By ANDREA VanVALKENBURG
Staff Writer
May 12, 2009 03:28 am
—
PLATTSBURGH — In late April 2008, less than two months after Brenda Rabideau shot her husband, a forensic psychiatrist found she was suffering from "extreme emotional disturbance."
"I believe that she did lose control of herself based on her extreme emotional disturbance," Dr. Jonathan Weker testified Monday during the Ellenburg Depot woman's attempted-murder trial.
The defense-hired expert from Vermont took the stand Monday morning before Clinton County Family Court and Integrated Domestic Violence Court Judge Timothy Lawliss and told the 14 jurors how he came to that conclusion.
Based on State Police reports, transcripts of Rabideau's taped conversation with police minutes after the shooting and interviews with the 50-year-old mother of four, Weker felt Rabideau lost control of herself when she shot Ricky Rabideau in the back with a .22-caliber rifle.
He said her increasing life stressors, coupled with her ongoing cancer diagnosis and history of "major depression" and anxiety, caused her to suffer the extreme emotional condition, which is the basis for her criminal defense.
Weker also felt she suffered significant "harassment and certainly emotional neglect" during her failed 20-year marriage to the 46-year-old contractor.
The defense is not disputing that Mrs. Rabideau shot her estranged husband outside their former Mooers Forks home after an argument about his new relationship and divorce appraisals.
Mrs. Rabideau had been treated for depression and panic disorders for several years before the shooting and was briefly hospitalized in a psychiatric unit around the time she filed for divorce.
Stephen Johnston, who is Rabideau's attorney, questioned Weker in detail. Then Assistant District Attorney Timothy Blatchley delved into Weker's experience reviewing emotional-disturbance cases and his familiarity with New York laws.
During the cross-examination, Weker said he found "no indication" that Rabideau intended to kill her husband, which is a component of the second-degree attempted-murder charge against her.
He later admitted that her actions demonstrated the "ability to reason."
Before the defense rested its case, Mrs. Rabideau's mental-health counselor, Kathy Sajor, said her client "had been under enormous stress" during the months before the shooting.
While on the stand Monday afternoon, she classified Mr. Rabideau's past treatment of his wife as "cruel."
Guided by Blatchley's questioning, Sajor later admitted that it's not uncommon for people to experience a "cluster of negative emotions" during failed relationships.
Champlain EMS emergency-medical technician Alison Poupore later told the jury that Mrs. Rabideau did not appear to be under the influence of controlled substances immediately after the shooting.
Mrs. Rabideau was heard in a taped conversation with police saying she was suicidal and had consumed an entire bottle of anti-anxiety medications, which subsequent testing apparently failed to detect.
Despite "no outward signs" of an overdose, Poupore said, "she appeared distraught" and said "I don't care if I live or die."
Mrs. Rabideau did not take the stand in her own defense.
So far, jurors have heard from a dozen prosecution and seven defense witnesses.
The trial is expected to resume this morning, when the prosecution calls two rebuttal witnesses, including another psychological expert, who is expected to testify against the emotional-disturbance defense.
Closing arguments may take place as soon as this afternoon.
E-mail Andrea VanValkenburg at: avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com
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Photos
Brenda Rabideau