Hemy Neuman Found Guilty but Mentally Ill

Last week, the jury reached a verdict in the highly-publicized daycare shooting trial of Hemy Neuman. If you have been following the blog posts, you know that Neuman was accused of shooting Rusty Sneiderman on the lawn of a daycare in Dunwoody back in November 2010. He plead not guilty by reason of insanity, arguing that an angel who looked like Olivia Newton John told him he needed to kill Rusty Sneiderman. Neuman was intimately involved with Rusty Sneiderman's wife, Andrea although she expressly denied having an affair several times while under oath.

The jury deliberated over two days. They were presented with three options: not guilty by reason of insanity, guilty but mentally ill, or guilty. The jury found him guilty but mentally ill for the murder charge, and guilty for the possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony charge. The judge sentenced him to life without parole. The Judge was faced with the option of a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 30 years, however the Judge said he believed the killing was a "planned execution with no justification." With the guilty but mentally ill verdict, Neuman will receive treatment for his illness while in prison. The distinction between a not guilty by reason of insanity and a guilty but mentally ill verdict is that in the case of the former, the jury believes that the defendant did not know the difference between right and wrong during the commission of a crime. A guilty but mentally ill verdict indicates that the jury believes beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knew the difference between right and wrong and knew the consequences of his actions, yet remains a mentally ill individual. Obviously, it is possible to be considered mentally ill, but still possess the intent to commit a crime. Apparently, that is what the jury believed here.

Once he was sentenced, DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James said, "He was a cold-blooded killer. An adulterer. And a liar. And he ultimately got what he deserved."

What will be interesting to see is what prosecutors decide to do about Andrea Sneiderman. She quickly became an interesting topic because of her adamant denial of the alleged affair with Neuman. In an earlier post, I described some key discrepancies in her testimony, the most important being her testimony of when she first learned of the shooting. Andrea testified that she first learned of the shooting when she arrived at the hospital and the doctors informed her of her husband's condition. However, two separate witnesses testified that Andrea called them while in route to the hospital and told both of the witnesses that her husband had been shot. Also, it wasn't until after she began to receive payments off of her husband's life insurance policy that she saw fit to express to the police a suspicion that Neuman could have been the shooter.

The question now is: will prosecutors bring charges against Andrea? She would likely be charged with conspiracy. With the evidence that has arisen against her, it is highly likely that charges will be brought soon. I'll keep you updated. But for now, the dramatic trial of Hemy Neuman has ended, and he will be spending the rest of his life in prison.

Pain pills subject to abuse: Tennessee ranks second in the nation in the number of prescription medications dispensed.

Knoxnews.com reports today what is increasingly obvious, that there is an alarming abuse of pain pill prescriptions in Tennessee.

Doctors in Tennessee alone prescribed more than 113 million oxycodone pills last year — Oxys, Roxies and others — according to the state Department of Health. That's equal to nearly 19 pills for every man, woman and child from Bristol to Memphis — and that doesn't count other oft-abused drugs such as hydrocodone, Xanax, methadone, Valium and Opana.

How much of a problem is this?  Well, as usual, look at the money.  An ordinary prescription from a pill mill (a doctor writing prescriptions that he shouldn't) averages about 250 pills per month. Street prices are about $20 per pill.  An office visit to a doctor that operates a pill mill is typically $250. That one visit can generate $5000 in gross sales on the street.  Profit is $4,750 form that single visit.  A dealer has other expenses: car, gas, travel and related needs.  Still the net profit runs more than $4000 for that one stop to the doctor and pharmacy.  In these circles people don't operate alone.  These are loosely organized conspiracies that typically involve 10 or more individuals.  The sources get the pills from pharmacies.  The pharmacies are supplied prescriptions by criminal dealers who source their prescriptions from rouge doctors (pill mills). In a very short period of time--days--these pills end up in the hands of hundreds of addicts on the street.


The Tennessean reports on this issue today:

The National Office of Drug Control recently named prescription drug abuse as the nation’s fastest-growing drug problem. Tennessee ranks second in the nation in the number of prescription medications dispensed. The law enforcement community supported the new regulations, which require pain clinics to be certified through the Health Department, outlaw cash transactions and subject medical professionals who work at illegal pain clinics to stiff civil penalties.But despite the new regulations, pain clinics continue to pop up in the Nashville area, and questions remain as to whether the state has the necessary resources to enforce the new rules.

CCA Affirms Murder Conviction But Reverses Conspiracy

• STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JOHN E. LANE

This Court of Criminal Appeals opinion out of Knoxville is interesting in that it upholds the main conviction for first degree murder; but, it also sets out the standards by which a conspiracy to commit murder may be met.  In doing so, the Court reverses the jury conviction for conspiracy.

The Court found that there was no evidence produced at trial to suggest there was an agreement between Mr. Lane and another to kill the victim. There was insufficient evidence to support a conviction for conspiracy. Simply because Lane was present with another, and that person was quiet and did not interfere after the shooting, and left with the Mr. Lane was not enough to support a finding of conspiracy. 

Mere knowledge, acquiescence, or approval of the act, without cooperation or agreement to cooperate, is not enough to constitute one a party to a conspiracy. There must be intentional participation in the transaction with a view to the furtherance of the common design and purpose. Solomon v. State. 

However, the conviction for first degree murder is affirmed.