PROSECUTOR BELITTLES MENENDEZ DEFENSE.Byline: Linda Deutsch Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. A prosecutor Friday scoffed at a psychologist's finding that Erik Menendez was molested mo·lest tr.v. mo·lest·ed, mo·lest·ing, mo·lests 1. To disturb, interfere with, or annoy. 2. To subject to unwanted or improper sexual activity. by his father and suffered from "battered person syndrome Battered person syndrome is a physical and psychological condition that is classified as ICD-9 code 995.81 "Battered person syndrome" NEC or otherwise included within DSM-IV as a sub-category of post-traumatic stress disorder. " when he and brother Lyle turned shotguns on their parents. The syndrome is a political catch-phrase that is medically nonexistent non·ex·is·tence n. 1. The condition of not existing. 2. Something that does not exist. non , said Deputy District Attorney David Conn. "The fact is, the battered person syndrome does not exist," Conn said in the fourth day of his final argument. "The battered person syndrome is not in here," he said, holding up for jurors a manual of mental disorders mental disorders: see bipolar disorder; paranoia; psychiatry; psychosis; schizophrenia. . "It is not a proper diagnosis . . . It is not a mental disorder mental disorder Any illness with a psychological origin, manifested either in symptoms of emotional distress or in abnormal behaviour. Most mental disorders can be broadly classified as either psychoses or neuroses (see neurosis; psychosis). Psychoses (e.g. ." Erik, 25, and Lyle, 28, contend that they killed Jose and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills mansion on Aug. 28, 1989, following a lifetime of physical, sexual and mental abuse by their parents. The brothers' first trial ended when two separate juries deadlocked. Only one panel is hearing the second trial. Conn suggested that psychologist John Wilson was misleading the jury when he diagnosed Erik as suffering from battered person syndrome. Similarly, the prosecutor suggested, the "battered women's syndrome" is not a clinical diagnosis of a state of mind. He said the term, which has become familiar nationwide with problems of domestic violence, "has political legs" and thus is a popular catch-phrase. "Don't think I'm saying there is not a problem with battering in this country," Conn said. "That is a very serious problem. But people have referred to that as the battered women's syndrome because it directs political attention. But it is not a syndrome in the medical sense." The prosecutor also attacked the psychologist's testimony that Erik Menendez suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mental disorder that follows an occurrence of extreme psychological stress, such as that encountered in war or resulting from violence, childhood abuse, sexual abuse, or serious accident. . "You know what PTSD PTSD posttraumatic stress disorder. PTSD abbr. posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is - it's a gold mine for defense attorneys," Conn said. That comment drew a defense objection, which was sustained by Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg. Conn, in an unusually prolonged final summation, returned to a theme he addressed at the outset, urging jurors to reject as lies the claims of Erik and Lyle Menendez that they were sexually abused by their father throughout their lives. "Did Jose Menendez ever put a hand on Erik Menendez? Did he ever sexually touch him in any way? I submit he did not," Conn said. He acknowledged that Wilson diagnosed Erik as having been molested. "Ladies and gentlemen," he implored the jury, "You have to ask yourself, is this man with a Ph.D. any more qualified than you are to make that determination? No. A Ph.D. means only he is familiar with symptoms of a disorder. He cannot read minds." Conn also denounced the psychologist as "a hired gun hired gun Forensic medicine A popular term for a physician, lawyer or other highly paid expert who is not a regular employee of a particular enterprise, whose services are paid only as long as necessary; the term is an analogy from the use of mercenaries to fight " who would not have given such decisions if he was not putting "money in his pocket." Conn began the day by ridiculing the defense claims that the Menendez brothers were gripped by unreasoning fear rather than intent to kill when they rushed into the living room. |
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