JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A federal judge has decided to unseal the mental evaluation of an Orange Park man accused of sending bomb-making plans to an FBI informant for an alleged attack on the 14th anniversary of 9/11.
Joshua Goldberg’s attorney, Paul Shorstein, asked that the mental competency report completed by psychologist Lisa Feldman, who examined the 20-year-old, be sealed due to privacy.
But several media organizations, including News4Jax, asked Judge Jim Klindt to unseal the report, citing First Amendment rights.
Klindt weighed both sides in court Monday and decided to unseal about 90 percent of the report.
The other part, which Shorstein asked not be released, remains redacted.
Feldman, who reviewed Goldberg's medical records, things he had written, his phone conversations and other aspects of his life, and also interviewed Goldberg at the Federal Detention Center in Miami, determined that Goldberg had a severe mental disorder and shouldn't stand trial.
Feldman said Goldberg was guarded, evasive and had mood swings during the evaluation. She called his thought processes remarkable for grandiosity and paranoid delusions, including delusions of persecution.
READ: Goldberg's mental evaluation (redacted)
The psychologist couldn’t specifically diagnose Goldberg, because his mental state was so unstable, she said. But she said he had several diagnoses in the past, ranging from anxiety disorders to schizophrenia.
She recommended that Goldberg be treated, but said his prognosis is poor and he was not competent to stand trial.
Attorney Ed Birk not associated with the case said when it all comes down to it, this doesn’t necessarily mean Goldberg won’t stand trial.
“This will lead to him getting treatment in the hospital and if he’s rendered competent, he will be tried and prosecuted for the crimes they’ve charged him,” Birk said. “There are cases where someone is mentally ill to a degree where they cannot be made mentally competent, but many times they are.”
In those cases, Birk said the person may be rehabilitated and later determined capable of standing trial and the information being made available to the public is important in a case like this.
‘It’s a good example of what happens in our courts, belongs to the public,” Birk said. “ This is public information and if something is discussed out in the open and is made public, to go and then seal it and make it confidential doesn’t make any sense.”
Klindt said during a competency hearing last year, he wasn't overwhelmed by anything Feldman said about Goldberg's mental state, but agreed to review his mental competency in four months. During that time, Goldberg will remain on suicide watch.
The redacted items in Goldberg's evaluation include his date of birth, where he had been treated previously and what he had been treated for.
Part of his psychiatric history is also redacted, including when he was first evaluated for mental health concerns.
Also redacted are issues the psychologist noted after he was taken off suicide watch at the Federal Detention Center in Miami.
Goldberg’s attorney argued the entire report should be sealed because of his client's right to privacy, but the attorney representing the media companies, including News4Jax parent company Graham Media Group, argued that it was about a First Amendment right of access.
“I think, as a general proposition, it's always important for the public to have access to information that is presented to our courts, so that the public can have a better understanding of what goes on in the court (and) why decisions are made the way they are, so I think the right of access is important,” attorney Tim Conner said.
Eventually, the two sides reached a compromise.
“I told him certainly it's possible that some of this information will be public, and some of it already has been, but my client and his family would like to keep their medical information as private as possible, just like anybody would, but they understand that there is also a Constitutional right for the public to know and just try to find a good balance,” Shorstein said.
The judge said he is studying and analyzing the redacted portions of the medical evaluation and will revisit whether to release them at a later date.
According to the U.S. attorney, Goldberg instructed a confidential source how to make a bomb similar to two used in the Boston Marathon bombings two years ago that killed three people and injured an estimated 264 others.
In online conversations with the undercover informant, Goldberg is accused of expressing hope that "there will be some jihad on the anniversary of 9/11."
The FBI said Goldberg called for an attack in a contest for drawings of the Prophet Muhammad in Garland, Texas, and boasted about helping plan attacks on synagogues in Australia. Goldberg was arrested in September.
