Prosecution
On September 3, 2008, Gerhartsreiter was charged with furnishing a false name to a law enforcement officer following an arrest. His lawyers later argued that he did not do this for dishonest purposes.
On October 2, 2008, at a hearing requested by defense attorney Stephen Hrones, bail was revoked. Hrones had requested the hearing in order to seek a reduction from the $50 million cash bail under which the defendant had previously been held. Instead, the judge ordered the defendant to be held without bail.
On February 13, 2009, Gerhartsreiter's attorneys filed notice that they intended to use an insanity defense for him.
During the trial, conducted in Boston in May and June 2009, Gerhartsreiter's defense team told jurors that Gerhartsreiter believed his daughter had communicated with him telepathically from London, where she and her mother now live, begging him to rescue her. Two defense experts testified that they have diagnosed Gerhartsreiter with delusional disorder, grandiose type, and narcissistic personality disorder. One of the defense experts, Dr. Keith Ablow, testified that Gerhartsreiter told him that his father had been emotionally abusive during his childhood. Dr. James Chu, a psychiatrist for the prosecution, testified that he had diagnosed Gerhartsreiter with a "'mixed personality disorder', with narcissistic and anti-social traits" but felt that Gerhartsreiter had exaggerated his symptoms of mental illness and was capable of knowing right from wrong, particularly since he allegedly meticulously planned the details of the abduction well in advance. Gerhartsreiter did not take the witness stand. Closing arguments concluded on June 8, and on June 12 the jury found Gerhartsreiter guilty of the charges of parental kidnapping and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He was found not guilty of the charge of assault and battery and of using a false name.
The judge sentenced him to four to five years in state prison on the kidnapping count and a concurrent two to three years on the assault charge.
Read more about this topic: Christian Gerhartsreiter
Famous quotes containing the word prosecution:
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—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)