Sapry’s attorneys press last-word argument, say state’s psychiatrist should not testify

LACONIA — Attorneys for Hassan Sapry, charged in the death of Wilfred Guzman, appealed to the judge Friday about why they should be allowed to make the final closing argument in their client’s upcoming murder-insanity trial.

“Last words are important words,” attorney Mark Sisti told Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Leonard during a hearing held just over one week before the start of jury selection in the first-degree murder case.

In a written motion earlier this month, Sisti asked that the defense either, during a unified trial, be able to make the final argument to the jury regarding Sapry’s sanity, or else allow a bifurcated trial in which the facts of the case and the issue of sanity would be presented in separate parts and in which the defense would have the final closing argument during the sanity phase.

Leonard last week denied both requests. But this week Sapry’s lawyers asked the judge to reconsider. They further told the court that Sapry was demanding a bifurcated trial and that the defendant has the right to make that request at any time.

“There’s no requirement that we make this request at a particular time,” Sisti said.

In response to a question from Leonard, Sisti said if the judge were to rule that closing arguments in a unified trial be divided into three parts with the defense giving the final closing argument on the issue of Sapry’s sanity, he would advise Sapry to withdraw his request for a bifurcated trial. However, if the judge denies that request, Sisti said the judge has no choice but to allow a bifurcated trial.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Danielle Sakowski argued that the defense’s motions should be denied, in part because they have been made so close to the scheduled start of the trial. The prosecution has said that the defense should have made these requests two months ago.

“We have been strategically preparing for a unified trial,” she told the judge.

Sakowski said if the judge now allows a bifurcated trial, those prosecution witnesses who are expected to give testimony both regarding Sapry’s actions and his mental state would need to be “re-prepped” because they would be called to testify twice instead of once.

But Sisti said it was not unreasonable to expect attorneys for both sides to be able to adjust their trial strategies due to charging circumstances.

“It’s concerning that they are being filed at the last minute,” Leonard said.

The defense also argued that the psychiatrist who is to be the prosecution’s expert witness on the matter of Sapry’s sanity should not be allowed to testify because the standards that has used in his diagnosis of Sapry’s condition do not conform to the standard for legal insanity in New Hampshire and that they deviate from standards contained in a predominant professional psychiatric manual that classifies mental disorders — the DSM.

“He is basing his opinion on his own standard which is not the law in the state of New Hampshire,” co-counsel Wade Harwood said of the opinions which Dr. Albert Drukteinis stated during a deposition.

Sapry’s attorneys have argued in court filings that Sapry was insane at the time of Guzman’s death due to the emotional trauma he suffered after seeing horrors as a child growing up in Iraq.

Both the defense’s and prosecution’s psychiatrists have concluded that Sapry suffers from prolonged serious mental illness, but disagree on whether that mental illness was the direct cause of the actions that resulted in Guzman’s death.

But Sakowski told the judge that the ultimate test of whether Sapry is guilty rests with the jury, not an expert witness. Further, she said, the defense has the ability to challenge Dr. Drukteinis’s methodology and opinions when it cross-examines him at trial.

Sapry, 24, dressed in an orange inmate garb and restrained by handcuffs, sat quietly at the defense table alongside his attorneys. During the hour-long hearing he looked ahead toward the judge and was not seen conversing with his attorneys.

Leonard said she planned to rule on the motions soon.

Jury selection in the case is scheduled to begin on Aug. 8.