pertinent to transfer the said expert opinions, because their purpose is outside the factual
framework of the instant case (infra para. 55).
Psychological reports prepared by the Florida Center for Survivors of Torture
21.
On November 18, 2011, the representative forwarded the above-mentioned “expert opinion
on the psychological reports prepared by the Florida Center for Survivors of Torture” and attached
the curricula vitae of “the psychologists who prepared the said opinion” without providing any
explanation in this regard (supra para. 15). On November 28, 2011, the representative was
reminded that the persons who prepared the opinion “were not the person proposed at the
appropriate occasion and required by the President in the first operative paragraph of his Order of
November 2, 2011,” because “[t]his expert opinion should have been prepared by James Jean.”
The representative and the State presented observations on this opinion in briefs of November 30
and December 1, 2011, respectively, even though such observations had not been requested by
either the President or the Court; however, they did not make any other reference in this regard
subsequently. The representative asked the Court to accept the psychological opinion prepared by
the Florida Center for Survivors of Torture because, when offering it, she had indicated that it
would be issued by this entity, but had not specified or given the name of the person who would
issue the psychological reports because, given the way the Center operates, “the psychological
report […] must be prepared by psychologists who are specialists in torture, [and] James Jean
merely supervises and decides when Raúl Díaz has completed each stage of the program […].” For
its part, the State indicated that it “reject[ed] and contest[ed] the [said] expert opinion […]
because the conditions agreed and approved in the Order […] were not met […].”
22.
The Court has verified that, in the Order of November 2, 2011, the President of the Court
established that the expert witness proposed by the representative “James Jean, Specialist of the
Florida Center for Survivors of Torture assigned to the case of Raúl José Díaz Peña,” would provide
an “expert opinion on the psychological, mental and personal effects and the effects on his health
that the conditions endured during his imprisonment had had on Raúl José Díaz Peña.” This opinion
was to be provided by affidavit and sent to the Court by November 18, 2011.16 The representative
did not contest this decision or communicate with the Court. On the said date, the representative
forwarded a psychological assessment prepared on March 25, 2011, by the psychologists Gisell
Estrella Viña, Psy.D. and Maribel Del Río-Roberts, Psy.D., of the Center for Assessment and
Intervention, Department of Applied Interdisciplinary Studies, Nova Southeastern University, which
had been requested by Raúl Díaz “to determine his current level of general functioning, to assist in
the process of requesting political asylum, and to explore the socio-emotional difficulties that he
[was] experiencing”; the said assessment was notarized on the day it was prepared. Evidently, the
persons who prepared the psychological assessment submitted to the Court are not the person who
was proposed by the representative at the appropriate opportunity and required by the President of
the Court. In addition, the assessment was prepared prior to the President’s Order of November 2,
2011. Consequently, the Court finds that the said assessment does not correspond to the expert
evidence required by the President in his Order and that, in the way in which it was provided, it is
not appropriate to admit it. Consequently, the Court will not take it into consideration in its
decision.
Time-barred evidence presented by the State
23.
The Court notes that evidence provided outside the appropriate procedural occasions is not
admissible, unless it complies with the exceptions established in Article 57(2) of the Rules of
Procedure, namely, force majeure, grave impediment or if it relates to a fact that occurred after
the said procedural occasions. In the instant case, together with its final written arguments, the
16
Cf. Order of the President of the Court of November 2, 2011, first and second operative paragraphs.
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