|
May 28, 2009 Lawyer says Rockefeller imposter mentally ill as trial beginsPosted: 06:19 PM ET
BOSTON, Massachusetts–In the trial of a man who posed as a member of the Rockefeller family, jurors heard from three witnesses Thursday who detailed Christian Gerhartsreiter’s first supervised visit with his daughter following his 2007 divorce. That visit took place over the weekend of July 26-27, 2008. On the second day, Gerhartsreiter, known at the time as Clark Rockefeller, kidnapped his daughter and allegedly assaulted a social worker who was with them. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the charges in this case. 
Clark Rockefeller sits behind defense table in Boston court  Before the testimony began, the attorneys delivered opening statements to the 16 jurors and a courtroom packed with spectators. Assistant District Attorney David Deakin put a photo of Reigh Boss, Gerhartsreiter’s daughter, on a large monitor at the start of his half hour opening. The photo remained on display until testimony began. Gerhartsreiter, wearing a blue blazer and khaki slacks, sat stiffly and rarely took his eyes off his daughter’s photo. Reigh Boss will not testify, announced Deakin, but her mother will. As Deakin laid out for the jury what the evidence will show in the next few weeks, he harkened back to 1978 when Gerhartsreiter came to the U.S. on a tourist visa. Gerhartsreiter succeeded in obtaining a student visa, then a green card, when he married in 1981. That former wife, who met him only twice before marrying him on a promise of financial compensation, will also testify. Deakin then jumped forward to 1993 and the advent of Clark Rockefeller, an art dealer who claimed he worked in debt restructuring for Third World countries, who married Sandra Boss in 1995, started a family in 2001, and divorced her in December 2007. Gerhartsreiter’s attorney, Jeffrey Denner, focused on his client’s mental illness which he said is to blame for the complicated web of lies that Gerhartsreiter spun and the crimes he is accused of committing. He is not criminally responsible for the acts charged, stressed Denner. His narcissistic personality disorder and delusional disorder of grandiose type prevented him from appreciating the wrongfulness of his conduct. Denner told the jurors in very general terms about other identities his client assumed in between 1981 and 1993 in Los Angeles and Connecticut. Howard Yaffe, the social worker who supervised Gerhartsreiter’s July 2008 visit with his daughter, described the hours he spent with father and daughter culminating in an alleged assault on him when Gerhartsreiter abducted his daughter in a fairly elaborately-laid plan. Robert Warren, a private investigator hired to surreptitiously monitor the custodial visit, told the jurors that he lost sight of the trio just as the alleged assault and abduction occurred. He came upon the scene seconds after Gerhartsreiter sped away in an SUV with his daughter. On Friday, jurors are expected to hear from Aileen Ang who drove Gerhartsreiter and his daughter to New York City, not knowing she was participating in a kidnapping. Police witnesses are expected to follow. Stay tuned to In Session for all the latest coverage of this case. –Beth Karas, In Session correspondent Filed under: Uncategorized |
 
About this blog
 Contact us
Recent Posts
In Session Team
       Archive
Categories
 |
Loading weather data ...
© 2009 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Homepage
Add a comment
