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Thursday, February 20, 2003

By Ernie Hoffman, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Attorneys for a Hempfield teenager accused of beating his brother to death with a claw hammer said yesterday they may present a mental infirmity defense when Ian A. Bishop is brought to trial on a first-degree murder charge.

Defense attorneys Thomas R. Ceraso and John D. Ceraso also said they plan to present evidence that at the time of the killing, the 14-year-old Bishop was not able to form the specific intent to kill that is required for a first-degree murder conviction.

State police said Ian Bishop bludgeoned his 18-year-old brother Adam to death in their family home near the village of Bovard on April 19. An autopsy showed he was struck on the head at least 18 times.

The Cerasos said they may show a jury evidence that Ian Bishop suffers from "emergent antisocial, negativistic personality traits with self-defeating, borderline and depressive features" that caused him to repeatedly strike his brother with the hammer.

Westmoreland County District Attorney John W. Peck said the notice of a possible insanity defense was not unexpected.

"We don't think he was in any kind of an impaired state" when he killed his brother, Peck said.

The defense attorneys said they may call Judith Rein, a psychologist, to testify during the trial, which has not been scheduled yet.

Rein testified during a pre-trial hearing last summer and said Bishop, now 15, suffers from dysthymic disorder, a chronic low-grade depression, and he needs professional treatment.

Others at that hearing testified that Bishop was a racist bully with neo-Nazi views.

Peck cannot seek the death penalty for Bishop because of his age, but a first-degree conviction carries a mandatory life-without-parole sentence.

The defense move appears to be an attempt to prevent any more than a third-degree murder conviction, which carries a maximum 20- to 40-year sentence.

Also awaiting trial in the case is 15-year-old Robert M. Laskowski, another Hempfield resident charged with first-degree murder.

Police said Laskowski stood by and did nothing to help the victim while Bishop fatally beat his brother, and then helped Bishop place the older boy's body face down in a bathtub where the water was turned on.