New trial in S.I. killings
Lack of mental-health exam spurs appeallate ruling
A Staten Island man convicted of murdering both his parents a decade ago was granted a new trial Thursday after a panel of appellate judges found he was mentally unfit to face the first one.
Eric Bellucci, 40, a diagnosed schizophrenic, was sentenced to life without parole in August 2016 for fatally stabbing his 61-year-old father, Arthur, 33 times and his 56-year-old mother, Marian, nine times in their upscale Annadale home between the evening of Oct. 12 and the afternoon of Oct. 13 in 2010.
In a bombshell reversal Thursday, the state appellate court found the Staten Island judge who presided over Bellucci’s double-murder trial should’ve heeded attorneys’ warning about the accused killer’s mental state, court filings show.
“We note that, while it is for the court to decide whether to order a competency examination, when both the defense and the People agree that a competency examination is warranted, the court should hesitate before disagreeing,” the appellate court decision said.
Bellucci fled to Israel after the grisly killings but authorities caught him trying to buy a plane ticket to China. He was then brought back to the U.S. to face trial.
Over the next five years, medical experts deemed Bellucci incompetent to go to trial four times. Doctors said he had to continue taking his schizophrenia meds to be deemed fit — but Bellucci refused the pills while being held at Rikers Island.
Despite pleas from both the prosecution and the defense, Judge J. William Garrett didn’t think Bellucci needed a new psychiatric evaluation.
But Garrett also argued that Bellucci was mentally incapable of contributing to his own defense strategy.
The judge said that it “doesn’t make any sense that the law allows a defendant who is fit to proceed but who suffers from a mental illness to make the crucial strategic choice of pursuing an insanity defense.”
Defense lawyer Mario Gallucci was forced to present an insanity defense against Bellucci’s wishes and without his cooperation, according to court papers.
The panel said in their ruling TThursday that a competent deffendant should always have “the uultimate authority” to reject the uuse of a psychiatric defense.
Bellucci was ultimately found gguilty of two counts of first-deggree murder.
Staten Island DA Mike McMMahon said his office looks fforward to prosecuting Bellucci aagain. The DA’s office has 90 days to bring forth a new case or Bellucci must be released from prison.
“My office is committed to obtaining justice for the victims of this horrendous crime. At this time, we are reviewing all legal options, which include seeking Court of Appeals review and retrying a competent Eric Bellucci, if necessary,” McMahon said.
As quarterback at Stuyvesant High School, Bellucci was named an All-State Scholar by the New York State High School Football Coaches Association. He won a scholarship to elite Williams College in Massachusetts. He attended Brooklyn Law School, but dropped out in 2004.
During the trial, his lawyer noted that for a year before Bellucci killed his parents, they tried to get him committed to a psychiatric facility under Kendra’s Law.
Named after Kendra Webdale who was pushed to her death in front of a subway by a schizophrenic man in 1999, the law allows a judge to force defendants who meet specific criteria to undergo psychiatric treatment.