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June 4, 2009 Rockefeller imposter trial: defense beginsPosted: 09:15 AM ET
BOSTON, Massachusetts–A defense expert returns to the stand today to continue his testimony about the mental state of the man who calls himself Clark Rockefeller. On Wednesday, Keith Ablow, M.D. and another expert opined that Christian Gerhartsreiter is so mentally ill that he’s not criminally responsible for kidnapping his daughter last July. 
Author, television personality and forensic psychiatrist Keith Ablow testified for the defense  Forensic psychologist Catherine Howe administered a series of tests to Gerhartsreiter designed to determine, in part, if he was malingering (or faking) mental illness. She concluded he was not. She also concluded that he suffers from two psychological disorders. The more severe is delusional disorder, grandiose type; the other is narcissistic personality disorder. Those conclusions, however, are not consistent with a few of the test results. One test result indicated there was no evidence of mental illness. Another test showed there was no “major mental illness,” that is, delusional disorder. She opined that Gerhartsreiter tried to make himself seem less ill when taking the tests. Howe explained that as Gerhartsreiter’s grandiose beliefs were reinforced, his disorder became more severe. That is, as people around him, especially his ex-wife Sandra Boss, continued to believe he was a Rockefeller who entered Yale at 14, who owned a multi-million dollar art collection, and who used to help Third World countries in debt refinancing, he spiraled deeper into his delusional disorder. 
Christian Gerhartsreiter The defense also called forensic psychiatrist Keith Ablow, who concurred with Howe’s findings. Ablow explained that people become narcissistic because they don’t feel good about themselves, so they reinvent themselves. Ablow said Gerhartsreiter had an emotional reaction to losing custody of his daughter. His ex-wife and daughter relocated to London within days of the December 2007 divorce decree. Gerhartsreiter would wander the streets of Boston and believed he saw signs that meant he’d find his daughter around the next corner. He believed he communicated telepathically with his daughter and that she wanted him to take her away. Suggesting that Gerhartsreiter is a liar, not delusional, Assistant District Attorney David Deakin read from an affidavit Gerhartsreiter filed in the divorce proceeding from Boss. In the passage read by Deakin, Gerhartsreiter stated that Boss created his fictitious educational background and told him to tell people that he entered Yale at the age of 14. Gerhartsreiter also claimed in the divorce that Boss was the sole wage earner, that he had no access to her accounts, and that she paid all the bills. But for Boss being the sole wage earner, these claims are a direct contradiction to the testimony of Boss. Yet another identity Gerhartsreiter allegedly used in the past decades was revealed in court on Tuesday. According to Deakin, in 1984 and 1985, Gerhartsreiter posed as Dr. Reiter, a cardiovascular surgeon at a clinic in Las Vegas. The prosecution is expected to call a psychiatrist in rebuttal. Closing arguments in this case are expected next week. –Beth Karas, In Session correspondent Filed under: Uncategorized |
 
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