Two mental health experts debated in Prince George's County Circuit Court on Tuesday whether Yohannes T. Surafel — who pleaded guilty to kidnapping a Clinton woman and her family as part of plans to rob the bank where she worked — heard voices and was driven to commit the crime by a delusional belief he was going to die.

Surafel, 25, pleaded guilty Friday to the kidnapping but also claimed during the same hearing he was not criminally responsible, citing mental health issues caused by childhood trauma and proximity to the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007 when he was a student at the Blacksburg, Va., school.

Judge Michael Pearson, who must decide whether Yohannes T. Surafel will be held criminally responsible for the December 2008 crime, heard testimony Tuesday from mental health experts on both sides.

Tuesday marked the second day of proceedings. The hearing on Monday included testimony from Surafel's friends, family and mentors about how traumatic events throughout Surafel's life affected him.

Richard Finci, Surafel's Greenbelt-based attorney, began Tuesday's proceedings with testimony from expert mental health witness Dr. Neil Blumberg, a Timonium-based psychiatrist with experience in forensic psychiatry.

Blumberg testified that after two meetings with Surafel, he diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder, marijuana abuse and schizoaffective disorder, which Blumberg explained meant Surafel was psychotic and suffering from extreme emotional distress.

Blumberg said he concluded Surafel was psychotic following an evaluation he conducted in July, when Surafel told him he had been hearing voices in his head since he was 12. The voices, Surafel reportedly told Blumberg, indicated on several occasions he would die before reaching certain points in his life, which Surafel said he came to believe.

The belief he was going to die, Blumberg said, led Surafel to plan the bank robbery so he could provide for his family after he was gone.

"He didn't care about the consequences ... since he truly believed he was going to be killed or was going to be dead," Blumberg testified.

Assistant State's Attorney Carol Coderre, who is prosecuting the case, questioned why Surafel failed to report hearing voices to anyone prior to that second meeting with Blumberg. Blumberg responded that Surafel feared being thought of as mentally disturbed and also only began to question the legitimacy of the voices after their predictions of his imminent death proved false.

Blumberg also said that just because Surafel planned the crime does not mean he didn't feel compelled to do it by his psychotic state of mind.

The mental health expert presented by Coderre, Dr. Cerise Vablais, a forensic psychologist for the Anne Arundel County Detention Center who evaluated Surafel in May, testified she believed Surafel was in control and therefore criminally responsible.

Vablais said she diagnosed Surafel with major depressive disorder and he never reported hearing voices to her.

"When people are unable to conform their conduct, they're often doing things that don't make sense," she said. "In this case ... he was very logical when he explained what he did."

Due to time constraints, Finci was unable to question Vablais before the judge ended Tuesday's hearing. He will begin his questioning Wednesday morning.

Coderre also is expected to present testimony on Wednesday from the Clinton family — they were not in court on Monday or Tuesday — and from one of the other men charged in the crime, among other witnesses.

Coderre and Finci declined to comment on Tuesday's proceedings.

E-mail Zoe Tillman at ztillman@gazette.net.