Justice W. Bromley Hall's seven-page decision comes more than two months after Pilgrim applied for a court order to administer 40 shock treatments to Thomas.

The judge approved the treatments and lifted a temporary injunction blocking three treatments Pilgrim had won the right to give by a previous court order.

Thomas, 49, who emigrated from Haiti in 1982, denies he has a mental illness, but doctors at Pilgrim testified he displays signs of several disorders including schizoaffective disorder and bipolar mania.

He has received nearly 60 electroconvulsive therapy treatments -- most of them against his will -- since he was committed to the institution in May 1999.

Hall's decision, which evaluates the weight of testimony from Thomas, his sister and expert witnesses, came as no surprise, according to the state attorney general's office which represented Pilgrim.

"The intensity of the objection by Mental Hygiene Legal Service [which represented Thomas] is the only thing that was surprising," said Assistant Attorney General Laurie Gatto.

Denis McElligott of the state attorney general's office said Thomas' case shows that electroshock treatments are forced upon a patient only after a thorough legal debate.

"We're hoping that the best thing that comes from this entire situation is the public's understanding that when this is done it is only done pursuant to a court order after a judge has heard all of the testimony," McElligott said.

But Dennis Feld, deputy chief attorney for the state Mental Hygiene Legal Service in Mineola, said Hall discredited Thomas' witnesses, tipping the scales against him. "The decision doesn't come as a surprise with the court discounting our experts' testimony," Feld said. "It leaves very little to be argued and to be guessed as to which way the court would go."

Kim Darrow, an attorney who argued the case for Thomas, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Feld said his agency would appeal the decision once the attorney general's office drafts an order to administer the treatments.

Hall's decision came after many weeks of testimony from experts who fall on both sides of the controversial electroshock treatment issue.

The hearing was designed to answer two questions: Did Thomas possess the mental capacity to make medical decisions on his own and was this form of treatment, ­it is uncomfortable if not painful for some patients, has caused memory loss and is often followed by relapses -- the best treatment for Thomas?

Pilgrim doctors Robert Kalani, associate medical director, and Andre Azemar, Thomas' psychiatrist, both testified that Thomas badly needed the treatment, partly because drugs that would help him will further damage his liver.

They said he suffers from delusional thinking and is prone to behavior they consider bizarre.

"He has been found sitting on the floor comparing himself with Mahatma Gandhi," Hall wrote. "He was wearing three pairs of pants which he believed provided therapy for him. At the same time he was found, in the ward, wearing layers of shirts which were inside-out, together with jackets, gloves and sunglasses."

Hall dismissed the testimony of Ron Leifer, an Ithaca psychiatrist, and John McDonough, a psychologist, who appeared on behalf of Thomas. Hall said that Leifer was "evasive," and that his testimony was influenced by his opposition to electroshock and involuntary medical treatment altogether. The judge declared McDonough's testimony as "not helpful," saying it was based largely on a widely used intelligence test that measures cognitive ability and that he did not administer tests that measure psychosis or discuss Thomas' alleged illness or electroshock treatment.

The most damning testimony against Thomas, though, may have come from James D. Lynch, an independent psychiatrist who said Thomas has an acute form of bipolar disorder and manic behavior and needs more than the 40 shock treatments to help him function.

Briefs

April 25, 2001

Zachary R. Dowdy; Chau Lam

BRENTWOOD / Pilgrim Patient Wins a Stay Paul Henri Thomas, 49, the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center patient who is challenging the state facility's decision to give him electroshock treatments, will not have to undergo the procedure, at least for now, pending a decision from an appellate court.

On Monday, attorneys for Thomas secured from the Appellate Division a temporary stay of an order signed by State Supreme Court Justice W. Bromley Hall. Hall's order approved Pilgrim's request to administer 40 electroshock treatments.

The stay will remain in effect at least until Monday, the deadline by which Pilgrim officials must file papers with the Appellate Division, said Kim Darrow, an attorney for the state Mental Hygiene Legal Service, which represents Thomas.

After that, a four-judge panel will review the arguments from both sides and decide whether to grant another stay while the court reviews Thomas' appeal.

The stay, granted by Justice David S. Ritter, asks Pilgrim to make a case as to why shock treatments should not be prohibited while the court reviews Hall's order, which was signed April 20.

That order came after a weeks-long hearing in which Thomas challenged an application by Pilgrim in February to administer the 40 shock treatments. Hall ruled that the expert witnesses who testified for Thomas were not credible, saying in conclusion that the treatments are in Thomas' "best interest." Thomas, who Pilgrim doctors say displays signs of mental illnesses ranging from schizoaffective disorder to bipolar mania, has been in the Brentwood facility since May 1999.

He has received about 60 shocks in all, almost all of them against his will. Thomas signed papers consenting to the treatments in June 1999.

He underwent three procedures and then refused them. That's when doctors at Pilgrim sought court approval for the procedure, arguing that Thomas did not have the mental capacity to make medical decisions for himself. -Zachary R.

More: Paul Henri Thomas finally wins freedom

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