Bierenbaum was on the staff of Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn. All three subsequently contacted Katz and warned her that her life could be in danger, the newspaper reported. Of California, 17 Cal.3d 425, 131 Cal.Rptr. The December parole hearing at which he admitted his guilt was unsuccessful. His claim of innocence-and the presumption which accompanies it-have been utterly overwhelmed and destroyed by the People's proof. Furthermore, he did not turn over the victim's telephone/ address book until more than two weeks after her disappearance; 7. Whether earlier acts of alleged violence or threats are admissible depends on the circumstances surrounding both the past and the currently charged aggressive acts or threats. Jake Massey. Applying these principles to the evidence in this purely circumstantial murder case, our review convinces us that, notwithstanding the facial attractiveness of some of the factual arguments defendant's appellate counsel presents, this guilty verdict, based on the proof this jury heard and saw, is the only fair and reasonable outcome (see People v. Sanchez, 61 N.Y.2d 1022, 1024, 475 N.Y.S.2d 376, 463 N.E.2d 1228). The fact that this was (1983) nothing was done about it., Confession: Gail Katz is pictured in a family photo. We disagree. We further determine that the instant body of consciousness of guilt evidence-because of its quality and quantity-exhibits a guilty mind, a finding which, in this context and under these circumstances, is surely not weak, or, for that matter, even moderate. But, as the law requires us to look at the body of proof as a whole, we are convinced it paints a clear picture of a defendant's guilt, and that the jury's verdict is both supported by legally sufficient evidence and entirely consistent with its weight. Defendant displayed no reaction, [h]e didn't say anything.. To yet another, he described his missing wife as a tramp, off living with someone else. Her remains have never been found, although a body washed ashore in Staten Island that investigators initially believed to be Katz Bierenbaum. 3139, 111 L.Ed.2d 638; Dutton v. Evans, 400 U.S. 74, 89, 91 S.Ct. In part, he frames his argument by citing reported domestic violence cases wherein the jury was allowed to learn that the victimized spouses endured more than one attack by the accused pre-dating the violent act charged in the indictment. If it appears that the trier of fact has failed to give the evidence the weight it should be accorded, then the appellate court may set aside the verdict (CPL 470. Her stated intentions, should defendant refuse to accede to those demands, were plain. There is little or nothing by way of circumstantial evidence that is more relevant or more probative in a circumstantial murder case-especially one involving domestic violence-than the type of evidence at issue on this appeal. The Court of Appeals has made that clear. Robert Bierenbaum - Wikipedia This entire case leaves no doubt whatever that the contents of the videotape depict a scenario that was anything but speculation. People v. Benzinger, 36 N.Y.2d 29, 33-34, 364 N.Y.S.2d 855, 324 N.E.2d 334. Furthermore, defense counsel's earlier language on October 11, 2000 purporting to object was premature and, in any event, legally inadequate to constitute an objection (id.). (Photo courtesy of Alayne Katz). Starcasm Staff October 22, 2021 20/20, True Crime. The episode premieres Friday, October 22, 2021, at 9 p.m. Eastern time. We therefore reject as unpreserved defendant's present position regarding the video's admissibility, not because we revere form over substance, but, rather, out of our recognition of the indisputable need during a trial for clear language announcing candid and specific positions, after which judges may issue fitting rulings. The record is replete with evidence depicting events and statements which motivated the victim to end her marriage. He was convicted in October 2000 of having murdered his estranged wife, Gail Katz-Bierenbaum 15 years earlier in their Manhattan apartment on July 7, 1985. However, he again omitted to mention that he had rented and flown an airplane for almost two hours that same afternoon, a consistent omission whenever he told others about the events of July 7. As discussed at greater length elsewhere in this opinion, notwithstanding defendant's contentions to the contrary, this evidence is clearly relevant not only to motive, but to intent and identity. Regarding the videotape, defendant stated he had no objection to its introduction when, on October 16, 2000, it was offered into evidence at trial. A trial court must not merely count the number of past incidents, but it must engage in a qualitative assessment of