Free Lost and Found by John Glatt Page B

He stated that he had become more religious in recent weeks. His verbal productions were not delusional in quality. He based his new religious interests more appropriately on the considerable guilt and fear he was experiencing since being incarcerated.”
    At the end of his three-page report, Dr. Gerow diagnosed Phillip Garrido as suffering from “a mixed sexual deviation” and “chronic drug abuse,” finding the drugs may have led to his sexual abnormalities.
    “In men with satyriasis,” he wrote, “we usually see an excessive constant preoccupation with the desire for coitus. It is usually associated with compulsive masturbation. This aspect is clearly present in this man and is part of his multiple sexual deviation.”
    The doctor suggested Garrido should be neurologically tested, as his condition could be the result of brain damage caused by “temporal lobe disorders, cerebral syphilis, or excessive use of drugs.”
    But he agreed that Garrido was fully competent to understand the charges he faced, and able to participate in his defense.
    “It is also my opinion,” reported Dr. Gerow, “that at the time of the crimes charged, the defendant as a result of mental disease or defect, did not lack substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.”

    Two days before Christmas, Phillip Garrido was led into district court, where Judge Thompson declared him competent to stand trial. And after his attorney Willard Van Hazel waived the formal reading of the indictment, Garrido pleaded not guilty to all charges.
    Then Van Hazel filed a motion to have his client undergo a neurological examination, as Dr. Gerow had suggested. Judge Thompson agreed, setting a trial date for February 7 and remanding the defendant in custody.
    On January 6, 1977, Reno-based neurologist Dr. Albert Peterman examined Phillip Garrido for possible brain damage. He conducted an electroencephalography test (EEG), placing multiple electrodes around the scalp to measure the electrical activity in Garrido’s brain.
    But the thirty-minute test produced no abnormal results, showing Garrido’s brain activity was normal.
    “I cannot find any hard evidence of organic brain damage per se,” Dr. Peterman later reported. “He can do serial 7’s and retain 5 digits in forward and reverse order with considerable concentration.”
    During the examination, the defendant appeared distraught and contrite about what he had done, tearing up on one occasion.
    “He states that he is looking forward to going to court,” Dr. Peterman wrote, “has found religion and feels his life will change for the better. He shows appropriate concern for whatever crime he is charged with.”
    Surprisingly, when asked if he had ever suffered any serious head injuries, Garrido failed to mention the one he’d sustained as a teenager, leading to an operation and lengthy hospital stay.
    “This man has a perfectly bland neurologic history,” noted the doctor. “There is no history of significant head injuries, skull fracture or concussion.”
    But the defendant was far more forthcoming about his chronic drug abuse.
    “LSD made him quite sexually aggressive which he realizes,” wrote the doctor. “He had used LSD prior to his alleged offense, but remembers the details of the abduction and sexual activity quite well.”
    Garrido also told Dr. Peterman that he had started getting migraine headaches since his incarceration, which was his only neurological complaint.
    “I see no evidence,” concluded the doctor, “either by history, examination or EEG of brain damage per se, although there is considerable evidence of anxiety and depression and personality disorder.”
    Four days later, Phillip Garrido appeared in Washoe County Court, pleading not guilty to three charges of rape, an infamous crime against nature and possession of a controlled substance.
    In late January, Garrido’s defense suddenly