Dr. Glenn Lipson was interviewed by the San Diego Tribune about the possible behavior of Titus Nathan Colbert Jr. plaea of guilty in 2012 and should that event have raised red flags.
Years before he was arrested in connection with a Bankers Hill shooting that prompted a five-hour SWAT standoff, shut down nearby schools and halted incoming flights, Titus Nathan Colbert Jr. pleaded guilty to a felony drug charge and was sent to county jail. Despite an earlier conviction for aggravated assault in another state, California law deemed him a nonviolent offender, eligible to serve his two-year sentence in local custody rather than state prison.
What is known, based on a review of court records from California and Arizona, is that Colbert had an adult criminal record dating to at least 2003 for crimes that might seem relatively minor compared to other felons.
What isn’t known is whether his behavior in any of those cases could have signaled judges, lawyers or probation authorities that Colbert — who pleaded not guilty Friday to three counts of attempted murder of a peace officer — might be capable of a much more violent criminal act.
…Jenkins, the probation chief, said Colbert was not required to be supervised by county authorities after he completed his time behind bars in the 2012 drug case. No “criminal needs” assessment was conducted before Colbert was sentenced because he pleaded guilty before his trial and no pre-sentence report was ordered by the court. If the report had been created, probation officers collect information about a defendant using a tool known as COMPAS, or Criminal Offender Management Profile for Alternative Sanctions. The defendant may fill out a form on his or her own, or answer scripted interview questions administered by a probation officer. The assessment is made up of 137 questions grouped into categories, including risk, criminal involvement, relationships/lifestyle, personality/attitude, family and social exclusion. The questions are meant to explore aspects of an offender’s life and reveal specific “criminogenic needs” — the characteristics, problems or risk factors that make a person likely to reoffend.
…“Not everyone will get these types of evaluations,” said Dr. Glenn Lipson, a psychologist and professor at Alliant International University in San Diego, who explained that psychologists try to learn a person’s “triggers” for bad behavior, and look for signs that he or she may be becoming more violent.
Lipson said a judge could ask for a defendant to be psychologically evaluated, or the defense could make the request “to explain the unusual nature of the triggers and why this (behavior) is unlikely to repeat itself.”
Colbert was allowed to return to California while on probation, but he failed to appear for his disposition hearing. A warrant was issued on Dec. 23, 2013, according to the Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office.
A fugitive complaint was filed in San Diego Superior Court, alleging that Colbert violated the terms of probation. That complaint was dismissed in light of his two-year sentence on the 2012 drug case, in which prosecutors accused him of selling about 20 pills of Ecstasy to an undercover police detective.
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By Glenn Lipson, PhD
Nov. 10, 2015
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