Prosecutors are expected to rest their case Wednesday against Wayne Treacy, the Pompano Beach teenager who is presenting an insanity defense against charges of attempted first-degree murder for beating and nearly killing Josie Lou Ratley, a Deerfield Beach Middle School student, in March 2010, after she sent Treacy a taunting text message about his dead brother.
It is unknown if Ratley, who suffered permanent brain damage from the attack, will testify.
Russell Williams, Treacy’s defense attorney, said his client suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing the suicide of his older brother, Michael Bell, who hung himself from a tree in the parking lot of the New Covenant Church in Pompano Beach in October 2009, about five months before the attack on Ratley.
Williams is expected to call as witnesses medical experts who will testify to Treacy’s mental state, but it is unknown whether Treacy will take the stand in his own defense.
Williams argued outside of the jury’s presence that prosecutors and Broward Circuit Judge David A. Haimes were denying Treacy the ability to present a vigorous insanity defense because the state objected — and Judge Haimes ruled — that the jury cannot see a video of Treacy’s two-hour interrogation by Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives following the attack.
During the interrogation, Treacy calls himself a “monster,” looks down to the floor, yells and speaks about himself in the third person, Williams told the judge.
But Haimes said legal precedent was well-established that a defendant cannot introduce to the jury self-serving statements made outside of the court and that cannot be cross-examined by prosecutors.
The traditional defense for insanity typically requires a defendant to take the witness stand, said Maria Schneider, the assistant state attorney prosecuting the case.
Schneider also objected to Williams’ announced intention to call as a witness BSO Det. Frank Ilarraza, who investigated the suicide of Bell, Treacy’s brother. Williams said he wants to show the jury two photographs of the suicide that caused Treacy to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, and led him to snap in a violent attack.
Schneider said the photos were irrelevant to the attack, and that they aren’t necessary because the state never questioned Bell’s suicide.
But Haimes said the photos are relevant to establishing Treacy’s claim of insanity.
If convicted of attempted first-degree murder, Treacy faces a potential 50-year prison sentence.
It is unknown if Ratley, who suffered permanent brain damage from the attack, will testify.
Russell Williams, Treacy’s defense attorney, said his client suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing the suicide of his older brother, Michael Bell, who hung himself from a tree in the parking lot of the New Covenant Church in Pompano Beach in October 2009, about five months before the attack on Ratley.
Williams is expected to call as witnesses medical experts who will testify to Treacy’s mental state, but it is unknown whether Treacy will take the stand in his own defense.
Williams argued outside of the jury’s presence that prosecutors and Broward Circuit Judge David A. Haimes were denying Treacy the ability to present a vigorous insanity defense because the state objected — and Judge Haimes ruled — that the jury cannot see a video of Treacy’s two-hour interrogation by Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives following the attack.
During the interrogation, Treacy calls himself a “monster,” looks down to the floor, yells and speaks about himself in the third person, Williams told the judge.
But Haimes said legal precedent was well-established that a defendant cannot introduce to the jury self-serving statements made outside of the court and that cannot be cross-examined by prosecutors.
The traditional defense for insanity typically requires a defendant to take the witness stand, said Maria Schneider, the assistant state attorney prosecuting the case.
Schneider also objected to Williams’ announced intention to call as a witness BSO Det. Frank Ilarraza, who investigated the suicide of Bell, Treacy’s brother. Williams said he wants to show the jury two photographs of the suicide that caused Treacy to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, and led him to snap in a violent attack.
Schneider said the photos were irrelevant to the attack, and that they aren’t necessary because the state never questioned Bell’s suicide.
But Haimes said the photos are relevant to establishing Treacy’s claim of insanity.
If convicted of attempted first-degree murder, Treacy faces a potential 50-year prison sentence.