SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF ONONDAGA
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AFFFIDAVIT
FOR MODIFICATION OF ORDER Index
No. M-705-95
ADRIANNE MURTARI,
Plaintiff,
- against -
JOHN MURTARI,
Defendant.
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State of
New York )
County of
Onondaga ) ss:
JOHN
MURTARI, being duly sworn, deposes and states:
1.
I am
the defendant in this action, and I make this affidavit in support of a
decision requesting the modification of a previous order.
2.
Dr.
Black was appointed, by agreement of both parties, to perform a
psychological assessment, in an order dated Sep 19, 1995.
3.
I
had my first interview with Dr. Black on September 23, 1995 and had some
concerns regarding her questioning of me and her responses to the information I
was providing.
4.
I
felt that a recording would provide the best vehicle for keeping my answers
unambiguous and available for peer review. I wrote this to Dr. Black in a
letter dated Oct 26, 1995 (attached).
5.
In a
phone conversation a few days later Dr. Black rejected taping on the basis of
violating my confidentiality. When I
told her that was not a problem for me -- she told me she objected to being
recorded and doubted any other psychologist would perform testing under such
conditions. I asked her to please not proceed until I could examine the matter
further. She expressed concern and irritation over the delay.
6.
After
speaking with two other individuals I became satisfied that any sessions needed
to be recorded. Shortly thereafter I
had another phone conversation with Dr. Black regarding the matter. This lasted
20-30 minutes and was “heated” at times. Dr. Black kept reminding me she was
under compulsion of the Court to complete the testing and that I was blocking
that process and could be labeled as uncooperative if my behavior
continued.
7.
In
this conversation I again told Dr. Black I needed to speak with the other
attorney in an attempt to resolve this and potentially have the intervention of
the Court. She did not want to wait.
8.
I
called the New York State Psychological Association referral number and asked
for a “divorce/custody assessment” referral.
I was given the name of a Dr. Lazarro, here in Syracuse.
9.
I
spoke with Dr. Lazarro over the phone and he described his method for
conducting these examinations: He
performs in-depth testing of the individual and has a separate Child
Psychologist perform an evaluation of the parent/child relationship. They prepare their findings independently
and then meet to discuss the results.
He told me this technique was now being used in large metropolitan areas
to ensure fairness by using “two sets of eyes”. He told me recording of the sessions with both himself and the
Child Psychologist’s would not be a problem.
I did not discuss any of the specifics of the matter with him.
10.
I
was preparing a letter for Dr. Black when I received her letter dated Nov 2,
1995 (attached), in which she offers
to have the final session recorded.
Given the events which had transpired I could not accept this and sent
her a letter dated Nov 5, 1995 (attached)
-- in this letter I did tell her another Psychologist would allow recording of
sessions.
11.
I
was also concerned that she stated she had completed her personal interviews of
me -- and we just needed to review her findings. I am trying to understand what actual testing was conducted. In our first session we only discussed the
marriage and my feelings about what had happened. There were no questions about my personal background or habits or
my relationships with others.
12.
My
wife, Adrianne, was admitted to Crouse Irving Hospital for a period of three days
26-28 September, following severe headaches, body ache, and vomiting. She was diagnosed with Viral Meningitis,
which could have been brought on by a weakening of the immune system caused by
psychological stress. This underlines
the need for a comprehensive and in-depth psychological evaluation.
13.
Dr.
Blacks letter of Nov 7, 1995, is misleading.
She omits the objections she had
voiced in two phone conversations regarding the recording of her questions
(which truly seemed to be the motivation for her concern).
_________________________
JOHN
MURTARI
Sworn to
before me this
13th day
of November, 1995.
______________________________
Notary
Public