Courtroom Crack-Up

Celluloid courtroom dramas often come to an end with the guilty person breaking down in the witness box and giving himself away while the judge looks on. It rarely happens that way in real life. But the pressures of the courtroom are great, and last week in Manhattan Harold Weinberg found them overwhelming.

In 1954, Weinberg confessed to murdering Greenwich Village Poet-Novelist Maxwell Bodenheim and Bodenheim's wife. A former mental patient, he appeared in court for arraignment on the charges and began singing The Star-Spangled Banner. "Are you a Communist?" he asked the magistrate. Minutes later he interrupted his court-appointed lawyer and began pounding his desk. "I need some big-shot attorney who believes in the American flag. I don't want any lawyer. I'm for the public. The public is for me. I'm normal." His outburst made his condition clear. He was declared unfit to stand trial; after being diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, he was committed to Matteawan State Hospital.

There he remained for 13 years (except for a few hours in 1961 when he escaped). Last April, Matteawan doctors decided that he was now capable of standing trial. He was sent to Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital where other psychiatrists agreed. The only hitch was that in the years since 1954, confessions obtained without informing the accused of his right to silence and a lawyer were declared inadmissible by the U.S. Supreme Court. Weinberg's confession did not meet the requirements, and the prosecution had little other evidence against him. Whether they knew it or not, the psychiatrists were freeing him. All Weinberg had to do was hang on to his mental balance until a pro forma hearing made his release official.

But last week, as he walked under guard into the hearing, he broke down. "Kill me, kill me," he shouted incoherently. "Nobody say anything in this court. I do all the talking." Pointing at his lawyer, he said, "He killed Maxwell Bodenheim. I saw him. Send him to Matteawan for the rest of his life." Justice George Carney finally said, "Take him out." As the door closed behind him, Weinberg screamed, "Don't send me back to Matteawan, please, your honor." Said Justice Carney: "I hope he will be given a more careful examination this time."

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