Murder defendant deemed mentally fit
Adam Mau-Goffredo is trying to use the insanity defense
A court-appointed panel says Adam Mau-Goffredo suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, but that he is currently fit to go to trial on charges stemming from a triple slaying on Tantalus a year ago.
The 24-year-old Mau-Goffredo maintains he was mentally ill at the time of the attacks and should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Adam Mau-Goffredo: He is accused in the killings of three people on Tantalus last year.
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It will be up to a jury or a judge to decide. But first, Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario must determine whether Mau-Goffredo is fit to go to trial on multiple charges, including first and second-degree murder, first-degree robbery and burglary.
Prosecutors agree with the psychiatric findings, but attorneys for Mau-Goffredo told the court yesterday that they don't agree that he can fully assist in his defense and are contesting the panel's findings.
They are also requesting that Mau-Goffredo undergo a brain scan to determine whether he suffers from a physical defect or abnormality.
Mau-Goffredo is awaiting trial for the murder of taxicab driver Manh Nguyen, who drove him up to Tantalus on July 6, and Kapahulu couple Jason and Colleen Takamori, who happened to be taking pictures at the lookout that evening. Prosecutors said they were all shot "execution-style" in the head.
Mau-Goffredo also allegedly held up a Round Top couple and their housekeeper at gunpoint, bound them with tape and stole the couple's car.
As provided under the law, the defense yesterday began cross-examining state psychologist Olaf Gitter, one of three mental health specialists appointed by Del Rosario to determine Mau-Goffredo's fitness to go to trial.
Gitter testified yesterday that he found the defendant fit to proceed based on their June 6 interview and his review of mental health and corrections records.
Even Mau-Goffredo himself indicated he was "definitely" fit, and wanted to be found fit, he said.
"Mr. Mau maintained he was not mentally ill at the present, but mentally ill at the time of the alleged offenses," Gitter testified.
Mau-Goffredo said that if he was found not guilty by reason of insanity, he understood that he would be released, Gitter said.
During questioning by Cliff Hunt, one of Mau-Goffredo's attorneys, Gitter said Mau-Goffredo had a "long-term chronic problem" of refusing to shower over a period of three months.
From February to mid-May, Mau-Goffredo only showered when forced to or taken to the showers by guards, Gitter said. Mau-Goffredo appeared clean and well-groomed when he appeared in court yesterday.
Hunt's questioning also suggested that Mau-Goffredo has been refusing to meet with his attorneys or to be examined by experts hired separately by the defense to determine his fitness.
Del Rosario is expected to set another hearing to give the defense an opportunity to question the two remaining doctors on the panel and any other experts needed to assist the court in deciding whether Mau-Goffredo is fit.
Mau-Goffredo has a documented psychiatric history and has received inpatient and outpatient treatment. He also takes medication but apparently had stopped taking it in the weeks before the killings.
As early as May 2002, Mau-Goffredo was treated at the Queen's Medical Center and diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia, with a history of marijuana and LSD use, according to Gitter's report.
The diagnosis was supported in 2003 and last January by Dr. Marvin Acklin, who said the illness was characterized by delusions.
