Sleep-walking Defense Wins Acquittal
Javanaut
Daily Hampshire Gazette, Northampton, MA
-By BARNEY BEAL, Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 25, 2002 -- NORTHAMPTON- A trial defense of
sleepwalking was successful Monday, when a jury cleared a man facing 18
charges ranging from breaking and entering to assault with intent to rape.
According to defense attorney Raipher Pellegrino of Springfield, this trial
marked the first time in more than 150 years in Massachusetts that such a
defense was mounted.
His strategy paid off when 12 jurors acquitted Adam Kieczykowski, 19, of
charges stemming from incidents in the Coolidge Dormitory at the University
of Massachusetts. Jurors deliberated for a little more than an hour in
Hampshire Superior Court before returning the verdicts.
Kieczykowski had testified that he had a family history of sleepwalking and
had no memory of walking the halls of the dormitory on the date of the
incidents, in May 2001.
"How do you make up a story like that?" Pellegrino asked in his closing
arguments. "What's striking about the truth is it's so bizarre."
Prosecutors alleged that he assaulted women at UMass early in the morning
of May 13 last year. During the trial, 11 women testified that he had
entered their rooms, with one woman saying he tried to cut off her blouse,
and another saying he sexually assaulted her.
During Kieczykowski's 90 minutes of testimony, he had repeatedly said he
remembered nothing of the events that night. "I didn't do any of it," he
said after the verdicts were read.
Not since 1846 has sleepwalking been used as a defense, Pellegrino said.
Monday's verdict could affect cases around the country, Pellegrino said.
"Somnambulism is now recognized as a defense in Massachusetts," Pellegrino
said. "It's going to open the floodgates across the country. When you hear
the sum of it, it's real. The history was there. It wasn't made up."
During the five-day trial, Pellegrino called an expert witness, Dr. Mark
Pressman, to testify that Kieczykowski was not fully conscious during the
incidents.
Kieczykowski, of Westfield, N.J., was acquitted of six charges of breaking
and entering in the daytime to commit a felony, one charge of breaking and
entering in the nighttime to commit a felony, one charge of assault, four
charges of burglary, one charge of assault and battery, three charges of
larceny under $250, and one charge each of indecent assault and battery and
assault to rape.
According to prosecutors, Kieczykowski and a classmate at the Massachusetts
Maritime Academy in Bourne drove to UMass to attend some weekend parties.
They went out drinking and stayed in a dorm room on campus.
On the morning of May 13 Kieczykowski walked into the unlocked rooms of 10
women, prosecutors said. One woman awoke to find him trying to unbutton her
pants and another awoke to him patting her genital area, prosecutors said.
Kieczykowski was also accused of stealing a bottle of vitamins, a pair of
scissors and a bra and bathing suit bottom from three rooms.
The jury apparently agreed with the sleepwalking defense, as well as
questions raising doubt about witness identification of Kieczykowski.
"For some of the charges (it was the sleepwalking) for some it was just
identification," James Ulm, a juror from Easthampton said. "People were
pretty much in agreement going in (to deliberations)."
While the clerk read off the lengthy list of charges, Kieczykowski's
parents held hands, fighting back tears. Once he was acquitted,
Kieczykowski turned to his attorney with a smile.
He said he plans to return to his studies at the Massachusetts Maritime
Academy.
During the trial, Pellegrino pointed to a history of sleepwalking with
Kieczykowski and his family. On one occasion, Kieczykowski returned from a
trip to England in high school and fell asleep on the plane. He went
through customs, took a bus to school, got a ride home and talked with his
parents, having no memory of the events. He regained full consciousness at
home and woke up crying.
On another occasion, Kieczykowski returned home from college for the
Columbus Day weekend and in the middle of the night walked into his
parent's room, called police and told them there were intruders in the
house. Kieczykowski's sister, mother and grandfather all had sleepwalking
episodes as well, Pellegrino noted. Stress and sleep deprivation were
triggers to Kieczykowski's episodes Pressman said.
"That's a lot of foresight if you're going to create that excuse,"
Pellegrino said.
Citing his expert witness, Dr. Preeman Pellegrino said Kieczykowski's
somnambulism, or sleepwalking, "is a state between full sleep and being
fully awake."
Pellegrino also questioned the identification made by witnesses, some of
whom had been drinking, others who had just awakened, and some of whom
could only give a partial description of the man in their rooms. There was
no proof that Kieczykowski formed the intent to assault or steal from these
women, which is required for a conviction, Pellegrino said.
In closing arguments, Assistant Northwestern Attorney Alexander Nappan
suggested Kieczykowski was conscious during the events. On several
occasions, Kieczykowski ran away after making eye contact with the women
and he knew he had been caught, Nappan said.
"That is a level of consciousness that is inconsistent with sleepwalking,"
Nappan said.
Additionally, Nappan noted that there was a gap in the break-ins between 6
a.m. and 8 a.m. when the police had been called and were interviewing
people on the upper floors of the dorm, indicating that Kieczykowski was
aware of the investigation.
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Proud to be an Infidel
Jane Cactus
"Javanaut" <darkmelia...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:20020626001307.135$4...@newsreader.com...
I can see why the jury acquitted. His own history of sleepwalking made it
fairly believable, and the family history alluded to. I know there were a
couple of murder cases in other states where this def was used, and in one
the guy was convicted (drowned wife in pool), but did it work in an earlier
one?
Sleepwalking folks are way creepy, even if they're a family member. Maybe
especially if they're a family member.
JC