the words and deeds which create the history of the relationship between defendant and alleged victim. Second, defendant complains that the trial court erroneously allowed the jury to learn a) of the existence and nature of a letter written to his wife by his psychiatrist warning her of the danger defendant posed to her; and b) of several of her verbal statements to various people describing defendant's threatening remarks and otherwise negative behavior. Her body has never READ NEXT: Robert Bierenbaum Today: Where Is the Surgeon Now in 2021? The evidence is also strong that she was determined to confront defendant with her divorce demands. She wanted to cool off and he waited a couple of hours and then he went looking for her and he found the towel and the suntan lotion but she was gone. Also, shortly after she vanished, he told his Southampton summer landlord that after his wife left he went through her drawers and found cocaine, prompting him to believe she went off with drug dealers. [S]peaking in very hushed tones and very rapidly and sound[ing] extremely upset, she said that either the day before or the night before she had a fight with her husband and that during the course of that fight he had choked her into unconsciousness According to Wiese, she added that this was not the first time that they had fought nor the first time he had choked her, but it was the first time she was rendered unconscious and that she was extremely upset. She apparently spoke quickly because she expected defendant to return shortly, and she needed to know what she should do. Something that might be very innocent might develop into a lead where she might be. Compounding the significance of that devastating omission-an omission which concealed the very means and opportunity to dispose permanently of his victim's body-is the documentary evidence found in his home several months after July 1985 showing clearly that his written flight log entry for July 7 was changed from July 7 to August 7. In fact, several witnesses, including Dr. Baran, described victim's state of mind during the period before July 7 as being happy, jovial and the like. He told several people that, just before his wife left the apartment for the last time, they argued. A jury found Bierenbaum guilty of second-degree murder in 2000 and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. These facts establish beyond any question that this marriage existed in a volatile, highly emotional, turbulent and dysfunctional environment. 14, 551 P.2d 334), to the victim. denied 75 N.Y.2d 924, 555 N.Y.S.2d 43, 554 N.E.2d 80 as follows: [w]hen reviewing a case based exclusively upon circumstantial evidence, the facts must be viewed in the light most favorable to the People [citations omitted], and it must be assumed that the jury credited the People's witnesses and gave the People's evidence the full weight that might reasonably be accorded it [People v. Benzinger, supra; other citations omitted].. Indeed, defendant himself told his father in 1983 that their strife had reached the point of some physical contact, and there is credible testimony that in 1985 defendant was so filled with hostility that he was tempted toward violence against his wife. He again omitted on July 14 to tell Dalsass-and O'Malley as well the day before-that he was a licensed pilot, rented a plane in New Jersey, and flew it for two hours from 4:30 P.M. to 6:30 P.M. on July 7. Contemporaneously with these expressions of despair and bewilderment, he promptly had sexual relations on his first date with a nurse in the very room he and his victim had rented for the 1985 summer in the Hamptons, less than a month after she vanished. One can reasonably infer that he knew she would not suddenly return and appear at his bedside. Defendant offered that Gail had, years earlier, attempted suicide. On this appeal, we address the following four issues: First, defendant contends the trial evidence is legally insufficient and the verdict is against the weight of the evidence. WebDr Robert Bierenbaum is sentenced in New York City to twenty years to life in prison for murdering his wife, Gail Katz-Bierenbaum, who disappeared 15 years ago; Judge Leslie Crystal Bonvillian, Cox Media Group National Content Desk, Former NY surgeon admits killing wife, throwing body from airplane in 1985. No other inference finds any support in this record, and none could survive an impartial and objective assessment of the proof, particularly in light of defendant's admission that their argument was severe and had become explosive.. rendered November 29, 2000, affirmed. I opened the door and then took her body out of the airplane over the ocean, the transcript reads, according to ABC News. We reject