Expert says Cunningham schizophrenic

The defense for Matthew Cunningham kicked into high gear on Monday with testimony from Dr. Pablo Stewart, who called the 30-year-old defendant schizophrenic.

Stewart said Cunningham suffers from hallucinations as well as delusions. He stressed that it was not just his opinion.

“Every mental health professional who saw him noted he was psychotic,” said Stewart, who also told the jury that Cunningham has been taking medication for schizophrenia for years while awaiting trial in jail.

Cunningham is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault and one count of burglary in connection with a knife-wielding spree through the Andante apartment complex in October 2004.

Cunningham had pleaded guilty, but insane. He could receive the death penalty if the jury finds him guilty, but sane at the time.

The task of the defense is now to convince the jury that Cunningham wasn’t in control of his actions when his roommate, Robert Barker, and a neighbor, Katharine Spain, were killed.

While it is clear that Cunningham has mental health issues right now, past testimony was unclear about his mental health status at the time of the murders.

On Monday Stewart cut right to the issue.

“The voices were telling him to kill at the time of the murder,” he told the jury.

After several interviews with Cunningham, along with interviews with his friends and family, Stewart suggested that Cunningham’s schizophrenia probably began as a teenager, around age 14, when he first started to hear voices.

The issue is critical because while mental health experts, including those for the prosecution, agree that Cunningham hears voices, the jury must decide if he was in control of himself that October night when he allegedly killed two and injured a third person at his apartment complex after being fired as a server at the nearby Va Bene Italian restaurant.

Deputy County Attorney Mark Barry has stressed that Cunningham made conscious decisions that night based upon his frustration at being fired, having no money and being fed up with his life and lashed out at others.

In December the jury heard testimony from witnesses who said that Cunningham’s alcohol and drug use started at an early age. But testimony by Cunningham’s mother, co-workers and relatives didn’t clearly show that he suffered from any mental health problems, which is what his defense team was hoping for.

Instead, witnesses described Cunningham as a party guy who rebelled against the authority of his father, who spent a lot of time drinking and doing drugs and who had impractical goals, like being a movie producer without having any background in cinema.

Stewart said Monday that drug abuse is often connected to schizophrenia because it is one way to self medicate and relieve the symptoms.

Stewart is expected to stay on the stand through Tuesday.

In a separate issue, Judge Sally Duncan ruled Dec. 28 that Cunningham was competent and that his murder trial can continue.

Duncan’s ruling only affected whether or not he was competent to stand trial and did not affect the question of if Cunningham was insane at the time of the murders which his jury must decide.

The question of his competency to stand trial was raised last month by one of Cunningham’s defense attorneys. But two clinical observations by mental health experts, conducted during the holiday trial recess, showed that Cunningham understands the charges against him and that he can assist in his defense, although experts agree that he suffers from a non-specific type of schizophrenia.

The trial is expected to last through January.

Doug Murphy can be reached at (480) 898-7914 or dmurphy@aztrib.com.