An uncle, Ramon Reyes, said Rojas offered a self-diagnosis: 'You know that I'm crazy. And they're not giving me the help that I need.'
NEW YORK CITY -- After Richard Rojas was kicked out of the Navy, he began sharing disturbing thoughts that were coursing through his head - that cars were following him, that aircraft were dusting him with chemicals, that his meals were poisoned.
At the outset, state Judge Daniel Conviser floated the possibility of a paradoxical outcome in the Rojas case: Jurors could find Rojas guilty, while at the same time deciding that he"lacked responsibility by reason of mental disease or defect." The judge said the finding would qualify him for an open ended"involuntary mental commitment" instead of a lengthy prison term.
A prosecution case that ended late last month focused largely on harrowing accounts of victims who survived the carnage in Times Square. With the trial winding down, the defense has been trying to counter in recent days by drilling down on Rojas' troubled past to try to convince the jury he was too sick to know what he was doing.
"At a certain point, the psychosis becomes so severe that he can't control his behavior anymore," he said.
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