Former cop's ALS brain-disorder defense succeeds; jurors find him not responsible in double slaying
Jurors in Wisconsin have found a former sheriff’s deputy wasn’t responsible for the slayings of his wife and her sister after his lawyers argued at trial that he suffered from a brain disorder associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Dane County jurors delivered the verdict early Thursday, finding that Andrew Steele, 40, wasn’t responsible for the August 2014 crime because of a mental disease or defect, report the Wisconsin State Journal and the New York Times. As a result, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services will decide whether Steele requires institutional care. Doctors who diagnosed Steele in June estimated he would live another two to five years.
Steele admitted he shot both women, one of whom managed to call police. When police arrived, Steele was in the laundry room with a portable fire pit, apparently trying to kill himself by carbon monoxide.
Prosecutors and defense lawyers both agreed Steele had a mental defect; prosecutors said it was depression and he was responsible for the slayings because he was able to conform his conduct to the law, according to the Wisconsin State Journal story. Defense lawyers contended Steele’s brain became “miswired” because of the ALS, making him unable to control his behavior.
In closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Andrea Raymond said the defense “vilifies people with ALS.” The verdict has raised similar concerns among ALS experts, the New York Times reports.
Neuropsychologist Susan Woolley of the California Pacific Medical Center told the Times that apathy is the most common behavior change she has seen in patients with ALS. “Overall, ALS patients tend to be very kind, brave people,” she said.
Neurology and psychiatry professor Mario Mendez of the University of California at Los Angeles said some ALS patients could have poor impulse control that results in violence, but it would be rare. In Steele’s case, the slayings appeared to have been planned–something that would be difficult for an ALS patient with dementia, he told the Times.
