Day Eight in the trial of Hemy Neuman, charged in the Nov. 18, 2010 death of Dunwoody businessman Rusty Sneiderman, began Thursday morning in DeKalb Superior Court. The defense began its case Wednesday with witnesses describing Neuman's mental state.
Prosecution: DeKalb DA Robert James and Chief Assistant DA Don Geary.
Defense: Attorneys Bob Rubin and Doug Peters
Judge: Gregory Adams
For background on the story, read here. For Wednesday's minute-by-minute, read here. Follow the trial live here. Follow the trial on Twitter.
Here's ajc.com's minute-by-minute coverage from Wednesday's court session:
11:55 a.m. Judge Adams calls a recess until 9:30 a.m. Friday.
11:50 a.m.: Flores continues to explain how Andrea Sneiderman's push and pull of Neuman impacted him and his decision to kill Rusty Sneiderman.
11:40 a.m.: Flores used a diagram to show a spike in the volume of phone records and communication between Sneiderman and Neuman. the two went from texting two to four times a month to about 17 times a month during one period. She also notes that Sneiderman sent more than a hundred photos of herself and her children. Neuman told Flores it upset him that none of the photos included Mr. Sneiderman.
11:30 a.m.: Dr. Flores describes their trip to Greenville, S.C. Sneiderman asks Neuman to "touch her" while they were watching a movie. Neuman is not certain whether he had intercourse with Sneiderman or whether it was a fantasy. Flores said Neuman recalled Andrea Sneiderman expressing regrets for what happened. Flores said it was dangerous for Sneiderman to push and pull Neuman at that time because he was already delusional about their relationship.
11:25 a.m.: Flores said Neuman told her that while driving home after the second time he had met with Rusty Sneiderman, an angel appeared to him and told him Sneiderman was going to hurt the children and that he needed to protect them. That's when he decided he had to kill Sneiderman. "I got my marching orders. I was a faithful soldier doing what I had to do," she said Neuman told her. At work while busy with projects, Neuman said he was plotting how he would kill Sneiderman, according to Flores.
11:20 a.m. Flores said she discussed with Neuman his trips out of town with Andrea Sneiderman. He described their intimate conversations and how he opened up to Sneiderman. Neuman also told her about another intimate dinner at lake Tahoe where they shared a first kiss. He also told Flores that he flew out to Longmont, Colo. to tell Sneiderman that an angel had told him that Andrea's two children were his children. He told her at dinner that night that he would be the best father for her children. He said she told him that she would not leave her husband.
11:15 a.m. Flores said he experienced a depressive episode in February 2010 after his job performance was categorized as 'average' and he was having marital problems. She said Neuman said he considered suicide at this point. He said the only thing that kept him going was his kids. He said during a trip to Greenville he heard the demon tell him he was a failure and he planned to kill himself by running into a concrete barrier and said he thought of his children.
11:10 a.m. Flores noted another time when Neuman had a manic episode in 2008 while working at G.E. When he went on a spending spree and spent thousands of dollars and ended up in debt.
11:05 a.m.: Flores said Neuman described to her a time when a demon visited him again when he was a sophomore at Georgia Tech in 1981. She said it was indicative of a depressive episode. Court documents include a college transcript that shows that fall 1981 that was the only time Neuman was not on the Dean's list.
10:55 a.m. Flores talked about Neuman's chaotic home life and his abusive relationship with his father. He told her about being sent alone at age 13 to a boarding school in Israel and having to find his way from the airport to the boarding school. He said he felt orphaned. She said he broke down discussing the boarding school experience. She said he mentioned that he first experienced the appearance of a demon while at the boarding school.
10:50 a.m.: Flores said Neuman told her he loved Andrea Sneiderman and she loved him and that with Rusty Sneiderman gone they could be married and raise the kids together. Neuman wore a disguise because he had to hide the fact that he was the one who killed Rusty because if she found out, then he and she and the children could never be together.
10:45 a.m.: Flores said Neuman admitted shooting Sneiderman to protect the Sneiderman children who he thought were his children because he wanted to raise them so that they would not experience what he and his sister went through when they were children.
10:35 a.m: Dr. Flores said she administered four psychological tests to Neuman: A cognition test that showed his cognition was normal, a second test that indicated he had bi-polar disorder, a third test for malingering (making up or faking psychological problems.) She said that test did not indicate any malingering by Neuman, and a fourth test that looked further at malingering. She said the fourth test showed no evidence that Neuman was malingering or faking psychological problems..
10:20 a.m.: Judge Adams calls for a short stretch break.
10:15 a.m: Flores testified that Neuman also had a 'rescue delusion' at the time that he shot Sneiderman. She said Neuman believed he was the father of Andrea Sneiderman's children and that the children were in danger, so he killed Rusty Sneiderman to protect his children and so he could be with his real family and the mother of his children.
10:10 a.m.: Flores said she found 'erotomanic delusion' in 'Neuman. She described it as an irrational, romantic belief about one's relationship with another person -- believing you have more of a relationship with a person than you really have.
10 a.m.: Flores also explained severe depression and delusions. She explained that people who suffer from delusions are highly resistant to change even when you present them with evidence that is crystal clear that what they believe is untrue.
9:50 a.m.: Flores used an exhibit to explain her diagnosis of Neuman to the jury. She explains manic and depressive episodes, which are symptoms of bi-polar disorder. She said talks of angels and demons is not unusual in someone who is manic.
9:45 a.m.: Dr. Flores said that she determined Neuman is not criminally responsible for the death of Rusty Sneiderman. He didn't have the mental capacity to distinguish between right and wrong in the shooting, she said. He was rendered incapable because he had a disease, a mental illness. She said Neuman had 'bi-polar 1 disorder with psychosis.'
9:40 a.m.: Dr. Flores conducted her own evaluation of Neuman. She met with him three times for a total of 12 hours for a clinical interview, criminal responsibility evaluation and psychological testing. She said she reviewed transcripts of emails, texts and telephone records between Neuman and Andrea Sneiderman. She said she did not interview Andrea Sneiderman who refused to be interviewed. "I very much wanted to talk to her."
9:30 a.m.: Dr. Flores said she was provided with detailed summaries of the case, including interviews of witnesses, to help with her evaluation. She said, prior to her own evaluation of Neuman, she did not review other evaluations done on Neuman by other psychologists.
9:25 a.m.: Dr. Flores goes through her credentials. She said she has been asked by prosecutors to testify in cases involving malingering. She said the prosecution asked her in September to testify in the Neuman case but she had already been hired by the defense. She testifies that she was asked to evaluate Neuman by the defense.
9:10 a.m.: Dr. Adriana Flores is sworn in. She is a forensic psychologist who diagnoses cases of severe mental illness, including the criminally insane.
9:08 a.m.: Jury enters courtroom.
9:00 a.m.: Judge Adams enters courtroom.
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