{"id":21557,"date":"2014-04-11T15:38:17","date_gmt":"2014-04-11T19:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=21557"},"modified":"2014-04-11T15:38:17","modified_gmt":"2014-04-11T19:38:17","slug":"killers-annual-quest-to-increase-freedom-opposed-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=21557","title":{"rendered":"Killer\u2019s annual quest to increase freedom opposed again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prosecutor: Threatening letter merits cuts in Richard Greist\u2019s privileges<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n
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\"IMG_1233\"<\/a>By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/strong>,\u00a0Managing Editor, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

A psychiatrist for the Chester County District Attorney\u2019s Office testified on Thursday, April 10, that a former county resident acquitted of heinous crimes in 1980 by reason of insanity remains a danger to himself and others and needs to stay institutionalized \u2013 an opinion three other doctors disputed.<\/p>\n

The conflicting testimony in Chester County Court has occurred for at least a decade at the annual commitment hearing for Richard Greist, who has resided at Norristown State Hospital for most of the past 35 years. In 1978, during an apparent psychotic rampage, Greist fatally stabbed his pregnant wife at their East Coventry home, ripping his unborn son from her womb with a screwdriver and mutilating the fetus. He also gouged his 6-year-old daughter\u2019s eye, slashed his grandmother\u2019s throat, and butchered the family cat.<\/p>\n

Because a judge ruled that Greist could not be held responsible for his crimes, he can never be incarcerated for them; however, the court holds an annual commitment hearing to review Greist\u2019s record and hear what are generally dueling recommendations for his future. The hospital\u2019s doctors have been working to transition Greist into a group home while the commonwealth\u2019s doctor \u00a0has maintained that until Greist understands and accepts responsibility for his actions, \u00a0he poses a risk to the public.<\/p>\n

Like the previous several hearings before Chester County Court Judge Edward Griffith, three psychiatrists testifying in Greist\u2019s behalf, two of whom interact with him regularly at Norristown State, believe that he is making progress and deserves more frequent privileges to leave the hospital grounds on day and weekend passes.<\/p>\n

In countering that view, Dr. Barbara Ziv, a psychiatrist who has been evaluating Greist for a decade, testified that substantial literature supports the belief that treating psychiatrists can often lose their objectivity. She said she believes that Greist\u2019s grip on reality has declined in the past year. She said her opinion was based in part on an unsettling interview she had with him earlier this week, during which he presented her with a threatening letter.<\/p>\n

In it, he accused her of telling his attorney, Marita Malloy Hutchinson, in 2006 that nothing Greist could ever do would make Ziv change her mind, a statement that Ziv disputed and is not contained in the court record. As a result, Greist suggested that Ziv read a passage from Deuteronomy that he included in the letter.<\/p>\n

The passage focuses on retribution for those deemed to be a \u201cfalse witness,\u201d recommending that such a person would deserve to have done to them \u201cas he had schemed to do to his brother.\u201d The passage goes on to espouse \u201ceye for eye\u201d justice.\u00a0 Greist ended by saying: \u201cUnder current mental health laws, it is your obligation as a reviewer to recommend to the court, my discharge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ziv testified that \u201cno matter how you look at it, it\u2019s a threat. \u2026If you bear false witness, this is what\u2019s going to happen to you.\u201d She said the fact that Greist would present her with such a letter before a court hearing, knowing that it would become part of the record demonstrates \u201cextremely poor insight, extremely poor judgement.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, it underscores Greist\u2019s tenuous grasp of reality and the danger he poses, she testified, adding that Greist has relentlessly pursued his goal of getting \u201cout of the hospital\u201d for decades without attempting to understand what got him there. Instead, he suggests that \u201cit was mostly sleep deprivation\u201d that led to his rampage, a meritless contention, Ziv said.<\/p>\n

Without the structure of a contained institution, Greist \u201chas the capacity to become violent, aggressive and flagrantly psychotic,\u201d Ziv testified. She added that Greist could be very charming so she is not surprised that others have a different opinion.<\/p>\n

Although Hutchinson did not have questions for Ziv, Greist did, and he began his cross-examination by asking the psychiatrist if she remembered \u201cwhen the U.S. landed on the moon.\u201d The judge cut him off, stating that it was not relevant. Greist countered that it would be but moved on when he saw that Griffith was not going to change his mind.<\/p>\n

Greist and Ziv disagreed over what she viewed as examples of his psychosis, such as the time he incorrectly insisted that he was discharged from the hospital with a cerebral hemorrhage.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ira Brenner, who conducts weekly psychotherapy sessions with Greist, testified that he is familiar with literature that suggests treating doctors can \u00a0be biased but felt that he had maintained an objective analysis. He described Greist as an \u201cexquisitely sensitive and remorseful individual\u201d who showed no signs of psychosis.<\/p>\n

In fact, Greist\u2019s ability to survive \u2013 \u201cand in some ways thrive\u201d \u2013 in the state hospital setting showed that he deserved increased privileges, Brenner said. He also testified that he found Ziv \u201cextremely courageous\u201d for continuing with Greist\u2019s interview if she had felt so threatened by his letter.<\/p>\n

Greist took a couple of minutes toward the end of the hearing to apologize to Ziv, who had already left the courtroom. He said he now realized that the letter represented \u201ca terrible mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hutchinson said she believed the judge should increase Greist\u2019s unsupervised time off the hospital grounds in accord with his doctors\u2019 recommendations; however, Assistant District Attorney Peter Hobart urged Griffith to consider the reverse.\u00a0Hobart pointed out that the judge increased Greist\u2019s privileges last year, prompting Ziv to conclude that if Greist \u201cgets an inch, he takes a mile.\u201d Calling Ziv an advocate for the public\u2019s safety, Hobart suggested that the fact that Ziv is concerned about Greist\u2019s behavior should inform the court\u2019s decision to reduce his privileges, not expand them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will tell you that I am troubled by this letter,\u201d said the judge, who is expected to issue a decision after reviewing all of the materials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prosecutor: Threatening letter merits cuts in Richard Greist\u2019s privileges By Kathleen Brady Shea,\u00a0Managing Editor, The Times A psychiatrist for the Chester County District Attorney\u2019s Office testified on Thursday, April 10, that a former county resident acquitted of heinous crimes in 1980 by reason of insanity remains a danger to himself and others and needs to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":21559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5333,2226,5334,5335,5336,5337,5338],"class_list":["post-21557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-chester-county-court-judge-edward-griffith","tag-chester-county-district-attorneys-office","tag-dr-barbara-ziv","tag-dr-ira-brenner","tag-marita-malloy-hutchinson","tag-norristown-state-hospital","tag-richard-greist"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}