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The FOGHORN
ROTARY CLUB OF HALF MOON BAY
March 16, 2023
Al Fricke, Forensic Psychologist
Article by Steve Wilson
Our speaker was Al Fricke, a local resident and a now-retired career forensic psychologist. Al had been in private practice in criminal court cases as a consultant for most of his working life and was "neutral" in the sense that he would work for prosecution, defense or on direct court appointment. Al is an honorary Berkeley Rotarian.
He worked on many capital cases and sex offender cases. He was quick to point out that he didn't do crime scene analysis but rather confined his work to "capacity" issues having to do with state of mind, ability to stand trial, and the like. Typically the opinions that he formed culminated in an opinion whether the defendant had a mental disorder such that a repeat offense was deemed likely to occur. Most of these cases involved a deep dive into a defendant's past history, upbringing and circumstances of prior offenses and records of behavior while imprisoned. Many of his cases involved the question of civil commitment for indefinite periods as being unfit to be released into society at the point that the term of criminal incarceration had been served.
CLUB MEETING, March 16, 2023
Past President Joe subbed for Pres. Krystlyn today. We had a few technical glitches getting the streaming function going, but in between occasional burbles from those online we finally got that going.
Announcements
After the pledge, Joe announced Farm Day on March 31, tickets available on the Chamber site.
Charise thanked Stacy, Warren and Susan for stepping up to help with our annual Life Skills program and asked as many as possible to participate in the direct interviews. Thank-you to all who have volunteered so far. Charise also announced that her son directed the photography for a new movie, "Spinning Gold," which will premiere at the end of the month.
Ginger announced that the Chamber's annual "Teacher's Night" was this evening and encouraged participation.
Happy/Crappy News 
Joe provided a summary of his trip to Mexico with our team to work in a medical clinic. The team included Joe, Kevin, Rose, Bill J. and Austen (others I missed?). We will repeat the trip next year, with Liz leading. In the group's spare time there was a visit to the lagoon where gray whales were wintering before migrating North. They came close to the boat but not so close that we could touch as sometimes happens. 
Since St. Paddy's Day followed our meeting day, EJ donned an impressive green hat and his accordion and led us in three Fenian ballads which were enthusiastically sung by the group.
Marble Game - 
Warren won the marble drawing, but pulled a green one, so better luck next time.
PHOTO GALLERY
