Trials & Litigation
Lawyer Says Client with Multiple Personalities Shouldn’t Stand Trial
Posted Jun 10, 2009, 11:25 am CST
By Sarah Randag
A defense attorney argued his client should not be prosecuted on the Medicaid fraud charges brought against her because she has multiple personality disorder.
"How can she get adequate representation of counsel?" David Bythewood asked in federal court in Central Islip Monday.
Blythewood's client, Helene Michel, is charged with operating a $26 milllion Medicaid fraud, Newsday reports. Prosecutors say Michel would enter nursing homes on the overnight shift, saying she was from an equipment supplier, convince workers to let her look at patient records and steal pages from them and use them to submit fake bills to Medicaid, United Press International reports.
But Blythewood says Michel's alternate personalities—Valerie Brown and Yael Norman, to name a couple—could emerge during testimony and sabotage the case. Eric Pakun, a psychiatrist hired by Blythewood, testfied Monday that "is likely that under the stress of a trial or testifying, she will, without being aware of this, experience transitions to her alternate identities for an uncertain duration."
Federal prosecutor Charles Kelly said that the government psychologist testified that Michel was capable of standing trial and that steps could be taken during the trial to stop proceedings and bring Michel back to her real personality, if needed.
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