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According to a
four-year-old list of testimonials,
Edwin Shockney
—a
purported Ph.D.— has participated in numerous criminal and insurance cases and, according to
this Web site,
has "testified
in over 160 court proceedings as an expert witness," which, combined, could amount to
tens of millions of dollars in settlements and jury
verdicts based in whole or in part on Shockney's "expert"
testimony.
For example, in Tcheskidova v. ITT Federal Services, Shockney's "expert" opinion and recommendation,
which appears to be in the form of a diagnostic telephone evaluation, cited in a
August 1, 2008 memorandum decision on
page 6 and page 9, appears to have been material not only in causing
Natalia Tcheskidova's employment to be terminated, but also in her case being dismissed. Shockney
testified under oath that his "undergraduate was done at Ball State University, Indiana University, State University of New
York, Crossroads College. Masters level was done at Crossroads College of Divinity. Graduate school was done
at, the Ph.D. at Borean [sic.] College and Graduate School. I hold a B.A. in humanities, pre-
medicine, an M.A. in counseling psychology, a Ph.D. in counseling psychology with political emphasis. I am
board certified as a pain management trauma specialist. I'm licensed by the State of Colorado. I'm
stipulated as an expert in state, federal, and military courts.
In the February 8, 2006 memorandum decision in
Massari v. Potter, Shockney's opinions and affidavit are mentioned seven (7) times. He is
referred to by former Judge Edward Nottingham as "Dr. Edwin
Shockney," and "Edwin Shockney, Ph.D."
And, in McKenna v. Astrue, U.S.
district judge Rob't Blackburn cited Shockney as a "consultative examiner," whose opinion had been rejected
as unsupported by the record.
According to a
Colorado Springs police report, the expert Shockney was
charged with soliciting prostitution (specifically, asking a
former therapeutic client for oral sex).1
The criminal case, No. 1996M012158, captioned People v.
Shockney, (El Paso County Court), is
classified
by the court as
"Closed/Suprressed."
A cover-letter from the detective, who prepared the report, indicates there also was
another "previous allegation," which was assigned a case
number by the
Division of Regulatory Agencies of UT-00-10251.
_____________________
1 A few areas of interest are highlighted in yellow in
the report; a few pink-colored highlight-comments are also
inserted (hover cursor over highlight to see comment).
According to this undated biography,
Shockney claims that he:
attended Ball State University
attended Elkhart Institute of Technology
attended Indiana Technical College
attended Notre Dame University
attended Indiana University
obtained a B.A. from the State University of New York (SUNY)
obtained a M.A. from "Crossroads Graduate School"
obtained a Ph.D. from "Berean College of
California"
According to this undated Curriculum
Vitae,
Shockney claims that he:
attended Ball State University ('68-'70) for premedicine
attended Indiana University ('70-'72) for premedicine
graduated in '72 from Indiana Technical College's "School of Medical Technology"
obtained a B.A. in humanities/counseling from SUNY in 1985
obtained a Masters degree from "Crossroads Graduate School of Divinity" in 1987
obtained a Ph.D in clinical psychology from "Berean Christian College and Graduate School" in 1991
According to this C.R.C.P. 26
disclosure, Shockney:
obtained an A.S. from Ball State University
obtained a B.A. in humanities/counseling from Indiana University
obtained a M.A. in counseling/psychology from SUNY
In addition, Shockney's
application for license to the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies Division of
Registrations also attests that he obtained the Masters and doctorate degrees mentioned above.
Aside from the fact that the aforesaid three documents aren't congruent, the following memoranda raise
questions about Shockney's claimed credentials:
This memo from Ball
State University establishes that Shockney attended for six months between '68 ~ '69
and earned no degree
This
enrollment verification from Indiana University attests that he attended off-and-on as
a part-time student between '73 - '77 and earned no degree
This memo from Indiana
Tech indicates that "Mr. Shockney has never attended Indiana Tech" and "Indiana Tech has
never offered a degree in Medical Technology in its history as a University."
This
enrollment verification from SUNY concludes
that the school's archives contain no match for
"Edwin Allen Shockney" with a 10-09-1950 d.o.b.
as having attended the institution or received a
degree therefrom.
This memo from
Crossroads College states that, "I cannot find that [Mr. Shockney] attended Crossroads
College . . . at any time."
This memo
from the Accredation Commission for Senior Colleges and
Universities states, "Berean
College is not accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities
. . . They have not applied, and we have no information on them"
An November 20, 2008 email to KnowYourCourts.com from Joanne
Wenzel with the State of California explains:
In response to your inquiry regarding Berean Christian College.
We do not have a listing in our database for Berean Christian College in
Long Beach, California at all.
We do have a listing for a Berean Bible College that was located at 13609
Twin Peaks Road, Poway, California.
Berean Bible College was listed as a Religious Exempt institution from 1995
until 2003. As a religious exempt institution they were only allowed to
offer programs directly related to the dogma of their church, that would
preclude them from issuing a PhD. This particular school was, according to
the database, offering a Bachelor of Theology degree, Basic Bible Diploma
and a Graduate of Theology Certificate.
These
articles of incorporation indicate that Mr. Shockney formed a Colorado non-profit
corporation in 1996, named "Berean College," some five years after his claimed 1991 doctoral
degree from that entity.
Thus, although, it appears that, not only did Shockney not earn a masters degree --at least as set forth
in his proffered documents-- and, although it might also appear that he formed a corporation to award
himself a Ph.D., KnowYourCourts.com placed several calls to Mr. Shockney in an effort to obtain
clarification. Shockney declined to return the calls, but his attorney,
Elvin Gentry, told KnowYourCourts.com that these matters
have already been presented to the local district attorney and the state's grievance board and that his
client has been cleared. When asked if he could provide evidence of Mr. Shockney's degrees and
accreditations, Gentry replied, "I am not in a position to do that and even if I was, I wouldn't."
It is illegal to use a bogus degrees in several states, including Washington, Oregon, Nevada, North
Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey and Virginia.
Of course, Colorado citizens can rest easy, as the State Grievance Board is working day and night to protect the public
and regulate the profession, as the following memo demonstrates:
[Mr.] Shockney's graduate school records are confidential and therefore not available to
you . . . A doctorate education is not required for licensure as a professional counselor.
You should also be aware that the terms "Ph.D." or "doctor" are not protected terms in
Colorado. While [sic.] it is unethical to make representations to the public that
you are a Ph.D. or doctor if you graduate from a college or university that is
non-accredited, it is not illegal unless the representations you make are false.
Further Reading
Avoid Fake-
Degree Burns By Researching Academic Credentials, maintained by the Federal Trade
Commission
Want an “easy” college
degree?, maintained by Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization
Buyers of bogus
degrees named, The Spokesman Review
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