the notion that in a case where an alleged homicide is the second alleged violent act against a spouse-instead of, for example, the third, fourth or ninth-the case may not be treated as a domestic violence homicide for purposes of evidentiary rulings. To the contrary, it was her professional opinion, based on three years of treating the deceased once or twice weekly, that she was not suicidal. He stated he had remained behind in their apartment until 5:30 P.M. before leaving for his sister's New Jersey home. Man Admits to Murdering His Wife More Than Finally, the victim chose to call an attorney, rather than a lay person, one with whom she did not have an especially close, personal and confidential relationship. Furthermore, there is virtually no conflicting testimony within the People's case to compare against the weight of the People's credible proof, proof which so firmly supports this conviction. of Cal., 17 Cal.3d 425, 131 Cal.Rptr. It was appropriately rejected by the jury. Like his wife, he was 29 years old when she vanished. Bierenbaum, now 66, convicted of the murder in 2000 under circumstantial evidence, had continually denied any involvement in her death, told parole that he killed his wife Gail He was inconsistent about his purported knowledge of his wife's post-July 7 whereabouts, alluding to different theories and purported sightings to different people. Notwithstanding defendant's characterization of that exchange as wordplay, contending now it should be deemed a substantial legal objection, the attorney's words do not constitute an effective protest under CPL 470.05(2), because the specific language would not, nor did it, prompt the court to make an actual ruling. This couple had a history of angry words and deeds, of threats, and of violence; they harbored a wide range of feelings ranging from ambivalence to profound hostility toward each other, and, beyond their generalized resentment, defendant had evident motives to kill the decedent. Second, if we were to reach the merits, we would find that the prosecutor's summation arguments on the subject, when viewed in the complete context of his closing statements, do not warrant reversal. He said he then disposed of her body, the Daily News reported. Katz-Bierenbaums family requested that the remains be reexamined in 1997 when DNA testing became available, according to The Charley Project. That was the overwhelming opinion of those closest to her, including her gynecologist, her therapist of three years, and her sister, three confidantes in the best position to know. Dalsass waited until 12:30 A.M. and left the first of approximately eight messages on defendant's home answering machine and at his work number during the ensuing week. They could find no proof, however, that he had harmed his wife. Kieran Crowley. By 1990, Bierenbaum had relocated to Las Vegas and opened a plastic surgery practice there, ABC News reported. examined; After Murder Verdict, Town Questions Doctor Shes not with me, and shes not with my parents, and at that moment I know that my sisters dead, Katz said. 1. Because defendant did not have a list with him, Dalsass said he would call defendant's home for it that evening. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. All rights reserved. He can hardly claim with any credibility that an interlude of that nature and length slipped his mind when he spoke to the police and others on the first day, or, indeed, at least four times during the first week, following his wife's unexplained disappearance. Dalsass on Monday, July 8 and again on Sunday, July 14, he never said-indeed on July 8 he denied-that he and his wife argued that morning, even though Dalsass did acknowledge that defendant, on July 14, said the victim was pissed the morning she left. In 1989, while Bierenbaum relocated from Manhattan to Las Vegas, Nevada, to set up a new medical practice, a partial female body washed ashore in Staten Island, New York, near the area where authorities believed Bierenbaum dumped his wifes remains, according to The Charley Project. That was not always the case. As a part of that contention, defendant also asserts that the trial justice erred in allowing Hillard Wiese, an attorney and the victim's cousin, to testify about the victim's purported excited utterances describing the choking event. We hold otherwise. On July 7, 1985, at 4:30 P.M., he rented a Cessna 172 plane at Caldwell Airport in Fairfield, New Jersey. (Lorenzo Ciniglio/Sygma via Getty Images), We knew it was going to be the toughest trial that wed ever had. This is exactly the same man that I knew 35 years ago, she told ABC News. One of the biggest challenges, the former prosecutor said, was to convince a jury that Bierenbaum