Dunwoody day care killing trial of Hemy Neuman delayed
The trial of Hemy Neuman, who is pleading not guilty by reason of insanity to killing Rusty Sneiderman outside a Dunwoody day care facility last fall, has been delayed.
A court-appointed mental health expert -- independent of experts for the state and the defense -- has yet to examine Neuman, who has acknowledged shooting Sneiderman. Judge Gregory Adams postponed the trial, originally scheduled to start in less than two weeks, to an undisclosed date.
"The issue is not what happened, but why it happened," attorney Doug Peters said of the attack in an interview last month with the AJC. "The facts of this case are not in dispute."
Peters said that because of Neuman's mental illness, he was unable to differentiate between right and wrong at the time of the shooting.
If the defense is successful, Neuman would become a ward of the state mental health system. The jury could also find him guilty but mentally ill, in which case Neuman would become an inmate within the Georgia Department of Corrections, where he would receive treatment for his sickness.
About the Author
A native Atlantan, Boone joined the AJC staff in 2007. He quickly carved out a niche covering crime stories, assuming the public safety beat in 2014. He's covered some of the biggest trials this decade, from Hemy Neuman to Ross Harris to Chip Olsen, the latter of which was featured on Season 7 of the AJC's award-winning "Breakdown" podcast.
