Vast improvement in Philip Chism after psychosis diagnosis, psychiatrist testifies
When Philip Chism arrived at Worcester State Hospital under a court order in October, he was significantly withdrawn, a psychiatrist who treated him there testified Wednesday.
The 16-year-old couldn’t talk about his day without direct questions, Dr. Anthony Jackson said. He spent nearly all day in his cell, reading language learning books, emerging only to occasionally play chess with an attendant.
But after a diagnosis from Jackson — major depression and brief, transient psychosis — and prescription medication, a markedly different Chism emerged, Jackson said.
“Mr. Chism was significantly more present and engaged and willing to talk and have an interaction with me,’’ Jackson told the jurors in Salem Superior Court.
Chism has pleaded not guilty to charges of killing and raping his 24-year-old teacher, Colleen Ritzer, after school in 2013. The prosecution has rested its case and the defense is now trying to blame the crime on a psychotic break that they say had been building for years.
Psychiatrist Anthony Jackson treated Chism during his stay at Worcester State Hospital this fall.
Prior to Jackson’s diagnosis, Chism had apparently not received a formal mental health evaluation and treatment in two years.
The medication, Risperdal, was making Chism feel so good that he asked for an extra dose. He visited with his mother for the first time in years.
In her cross-examination of the doctor, Essex County Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall suggested that the drug Chism took could be used to treat personality disorder. Jackson disagreed that he’d use it for that, but acknowledged there isn’t a pill to treat personality disorders.
MacDougall pointed to absence of empathy, absence in making connections and absence of remorse as traits of a person with anti-social personality disorder. Yes, in some, the doctor replied.
MacDougall also suggested Chism was malingering — faking or exaggerating his symptoms — pointing out that some tests found he was doing just that. But the doctor said he didn’t see any evidence of it himself.
Attorneys had to walk around the delicate topic of Chism’s previous evaluation by Jackson at Worcester State Hospital in June 2014, after he allegedly attacked a Department of Youth Services worker while being held awaiting trial.
The assault was similar to how Ritzer was killed, though the worker survived. Jurors cannot know about that pending charge in Boston.
At that point, Jackson didn’t make any diagnosis of Chism, in part because his attorneys told the teenager not to talk to the doctor. But he could watch him in the ward, interacting with others.
Yet he didn’t make a diagnosis, and couldn’t say when the psychosis started or if it was present when Chism allegedly killed Ritzer.
It’s unclear if Chism is still taking the medication. When questioned by the judge about waiving his presence in court, he said he was taking medication, but didn’t specify what.
Later Wednesday, jurors visited Danvers High School, including the second-floor bathroom where the murder occurred and the wooded area where Ritzer’s body was found on Oct. 22, 2013. They will also stop at locations Chism went after the killing: BJ’s Wholesale Club, an AMC movie theater, Wendy’s and the Rt. 1 roadway in Topsfield where he was found and arrested.
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