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Insanity plea unlikely for woman accused of slashing doctor

Posted November 13, 2007 10:00 pm

Chris Dettro

A psychiatrist who examined the woman accused of slashing the throat of a Springfield cardiologist last year concluded her condition doesn't meet the standard for a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, lawyers said Tuesday at a court hearing.

Tamara Goodwin, 49, of Ursa is charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery for allegedly attacking Dr. Robert Trask outside the fourth-floor cardiac intensive care unit at St. John's Hospital on the morning of Dec. 23.

Authorities say Goodwin was involved in a relationship with a man in his 80s who died in October 2006 while under Trask's care. Goodwin lived in the man's house in Ursa, a town of about 600 people 95 miles west of Springfield in Adams County.

She was arrested about 3:30 p.m. Dec. 23 at her home, after being found in a truck that was idling inside a closed garage. She told officers she had taken some prescription medication.

First assistant state's attorney Steve Weinhoeft argued Tuesday to bar from Goodwin's trial any expert testimony pertaining to a diminished psychiatric condition.

He said that Dr. Philip Pan, a forensic psychiatrist, had examined Goodwin and found she didn't meet the standard to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

Weinhoeft said Pan's report concluded that Goodwin's behavior can be explained by voluntary intoxication "in concert with sleep deprivation, depression, bereavement and the over use of stimulant medication."

Springfield attorney William Conroy asked Circuit Judge Patrick Kelley to allow such testimony at Goodwin's upcoming December trial, arguing that a doctor prescribed Goodwin's medication.

Kelley said there was no evidence that Goodwin was taking the medication pursuant to doctor's orders, however.

"He (Pan) classifies it himself as voluntary intoxication," Weinhoeft said.

Kelley gave Conroy seven days to produce evidence that Goodwin's intoxication was involuntary. If that occurs, the judge said, he might allow Dr. Pan to testify "in a very narrow way" about her condition.

Trask quickly was taken to the emergency room after the attack, where it required 50 to 80 stitches to close the five-inch gash. He was sent home from the hospital the same evening.

Chris Dettro can be reached at (217) 788-1510 or chris.dettro@sj-r.com.

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