Forensic
psychiatrist joins faculty
by Toni Baker
Dr. Elena Carmen Nichita, a forensic psychiatrist with expertise in civil and criminal proceedings, has joined the faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior.
Dr. Nichita, a 1998 graduate of the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Romania, completed the first two years of her psychiatry residency at Case Western Reserve University-affiliated MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland and the last two at MCG before beginning a forensic psychiatry fellowship at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia.
Dr. Nichita is an invited faculty member for the National Habeas Institute at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy in Atlanta and an invited expert for mock trials for the National College of District Attorneys’ National Advocacy Center in Columbia.
She has testified in South Carolina’s Circuit Courts, Courts of Common Pleas and Probate Courts and Federal District Courts, and has evaluated defendants’ competency to stand trial or be held responsible for their actions.
She also has presented mitigating evidence for the sentencing phase of capital cases, evaluated competency in capital cases, and evaluated those found not guilty by reason of insanity. Her civil experience includes evaluations for sexual harassment, personal injury, psychiatric disability, worker’s compensation and fitness-for-duty cases.
“Only a judge can determine if someone is competent to stand trial, but forensic psychiatrists give opinions to help the judge decide,” says Dr. Nichita. “They help answer questions about the defendant’s criminal responsibility, whether he knew what he was doing was morally or legally wrong or whether he perceived the alleged criminal act as wrong.”
She became interested in forensic psychiatry as a first-year resident while handling an involuntary civil commitment. “I wanted to know more about informed consent and different competencies to accept or refuse treatment. I decided to learn more about the legal and ethical issues in psychiatry.
“I love my job,” says Dr. Nichita, who likes balancing her career providing evaluations and serving as an expert witness for both prosecution and defense.
She also enjoys the more traditional role of physician. She treats patients two days a week at Augusta State Medical Prison.