Bob Brockman’s competency to stand trial for tax fraud now in judge’s hands

Clinical specialists retained by prosecutors and protection attorneys typically agreed that Brockman probably has Parkinson’s sickness. But the specialists diverged on whether Brockman’s cognitive qualities are mildly impaired or have progressed to dementia.

3 prosecution specialists testified that Brockman is exaggerating his indicators, and two of them have explained they imagine he is proficient to stand trial. Industry experts retained by Brockman’s attorneys, on the other hand, explained they imagine his impairment extends to his memory, psychological processing pace, problem-fixing and judgment competencies and that he would struggle to realize the sophisticated nature of the circumstance.

A Office of Justice spokeswoman explained the section typically does not remark on pending matters. Brockman’s attorneys did not answer to messages seeking remark.

Brockman, 80, was indicted in Oct 2020 on 39 counts, including tax evasion, wire fraud, money laundering and evidence tampering. He has pleaded not guilty and stepped down from his purpose as chairman and CEO of dealership administration method huge Reynolds in November 2020.

Prosecutors pointed to Brockman’s continuation at the helm of Reynolds — and his seemingly powerful overall performance all through two civil depositions in 2019 answering complex company queries and recalling earlier events — as incongruent with a time interval in which his indicators of cognitive impairment were reported to have appeared. They contend Brockman had each the determination and the capability to malinger, or feign indicators, to keep away from prosecution.

Present Reynolds CEO Tommy Barras, who testified that Brockman selected him to be his successor, and former Reynolds CFO Craig Moss testified all through the hearing that Brockman remained involved in crucial firm decisions and they had no purpose to question his cognitive qualities.

Dr. Christopher Whitlow of Wake Forest Faculty of Medicine, a neuroradiologist retained by the protection, testified that illustrations or photos of Brockman’s mind, including MRI and PET scans, present a sample that raises considerations about dementia. Whitlow testified that mind scans also present Brockman has dropped mind volume, boosting considerations about probable loss of cognitive operate.

A second protection professional medical skilled, Dr. Thomas Guilmette of Providence Higher education in Rhode Island, testified that Brockman’s deposition overall performance two a long time ago could not be replicated right now and that Brockman probably was in a position to attract on deep, retained expertise of the subject areas at concern even if he was experiencing dementia at the time.