antigua.
In the more than two years since Stanford’s financial empire collapsed, investigators have complained about a lack of cooperation from Antiguan authorities, especially when it comes to details of Stanford’s bank. It’s not clear, I wrote in May, if Texas authorities ever received or even requested financial information from Stanford’s Antiguan bank.
When I asked a lawyer for the banking commission about it, she confirmed the agreement but said I would need to file an open records request if I wanted to know more. So I did.
Under the state’s open records law, I was supposed to get a response in 10 days. I didn’t, so I sent another message reminding them of the deadline. Still nothing. Finally, late last week, I got an answer — four months after my initial request.
In it, a lawyer for the banking department claims it didn’t receive my request until Sept. 13, but added that “it appears from the date noted on the request that the delivery of the request was delayed.”
The information I got back doesn’t answer the fundamental question of whether the banking department ever acted on its information-sharing agreement, or what information it received. An accompanying attorney general’s opinion found that the financial information would be considered confidential under the information-sharing pact between Texas and Antigua.
Neither the AG’s opinion nor the banking department, though, has answered the more basic question: did they ever invoke the agreement?
The trust agreement was supposed to protect investors, but it appears the state’s banking regulators, after much fanfare in establishing it, never actually used it, or if they did, they missed the warning signs. Then again, maybe delivery of the information was “delayed.”
Here’s the response to my request:
FOI Response
Here’s the documents it generated, most of which discuss the creation of the trust company and the information-sharing pact with Antigua:
Stanford TAB Documents
Chron.com
R. Allen Stanford, accused of running a $7 billion Ponzi scheme from offices in Houston and the Caribbean island of Antigua, apparently has a new defense tactic: amnesia.
Stanford has been held without bail since his arrest in 2009. He was later beaten in prison by another inmate, then became addicted to pain killers as part of his recovery. His trial has been delayed while he is weaned off the medication, but it was expected to begin in the spring.
Standford now claims he can’t remember anything prior to his 2009 arrest, according to the Wall Street Journal. It’s an awfully convenient medical condition, but it’s hardly unique in the Stanford case.
The Texas Department of Banking, for example, also seems to have some memory loss. Back in May, I wrote about how state banking regulators, who granted Stanford’s request to establish a trust company here in 2001, had entered into an unusual arrangement with Antiguan authorities that enabled them to review the books of Stanford’s bank in Antigua.
In the more than two years since Stanford’s financial empire collapsed, investigators have complained about a lack of cooperation from Antiguan authorities, especially when it comes to details of Stanford’s bank. It’s not clear, I wrote in May, if Texas authorities ever received or even requested financial information from Stanford’s Antiguan bank.
When I asked a lawyer for the banking commission about it, she confirmed the agreement but said I would need to file an open records request if I wanted to know more. So I did.
Under the state’s open records law, I was supposed to get a response in 10 days. I didn’t, so I sent another message reminding them of the deadline. Still nothing. Finally, late last week, I got an answer — four months after my initial request.
In it, a lawyer for the banking department claims it didn’t receive my request until Sept. 13, but added that “it appears from the date noted on the request that the delivery of the request was delayed.”
The information I got back doesn’t answer the fundamental question of whether the banking department ever acted on its information-sharing agreement, or what information it received. An accompanying attorney general’s opinion found that the financial information would be considered confidential under the information-sharing pact between Texas and Antigua.
Neither the AG’s opinion nor the banking department, though, has answered the more basic question: did they ever invoke the agreement?
The trust agreement was supposed to protect investors, but it appears the state’s banking regulators, after much fanfare in establishing it, never actually used it, or if they did, they missed the warning signs. Then again, maybe delivery of the information was “delayed.”
Here’s the response to my request:
FOI Response
Here’s the documents it generated, most of which discuss the creation of the trust company and the information-sharing pact with Antigua:
Stanford TAB Documents
Friday, 16 September 2011
Stanford Says He Has Lost His Memory
By MICHAEL ROTHFELD
R. Allen Stanford, who has gone through a carousel of defense lawyers, an addiction to medication and a jailhouse beating, is now complaining of another malady, a person familiar with the matter says: amnesia.
The former Texas financier says he cannot remember events prior to his arrest in June 2009, the person said.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Texas ordered in January that Mr. Stanford be weaned off anti-anxiety medication and anti-depressants at the recommendation of psychiatrists. The judge declared Mr. Stanford unable then to help defend himself against charges of masterminding a $7 billion Ponzi scheme.
Doctors are expected soon to report back on Mr. Stanford's condition. The judge will decide if the trial can go forward in January. Mr. Stanford's lawyer declined to comment.
Roy Lubit, a forensic psychiatrist in New York not involved in the case, said medication and withdrawal are unlikely to cause memory loss. "If it's being cut back at a reasonable pace, that shouldn't stop them from being competent," he said.
Dr. Lubit and Colin Koransky, a forensic psychiatrist in California, both said a head injury—Mr. Stanford suffered one in the beating—could cause amnesia for recent events but is unlikely to affect older memories.
R. Allen Stanford, who has gone through a carousel of defense lawyers, an addiction to medication and a jailhouse beating, is now complaining of another malady, a person familiar with the matter says: amnesia.
The former Texas financier says he cannot remember events prior to his arrest in June 2009, the person said.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Texas ordered in January that Mr. Stanford be weaned off anti-anxiety medication and anti-depressants at the recommendation of psychiatrists. The judge declared Mr. Stanford unable then to help defend himself against charges of masterminding a $7 billion Ponzi scheme.
Doctors are expected soon to report back on Mr. Stanford's condition. The judge will decide if the trial can go forward in January. Mr. Stanford's lawyer declined to comment.
Roy Lubit, a forensic psychiatrist in New York not involved in the case, said medication and withdrawal are unlikely to cause memory loss. "If it's being cut back at a reasonable pace, that shouldn't stop them from being competent," he said.
Dr. Lubit and Colin Koransky, a forensic psychiatrist in California, both said a head injury—Mr. Stanford suffered one in the beating—could cause amnesia for recent events but is unlikely to affect older memories.