Word: goldstein
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...After all this, it seems cruelly ironic that Goldstein's attorneys must try to prove that their client, with his 3,500-page mental history, is insane. So, with his consent, they have decided to take him off his medication. The reasoning goes that since the issue is Andrew Goldstein's state of mind when he killed Kendra Webdale, when he was off his medication, the deranged Goldstein should be the one the jury sees, not the pharmaceutically stabilized one whose demons are muted by drugs...
...defense's strategy has provoked accusations of unethical behavior and cruelty. When medicated, as he was during the first trial, Goldstein is stable but sluggish, and has problems concentrating; he's also unlikely to have the emotional outbursts that could provide a glimpse into the state of mind that led to Webdale's death. Untreated, Goldstein will become increasingly anxious and depressed, and could have a serious, damaging breakdown. But having narrowly averted his imprisonment in the first trial, Goldstein's lawyers feel they have little choice. Which is more cruel, a life sentence in Attica as a schizophrenic...
...addition to being controversial on medical and moral grounds, the decision to take Goldstein off his medication carries legal risks. First of all, it's the defendant's state of mind when the crime was committed that matters, not his condition on the stand. The defense is counting on the legally irrelevant but nonetheless widely recognized impact of their client's demeanor in the courtroom. But if the jury feels that Goldstein is acting crazy for their benefit, as the prosecution is sure to assert, the whole ordeal may be for nought. Second, there's no telling what will happen...
...this trial, Goldstein has been alert, more so than the first time. But the downside is already manifesting itself: Twice in the past week Goldstein is reported to have struck a court social worker. Judge Carol Berkman has said that she will force Goldstein to take his medication if he becomes incoherent or disoriented; under her instructions, he is now being offered the drugs twice a day, and can decide whether to take them. So far he has declined. With their client's condition gradually deteriorating, Goldstein's lawyers have requested that he be allowed to testify now on videotape...
...Whether it's jail or the mental hospital for Andrew Goldstein, there's no outcome that will achieve justice for Kendra Webdale, who died seemingly because a state government wanted to be seen as holding firm on cutting costs. Meanwhile, Andrew Goldstein's nightmare continues, prolonged as it has been for years by a system that failed to treat him and now wants to imprison him for acts foreshadowed in letters ten feet high. Pushed by the voices that impel him to strike and hurt, he has dropped into free fall through a social safety net so tattered that...