Experts testify on Doll sanity
All three experts who testified about the competency of Emanuel Doll to stand trial agree that he exhibits symptoms of schizophrenia.
Doll is accused in the April 27, 2017 ax murder of his twin sister’s 4-year-old son, Jace Emanuel Higginbotham.
Dr. Max Wachtel, a general clinical and forensic psychologist who testified on behalf of the state, was the only one who testified that Doll is incompetent to stand trial.
Doll, 25, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He was arrested April 27 after Broomfield police responded to calls from a home at 4221 W. 136th Ave.
When police and medics arrived, they found a young boy, Jace Emanuel Higginbotham, with a “massive amount of trauma” in the basement of the home. Jace’s grandparents, Charlotte and Joseph Doll, were babysitting their grandson for half an hour that morning before they found him injured in the basement, with an iPad and a bloodied ax lying near his body.
Dave Young, district attorney for the 17th Judicial District, played a 30-minute video of a jail visit between Doll and his parents. Wachtel said after reading the other doctors’ reports, he anticipated making a similar “incompetent” finding, but that red flags were raised when he watched the videos. Doll’s manner was engaging, and following the conversation, different from the “flat affect” described by the defense witnesses.
His father, Joseph Doll, talked about the family dog getting stolen from the backyard, updates on people in Doll’s life, and asking how conditions were inside the jail. Doll asked several questions about Jace’s funeral — when it was, how it went and if he could have pictures from the service. He also asked about his twin sister, Avila.
“She’s not doing good, honey,” his mother, Charlotte, said.
Testimony over the past few days included Doll saying he acted in self-defense. Voices on a “mental chat server” were threatening to rape his nephew, Jace, whom Doll described as his son. Doll indicated in interviews he thought he was protecting Jace by killing him.
Wachtel testified about a battery of psychological testing he conducted on Doll.
Based on those results, he believes Doll was trying to make himself look more mentally ill than he is. Wachtel said Doll does have some challenges, mostly in terms of expressing himself, but that his scores showed he had a factual and rational understanding, or ability, to consult with his counsel.