Opening statements are scheduled to begin Tuesday morning in the murder trial of a Cobb County engineer charged with killing a colleague's husband.
DeKalb County prosecutors are expected to argue that the shooting occurred because of an alleged extramarital affair between Hemy Neuman and Andrea Sneiderman, the widow of victim Rusty Sneiderman, according to court documents released last fall.
Andrea Sneiderman, who appears on both the prosecution and defense witness lists, could be called to the stand as early as Tuesday. Neuman, who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, was Andrea Sneiderman's supervisor at GE Energy. He has, through his attorneys, acknowledged shooting the 36-year-old Dunwoody businessman.
Georgia law requires one of two tests be met to qualify as insane.
On Thursday, Neuman's lawyers eliminated one of the criteria when they specified they will not be arguing that their client suffered from a delusional compulsion, as claimed in the trial of Fulton County Courthouse shooter Brian Nichols.
Neuman's defense team said they will argue instead that the 49-year-old Georgia Tech graduate couldn't differentiate between right and wrong when he fatally shot Sneiderman outside Dunwoody Prep on Nov. 18, 2010.
Doug Peters, reading from a psychological evaluation of Neuman during a hearing last week, said his client believed he had been "commanded" to kill Sneiderman. Peters did not say who issued the "command."
Neuman also told defense psychologists he believes he is the father of Sneiderman’s two young children and that he feared for their safety, Peters said.
The trial is expected to last four to six weeks.
-- Follow the trial from gavel-to-gavel on ajc.com and on Twitter at @ajccourts.
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