Prosecution expert: Philip Chism faked mental illness after math teacher’s murder
Philip Chism’s attorneys say he was in the throes of psychosis during the attack.
Multiple psychological tests found that 16-year-old Philip Chism was trying to make himself seem sicker than he really was, a neuropsychologist testified for the prosecution in the teenager’s murder trial Tuesday.
Chism showed signs of malingering in four tests conducted in August, Dr. Nancy Hebben testified. Several of the results indicated he was “faking bad’’ and trying to demonstrate that he was severely mentally ill, she said.
One test was 100 percent positive that Chism was faking, Hebben said. Another showed significant anger elevation.
“You can’t know how much of it is real or if any of it is real,’’ she said.
Hebben didn’t, however, think Chism was psychotic.
It was a direct rebuttal to five days of defense testimony that portrayed Chism as a profoundly mentally ill child. Key defense witness Dr. Richard Dudley said Chism heard a commanding male voice that he couldn’t ignore when he killed, raped and robbed his math teacher, Colleen Ritzer.
The defense rested Tuesday morning after calling 13 witnesses, including his maternal grandfather, friends from his former home in Tennessee and his Danvers High School classmates and teammates.
They will ask jurors to find Chism not guilty by reason of insanity.
Dr. Nancy Hebben testified for the prosecution about testing she conducted on Philip Chism.
Denise Regan, Chism’s defense attorney, challenged some of the psychological tests Hebben used, saying manuals recommend the tests for use on adults, not juveniles like Chism.
And even if Chism was faking some of his symptoms, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t actually mentally ill, Regan said.
“The presence of malingering does not rule out the possibility Philip is experiencing some type of psychopathology,’’ Regan said, quoting from Hebben’s report.
Hebben agreed, but said Chism’s malingering makes testing unreliable. Hebben conducted her testing on behalf of the prosecution’s key rebuttal witness, forensic psychologist Dr. Robert Kinscherff.
He will likely testify Wednesday and be the last witness in the case.
Midway through Hebben’s testimony Tuesday, Regan announced she planned to cross-examine Hebben using the raw data – the questions posed to Chism and his answers – for two of the tests, as well as the testing manuals she had somehow acquired. She plans to address up to 13 specific questions, she said.
That prompted an objection from prosecutors – and unease from Hebben – because the test materials are proprietary. Hebben said it’d be akin to giving out the answers to the test.
“People might then take that information outside the courtroom and instruct individuals on how to take the test,’’ she said.
Judge David Lowy said when questioning got to that point on Wednesday, he planned to instruct reporters not to take notes or report on that testimony. He said releasing the substance of the questions publicly could jeopardize mental health treatment across the country — a “serious reason’’ for prior restraint.
“What I’m balancing is the right to write down 10 to 13 questions, against the mental health of people throughout the country,’’ he said.
But lawyers for the Salem News and Eagle-Tribune, and Boston Globe Media Partners, which includes the Boston Globe and Boston.com, filed motions arguing against the gag order.
“It is a basic First Amendment principle of open courtrooms in America, and that cannot be compromised,’’ lawyer Peter Caruso, representing the Eagle-Tribune and Salem News, told the judge. “Any order prohibiting the press and public from observing or discussing matters in open court, especially criminal court, cannot be agreed to.’’
Lowy said he would make a decision Wednesday on the matter, and would likely close the court to everyone but court officers, jurors, attorneys and Chism.
Scenes from the Philip Chism trial:
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