Closing arguments delayed after Philip Chism defense attorney falls ill
The case against Philip Chism was to have gone to jurors on Friday. Now, closing arguments will likely be delayed until Monday.
Philip Chism’s lead defense attorney Denise Regan went home ill Thursday afternoon, leading the judge to reluctantly postpone closing arguments in the teenager’s murder case.
Attorneys and the court planned for closing arguments on Friday, with the case going to the jury after. Now, it appears closing arguments will take place Monday at the earliest.
The jury was absent Thursday as attorneys gathered to nail down jury instructions for the four charges the teenager faces, as well as other outstanding motions.
Both Chism’s mom and the family of Colleen Ritzer waited for hours Thursday as the judge and attorneys worked outside the courtroom. When defense attorney John Osler unexpectedly announced that Regan was sick and wouldn’t be able to give her closing argument Friday, Peggie Ritzer, the victim’s mother, became visibly upset.
“There is a human cost to every delay in this case and that’s all I say,’’ Essex County Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall said.
The trial is in its second month. It started on Oct. 7 with jury selection, but was put on hold on Oct. 15 after questions were raised about Chism’s competency to stand trial. Chism was sent for a 20-day competency evaluation, and on Nov. 4, the judge found the teenager was competent
Chism, 16, is charged as an adult with first-degree murder, and is also facing charges as a youthful offender on two counts of aggravated rape and one count of armed robbery. He has pleaded not guilty.
Jurors will have to decide whether Chism was criminally insane when he killed his math teacher, Colleen Ritzer, on Oct. 22, 2013, at Danvers High School.
A defense expert testified that Chism was in the throes of psychosis when he attacked Ritzer, and had suffered delusions and heard voices since he was 10.
But a prosecution expert psychologist disagreed with that, and told jurors Wednesday that Chism’s actions before and after the murder were deliberate, organized and meant to avoid getting caught.
Before Regan went home ill with a virus, attorneys debated yet again the admissibility of brain scans done of Chism in the fall of 2015. Chism’s attorneys said the scans show that the teenager’s brain is markedly different from his peers, indicating schizophrenia.
Judge David A. Lowy already banned the scans from being used to indicate a mental illness. On Thursday, Regan argued for the scans to be admitted to rebut the prosecution’s contention that Chism was faking his mental illness.
But the judge denied that.
“There is no evidence that brain scans sowing reduced volume in specific areas make it more likely the defendant is malingering,’’ Lowy said.
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