FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE (January 14, 2005):
Judge Danny Pieper of Charleston, South
Carolina ruled today, denying our Motion
to Remand the murder case of South Carolina
v. Christopher Pittman to juvenile (family)
court. Consequently, Christoper will be
tried as an adult, for the November 28,
2001, incident which happened when he
was only twelve years old and under the
influence of Zoloft. In his ruling, the
judge wrote that the majority of our procedural
and substantive complaints regarding the
“waiver” of family court jurisdiction
were matters for “appeal”
and that our constitutional objections
to imposing adult punishment on a twelve
year old child are simply “premature.”
Trial begins on
Monday, January 31, 2005, before Judge
Pieper, in Charleston, South Carolina.
It is expected to take approximately
two weeks. The primary defense is “involuntary
intoxication” with a psychotropic,
prescription medication, i.e. Zoloft.
Among other things, we expect that the
jury will learn that the FDA has now
ruled that Pfizer should put a BLACK
BOX WARNING about Zoloft-induced suicidality
in children on the Zoloft label. The
jury is also expected to hear testimony
from several recognized experts in the
field, including Dr. Lanette Atkins,
a board certified child psychiatrist
who regularly does “criminal responsibility”
examinations for the State of South
Carolina, and Dr. Richard Kapit, a former
FDA psychiatrist who worked on the drug
companies’ regulatory submissions
on both Prozac and Zoloft. Both of these
experts have already opined that they
believe that Christopher suffered a
Zoloft-induced psychosis, which put
him out of touch with reality and, therefore,
unable to distinguish right from wrong.
Additionally, Distinguished Professor
(Emeritus) Ronald Maris, from the University
of South Carolina, a nationally recognized
suicide expert, will explain the symbiotic
relationship between self-directed and
other-directed violence.
The defense trial
team will include Andy Vickery and Paul
Waldner from VICKERY & WALDNER,
Houston, Karen Barth Menzies from the
BAUM HEDLUND firm in LA, and Hank Mims
from Greer, South Carolina. Mr. Mims
and Mr. Vickery are both graduates of
Gerry Spence’s TRIAL LAWYERS’
COLLEGE in Dubois, Wyoming.
The case is of enormous
public interest and has received significant
media attention. A series of printed
articles in the Rock Hill Herald and
Herald Online has followed developments
in the case for several years. More
recent media attention includes local
coverage via several stories in the
Charlotte Observer, and national coverage
including a front page story in the
August 23, 2004, NY Times and a September
3, 2004, interview on Good Morning America.
CBS 48 Hours has been working on the
case for some time and is doing extensive
coverage for a full show, slated to
air after the trial, and Court TV apparently
is planning on broadcasting portions
of the trial live.
Judge Pieper
has been very accommodating with the
press, and, indeed, is having a special
meeting with them next week. We will
also do all that we can to accommodate
and update interested parties. On the
other hand, the Deputy Solicitor recently
indicated that he might seek a “gag
order.” Unless/until that happens,
however, we will continue to do what
we can to respond to proper media inquiries,
provided, however, that they do not
in any way jeopardize our ability to
find a fair and impartial jury. To be
on our mailing list, please email karin@justiceseekers.com
with your email address and request.
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