Final arguments in the case against Esteban Carpio, who has mounted an insanity defense in the killing of Detective Sgt. James Allen, could come Monday.

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, June 22, 2006

BY EDWARD FITZPATRICK
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Was he psychotic or evasive? Dealing with a major mental illness or a complicated love life? Hearing voices or simply repeating lyrics from a rap song?

Lawyers debated those questions yesterday as the defense finished making its case that Esteban Carpio was insane and cannot be held legally responsible for killing Detective Sgt. James L. Allen at police headquarters on April 16, 2005.

The day's testimony in Superior Court began with Assistant Attorney General Paul F. Daly Jr. grilling a defense expert about Carpio's hospital records.

The defense has emphasized that two weeks before the shooting, Carpio was taken to Boston's Faulkner Hospital because of his mental state. But Daly zeroed in on records from that hospital trip, saying they indicated Carpio had a history of ecstasy use and had used the drug recently.

Lead defense lawyer Robert L. Sheketoff disputed that, saying Daly was misreading the Faulkner record and that Carpio's ecstasy use was not recent.

Daly said the Boston emergency medical service personnel who took Carpio to the hospital suspected he had been using drugs, and he said that at the hospital Carpio tested positive for THC, the main active ingredient in marijuana.

Neuropsychologist Paul A. Spiers, a defense witness, had said Carpio was diagnosed at Faulkner with psychosis and marijuana abuse. But Daly pointed to a Faulkner record that said given "the sudden onset of symptoms" and the positive THC test, "it appears as though symptoms related to substance abuse."

Spiers said it's common for people with psychotic symptoms to try to medicate themselves with "street drugs" such as marijuana.

Daly said Carpio told Faulkner medical staff that it was an old girlfriend who'd put a curse on him and was driving him crazy. The prosecutor asked Spiers if he'd interviewed Faulkner's medical staff, and he said he hadn't.

Sheketoff read a Faulkner record indicating Carpio was seeing shadows, believed he was cursed and thought he'd die if he went to sleep. He asked Spiers, "Are those the symptoms of a normal, psychologically well-adjusted person?".

"No they are not," Spiers replied.

Two days after being taken to Faulkner, Carpio went to Rhode Island Hospital with his girlfriend, Samein "Soul" Phin, who has testified that Carpio talked to his penis at the hospital.

Yesterday, Daly referred to Rhode Island Hospital records, asking Spiers: "Anywhere in the record does it say he was talking to his ear, his thumb, the doorknob, or some other extremity?" Spiers said there was no such reference.

Sheketoff focused on a Rhode Island Hospital record that indicated Carpio was talking to himself and hearing voices. The record said Phin explained that Carpio was displaying "increased aggressive behavior." And Spiers said Carpio was put in restraints so he wouldn't harm himself at the hospital.

From Rhode Island Hospital, Carpio went to the Providence Center, which helps people with psychiatric illnesses, emotional problems and addictions.

Daly cited a Providence Center record that said Carpio was "overwhelmed with adult responsibility, including the possibility of having second child."

The record said Carpio, then 26, was already the father of a 3-year-old daughter, but that "one to two months ago a woman he dated briefly when he and girlfriend were estranged became pregnant and is claiming it is his child. He is uncertain of this and will have genetic testing and will support the child if it is his. He states girlfriend is not happy about this but they are still together."

"So," Daly said in questioning Spiers, "at the Providence Center he talks about too many girlfriends and too many children. Those are not psychosis, are they?"

"No," Spiers replied. "They are stressors."

Daly said the Providence Center diagnosed Carpio as having "adjustment disorder."

Spiers had said Carpio probably was not showing symptoms of psychosis at the Providence Center because he'd been given the antipsychotic drug Haldol at Rhode Island Hospital. Daly said Providence Center records do refer to the Haldol dose, but Spiers said he still doesn't think the clinician took it into account.

The Providence Center record quoted Carpio as saying that a friend had told him "all women are not worth nothing." That represents a polite version of a vulgar statement Carpio made repeatedly when questioned by the police hours after shooting Allen. At one point, he said the vulgar statement was something his "boy" had told him and "it just made me crazy."

Daly said Carpio's vulgar statement is the title of a rap song by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, and he said Carpio told Providence Center staff he wanted to be "a rap star."

Daly questioned Spiers extensively about Detective John Finegan's interview with Carpio about three hours after the shooting, at Rhode Island Hospital. Daly said Carpio offered at least a half-dozen explanations of what had happened in the police conference room.

At one point, Carpio told Finegan he was minding his business when Allen "started fussing." Carpio said he then heard shots, tried to get away and jumped out the window. Daly noted that was not what happened and asked Spiers, "What is psychotic about that?"

Spiers said, "Nothing per se."

But, Daly said, "It would certainly qualify as evasive, wouldn't it?"

Spiers said Carpio had been sedated because of injuries he received that night and seemed confused during the first interview. Also, he said psychosis "waxes and wanes, even in the course of one day." Sheketoff noted Daly did not ask Spiers about a later interview in which Carpio was more alert.

The defense rested after calling Detective Charles P. Boranian to the witness stand. Boranian was one of two detectives that found Carpio at his girlfriend's house, and he was in the police conference room shortly before Carpio shot Allen.

Boranian said Allen began asking Carpio some basic questions, such as his name and date of birth. He said Carpio gave a false name, Borsalino Carr, and said he'd never been arrested before.

Boranian said Allen then "looked up and said, 'You have been arrested before, we know who you are and you are in some serious trouble,' "

He said Carpio fidgeted in his chair and said, "I didn't do anything wrong. What are you talking about?"

At that point, another detective asked Boranian to leave the room to answer phones, and soon afterward Boranian heard yelling and a door slam. He said he ran to the conference room, where another detective was trying to kick in the door, and he heard three gunshots.

The prosecution is expected to call rebuttal witnesses today, and final arguments are expected on Monday.

efitzpat@projo.com / (401) 277-7368

EXTRA: Hear audio clips of police interviews with Esteban Carpio, see a gallery of trial photos, and recap trial coverage, at:

http://www.projo.com/extra/2006/carpio/