The only other witness to testify, a police officer who arrived at the shooting scene, stated defendant repeated the name 'Tio' several times after being asked who he had shot. Defendant's amnesia could possibly be removed by clinical hypnosis or by administering sodium amytal. However, Rossiter also testified that defendant was entirely lucid on what his lawyer was trying to do for him, understood the proceedings against him, and could effectively communicate with his counsel and make trial decisions, but could not assist in his defense during the amnesiac period. It was his further opinion that the amnesia would hamper defendant's ability to confer with his counsel, defend himself, and receive a fair trial. Lyle Rossiter, a psychiatrist, called by the defendant, testified that defendant was not able to recount from his own recollection what had occurred on the day of the offenses, April 19, 1982, because defendant was suffering from psychogenic amnesia which, in his opinion, was not fabricated. Prior to trial, defendant requested and was granted a hearing to determine his fitness to stand trial pursuant to section 104-11 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 ( .1981, ch. It is only necessary to set forth the proceedings below relevant to the issues raised on appeal. 587, 458 N.E.2d 1387, which declared unconstitutional the same subsection of the aggravated arson statute under which defendant was convicted here (3) whether the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant was sane when he started the fire so that his convictions for aggravated arson and arson must be reversed and (4) whether defendant's conviction for arson must be vacated if this court affirms his conviction for aggravated arson, as the two offenses are based on the same conduct. 38, par.ĭefendant raises four issues for our review: (1) whether the trial court's finding that defendant's amnesia as to the events on the day of the offenses did not preclude him from effectively establishing the defense of insanity so that he was fit to stand trial, was error (2) whether the defendant's conviction for aggravated arson must be reversed under our decision in People v. Defendant was remanded to the Department of Corrections for imprisonment after he was found not to be in need of in-patient mental health services by the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities following the verdict of not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. Defendant was sentenced to a 14-year term of imprisonment for aggravated arson to be served concurrently with a 5-year term of imprisonment imposed for arson. 20-1 (a)), and, following a jury trial, was found not guilty by reason of insanity of murder, and guilty but mentally ill of both aggravated arson and arson. Schwartz, was charged by indictment with two counts of murder ( .1981, ch. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-80.Defendant, Steven E. The Utah Domestic Violence Coalition number is 1-80. If there is an immediate danger, call 911. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic or dating violence, resources are available.

He also said that “his wife did not deserve to die and that he wished he had died,” the police affidavit said. Sharon Schwartz later died in a local hospital.Īccording to an affidavit, Steven Schwartz told police he has an aversion to food and his wife was trying to make him eat, NBC News reported. Police responded to reports of a stabbing and found Sharon Schwartz inside the apartment suffering from stab wounds and Steven Schwartz with “self-inflicted injuries,” according to CBS News. attorney’s office said in a statement announcing the arrest. Schwartz did not want to eat pancakes that his wife Sharron Schwartz, 81, made Sunday and “stabbed her in the back,” the U.S. Schwartz pleaded not guilty at his arraignment.

Steven Schwartz, 85, was charged with second-degree murder while armed, Fox News reported. An elderly man in Washington, D.C., was arrested and charged with allegedly stabbing his wife to death after he refused to eat pancakes she made this week, federal prosecutors said.

Steven schwartz murder