Jun 11, 2007 11:02 am US/Central
S.C. Court Rejects Killer's Zoloft Defense (CBS News) COLUMBIA, S.C.
The South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction Monday of a teenager who claimed antidepressants led him to kill his grandparents and set their house on fire when he was just 12 years old.
The court ruled against several arguments made by Christopher Pittman's attorneys, including the contention that he was denied a speedy trial before he was sentenced to 30 years in prison in February 2005.
Three years earlier, he had shot his grandparents, Joe and Joy Pittman, with a pump-action shotgun as they slept, then set fire to their home in Chester County.
The case generated outrage that Pittman was held for three years before his trial. He was 15 at the time of his sentencing.
His attorneys argued unsuccessfully at trial that he was involuntarily intoxicated by the antidepressant Zoloft and did not know right from wrong.
Pfizer Inc., the manufacturer of Zoloft, has said the drug "didn't cause his problems, nor did the medication drive him to commit murder."
Zoloft is the most widely prescribed antidepressant in the United States, with 32.7 million prescriptions written in 2003. In 2004, the Food and Drug Administration ordered Zoloft and other antidepressants to carry "black box" warnings the government's strongest warning short of a ban about an increased risk of suicidal behavior in children.
Some evidence and testimony about the proven and reputed harmful effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), including Paxil and Zoloft, was allowed at trial, including anecdotal evidence of actions taken by people taking such drugs (such as one man slamming his vehicle into his ex-wife's car and house), the trial court disallowed other anecdotal because it was concerned about the reliability of such evidence compared to that of clinical studies done in a controlled environment.
In October, dozens of supporters and relatives gathered in Columbia as defense attorney Andy Vickery argued before the state Supreme Court that his client's confession was influenced by Zoloft and his youth.
Today the high court ruled that the trial court did not err in excluding the anecdotal evidence on Zoloft, as there was "an abundance of other admissible evidence found to be reliable."
The defense also made a motion regarding juror misconduct. One juror was found to have discussed the case with both his wife and a bartender once deliberations had started, and shared such information with other jurors. The court said the appellate court was correct in denying a motion for a new trial based on the claim that the conversations may have prejudiced the jury's decision.
Pittman, who turned 18 in April, is in an adult prison, where supporters visit him regularly.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. )
Christopher Pittman's murder conviction was upheld on June 11, 2007.
CBS
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