HARROUFF LAWYERS, STATE SPAR OVER ‘DR. PHIL’ TAPES
STUART — A Martin County judge will decide whether additional recordings of a hospital-bed interview with Austin Harrouff and TV’s Dr. Phil McGraw will be released to the public after hearing arguments from a production company, the prosecution and Harrouff ’s defense.
All three sides will be heard this afternoon in front of Judge Lawrence Mirman.
Harrouff, 20, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in the Aug. 15, 2016, fatal attacks on John Stevens III and his wife, Michelle Mishcon, at their home on Southeast Kokomo Lane near the Palm Beach County border. The story made international headlines after law-enforcement officers said they found Harrouff on top of Stevens biting his face. He later told authorities that he “did something bad” and “ate humans.”
In the weeks after the attack, Harrouff spent his days confined to a bed at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach as he recovered from ingesting something toxic at the crime scene. Just before his arrest on Oct. 3, 2016, he did an interview with Dr. Phil.
This month, attorneys representing the production company of the “Dr. Phil” show, Peteski Productions, said they were subpoenaed by the state to release any additional recordings of Harrouff.
In the motion, the attorneys argued that any additional recordings should be protected under the shield law — also known as journalist privilege. If they must release it, they ask it be protected by copyright.
On Wednesday, Assistant State Attorney Jeffrey Hendriks filed the response to the production company’s motion, saying the additional recordings are necessary to the prosecution.
Harrouff ’s attorney, Nellie King, filed a response asking the court either to quash the subpoena for additional recordings or allow a protective order so the recordings are not released to the public. She said Harrouff was at St. Mary’s and recovering from “acute trauma” as well as dealing with medical and psychological issues when the recordings were made.
In the interview that was released, Harrouff said he didn’t remember everything that happened, and that he didn’t want it to have happened. He also offered an apology to the families for his actions and said he believes he has superpowers.
“I didn’t know if it was reality or a dream. It’s like waking up from a nightmare,” Harrouff, who grew up in Jupiter and attended Suncoast High School and Florida State University, told Dr. Phil.