Word: oteri
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Michael Tindall got two Distinguished Flying Crosses, two bronze stars and 32 air medals during his year as an Army helicopter pilot in Viet Nam. Now he faces a September trial in Boston, where his attorney, Joseph Oteri, will use footage from The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now to try to convince a federal jury that even if Tindall did smuggle drugs into the U.S. nearly six years ago, as the Government contends, he should not be held responsible. The reason: the war turned his client into an "action junkie" unable to resist opportunities to enjoy thrills...
...PTSD claim has been used only in cases involving violence. But in Tindall's drug-smuggling trial, Lawyer Oteri will try to stretch this defense much further. He contends that his client, now a charter airline pilot whose avocations include diving off cliffs and exploring underwater caves, has continually sought out thrills since his Viet Nam days. If juries buy the PTSD defense in this and other cases, prosecutors worry, many veterans will conclude that they can commit crime with impunity...