Psychologists' reports on criminals are too similar Judge claims A JUDGE has criticised one of the state's prominent psychologists saying his reports on criminals are "virtually identical" with no explanation to back up his conclusions. District Court Judge Peter Berman SC made the stinging assessment of Dr John Jacmon's "ability to assist the court" on multiple occasions when the psychologist submitted reports detailing the mental afflictions suffered by crooks being sentenced in his court. Dr Jacmon told The Sunday Telegraph no other judges had a problem with his work and that many offenders he dealt with suffered from the same condition. He said he wouldn't be changing his methods "just because one judge finds a problem." The doctor has written reports for offenders sentenced by Judge Berman including a cocaine courier, two kidnappers and an appeal by Simon Munroe who killed a 15-year-old by injecting her with heroin. Dr John Jacmon says he won't be changing his methods. Psychologists are often hired by lawyers to give evidence of subjective features, including mental conditions, to help explain a criminal's behaviour. The report may impact the severity of the criminal's sentence or could see them recommended for medical treatment instead of jail. According to Judge Berman, Dr Jacmon's reports are mostly identical in saying the offenders suffered from "impaired judgment" because they didn't consider the consequences of their actions. On October 4, Judge Berman told a hearing: "Almost every report of his I have ever read suggests that 'the offender's actions ... indicated markedly diminished capacity for judgment because there appeared to be little thought given to the consequences'. "The second problem with Dr Jacmon's report is that there is little or no explanation as to how he has drawn conclusions," the judge told the court. Dr Jacmon told The Sunday Telegraph his reports averaged "30-40 pages" and his findings were all backed by evidence. He said several conditions were common to many offenders. "If a person has got the same disorder (as someone else) I can't say that in any other way - If they've got depression, they've got depression," he said. It's probably because (Judge Berman) sees a lot of my reports - I'm very popular around town. "I've had no other problems from other judges ... you can't please everyone," he said. Prominent psychologist Tim Watson-Munro said it was likely the judge was matching the expectations of the community by setting a high bar for what mitigating factors should be accepted when sentencing criminals. "We are in a time when the community is very cynical about sentencing," he said. On December 10, 2010, Judge Berman opened the possibility of being disqualified from hearing a sentencing because he was critical of Dr Jacmon's reports. He told the court: "every single" report by Dr Jacmon said the offenders' actions featured "impaired judgment" with "little thought given to the consequences." "One wonders how Dr Jacmon would treat any offending behaviour by an individual ... where there is a risk of being detected," he told another hearing in November 2008. "Dr Jacmon seems to be saying that anyone who commits a crime has impaired judgment because they might get caught," he told a September 2009 hearing for two kidnappers. I do not accept that opinion at all. Many offenders adopt a completely rational thought process. In a 2008 case where Simon Munroe killed a teen girl with heroin, Dr Jacmon submitted Munroe took drugs to ease the stress from being sexually assaulted. Judge Berman told the court the doctor's submission had no relevance given Munroe was being sentenced for killing a 15-year-old girl with heroin, not drug supply. Judge Berman declined to comment.