Zoloft Defense Trial
South Carolina vs Pittman

Charlotte Observer
Pittman's bid for a new trial denied

May 14, 2005
Nichole Monroe Bell

Christopher Pittman's best chance at an early release from prison was dashed Friday when a circuit court judge denied his motion for a new trial based on allegations of juror misconduct.

Pittman, 16, was convicted in February of two counts of murder in the November 2001 deaths of his grandparents, Joe and Joy Pittman of Chester County, S.C. Pittman, who was tried as an adult, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, the minimum.

Pittman, who was 12 at the time of the killings, had said the antidepressant Zoloft made him delusional and led him to kill. Prosecutors said the boy was defiant against authority and killed the Pittmans because they punished him for getting into a fight on the school bus.

"Needless to say, I'm very disappointed," defense lawyer Andy Vickery said Friday. "(The judge) took a lot of time to think about it, and I'm appreciative of that, but I'm still disappointed with the ultimate decision."

The ruling means Pittman's case will now go to the S.C. Court of Appeals. If the conviction is upheld there, Vickery said he will take the case to the S.C. Supreme Court and even to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary. Defense lawyers argue the sentence is excessive, especially for his age, and violates Pittman's constitutional rights.

Such criminal appeals usually take years.

After the trial, lawyers discovered that juror Steven Platt talked about the case to a Charleston bartender during jury deliberations. Platt also discussed the case with his wife. During the trial, Judge Daniel Pieper told jurors not to discuss the case with anyone, to ensure a fair trial.

In a closed-door hearing in March, Platt told the judge his conversations didn't affect his feelings about the case. The other jurors told the judge they didn't know about Platt's conversation with the bartender. Two jurors knew about the conversation with his wife, but they told the judge it didn't affect their decision.

Defense lawyers argued that if the discussions had been discovered earlier, the judge would have dismissed Platt and seated a juror who has since said she would have voted against convicting Pittman.

In his ruling, Pieper said simply violating the judge's instructions wasn't enough to warrant a new trial. The defense needed to prove Platt's violation affected the verdict.

While investigating the Platt misconduct issue, lawyers also got rare insight into the jury's decision-making process, which is normally secret.

One juror said she felt Pittman was not guilty, but she voted guilty because she was coerced by the other jurors. A second juror said she also thought Pittman was not guilty, but she voted along with the others because she thought she had to.

By law, all jurors must agree on a verdict. If even one juror refuses to agree with the group, a judge can declare a mistrial, and the defendant is entitled to a new trial.

In his ruling, Pieper said their comments were not grounds for a new trial because after the verdict was handed down, he asked each juror individually if they agreed with the guilty verdict. At the time, all said they did. He asked the jurors again in the March hearing, and they said again it was their verdict.

"This case may present a situation in which a juror has simply changed his or her mind," Pieper wrote in his 13-page ruling.

Pittman family friend Lisa Van Syckel said Pittman has been trying to cope with life in prison. She said he told her in a recent letter that he is working on his high school diploma and plans to take an equivalency in October.

He told her he has been flooded with letters and has written about 120 letters in reply. He told her he keeps his mind occupied by reading, writing and praying.

Prosecutor Barney Giese said he was pleased with the judge's ruling. "I always believed Pittman had committed a premeditated and malicious killing of both his grandparents and was sure the defendant had received a fair trial," he said.

Nichole Monroe Bell: (803) 327-8511; nbell@charlotteobserver.com.