could fly a plane and push Katzs body from the aircraft at the same time. 20 [2]). (Id.). Dalsass asked defendant for a list of the names and phone numbers of the victim's friends, relatives and others to facilitate the search efforts. We disagree. Tarasoff v. Regents of Univ. First, the court prohibited the People from showing the letter to the jury and, second, they were not permitted to adduce anything other than oral testimony describing only the type of letter the victim had received from defendant's psychiatrist. The court did, however, permit the prosecution to adduce testimony that the victim had received a letter from one of these psychiatrists warning her of the danger defendant posed to her, although the justice prohibited the People from introducing the letter itself. Indeed, his behavior utterly belies his claims of ignorance of his victim's whereabouts. Dr. Baran unequivocally denied she had ever made either of those statements to defendant or that she had even held these opinions. Perhaps defendant's most damning omission was his repeated, false claim to the police and to others that he remained in the apartment all afternoon on July 7 and then went directly to his nephew's birthday party in New Jersey. Inmate Name BIERENBAUM, ROBERT Sex MALE Date of Birth 07/22/1955 Race / Ethnicity WHITE Custody Status IN CUSTODY Housing / Releasing Facility ATTICA Date Received (Original) 12/22/2000 Date Received (Current) 12/22/2000 Admission Type NEW COMMITMENT County of Commitment NEW YORK Crimes of Conviction Crime: When Dalsass arrived, the crime scene unit was only allowed to search for fingerprints, the victim's diary and her address book. He thus claims that those cases do not apply to permit such evidence under these facts because this case involves evidence of only one prior assault. Bierenbaum described himself as immature at the time of the murder, for which he is serving 20 years to life. 662, 4 L.Ed.2d 620; People v. Norton, 164 A.D.2d 343, 353, 563 N.Y.S.2d 802, affd. 4. Courts have also considered the status or relationship to the declarant of the person to whom the statement was made *** whether there was a coercive atmosphere, whether it was made in response to questioning and whether the statements reflect an attempt to shift blame or curry favor (James, supra, 93 N.Y.2d at 642-643, 695 N.Y.S.2d 715, 717 N.E.2d 1052 [citing United U.S. v. Matthews, 20 F.3d 538, 546; other citations omitted]). They argue that when certain established facts are juxtaposed with other proven circumstances, defendant's multiple contradictions and omissions are patently incriminating. Ex-surgeon confesses he took wife's 'body out of the airplane over at 569, 457 N.Y.S.2d 451, 443 N.E.2d 925). He thus argues that her ruling necessarily extends to preclude the People from also proving the existence and nature of the Tarasoff letter. denied 97 N.Y.2d 756, 742 N.Y.S.2d 616, 769 N.E.2d 362 [prior threats of violence and acts admissible]; People v. Lee, 284 A.D.2d 412, 726 N.Y.S.2d 284, lv. Furthermore, in a case based on circumstantial evidence-as this is-we must also adhere to the dictates of People v. Benzinger, 36 N.Y.2d 29, 32, 364 N.Y.S.2d 855, 324 N.E.2d 334 expressed again in People v. Seifert, 152 A.D.2d 433, 440, 548 N.Y.S.2d 971, lv. Dr. Karnofsky also remembered a phone call defendant received one morning at three o'clock, a few months after she moved in. denied 94 N.Y.2d 904, 707 N.Y.S.2d 389, 728 N.E.2d 988; People v. Bonilla, 251 A.D.2d 82, 674 N.Y.S.2d 23, lv. First, she would threaten to humiliate him by publishing to his professional colleagues and superiors a warning letter she had received from defendant's treating psychiatrist; and, second, she would threaten to expose an alleged Medicare fraud in which she claimed he and his father were allegedly involved. Ive waited a very,very long time for this day. denied 90 N.Y.2d 1009, 666 N.Y.S.2d 104, 688 N.E.2d 1387; People v Bonilla, supra; People v LaFrance, supra). He is incapable of a shred of remorse.. That the victim died July 7, 1985 is conceded. Early in that period, before they began dating, and therefore significantly before the end of September, he falsely told her the police had searched his apartment and car and found him to be clean. Furthermore, she testified that, during that early period, he expressed no concern about his wife's disappearance. At a parole hearing in December 2020, he confessed to killing his wife and dumping her body from a The trial justice rejected the People's pre-trial request to call defendant's treating psychiatrists and psychologist as witnesses to testify about factual matters and opinions connected to their treatment of defendant, including the conversations they had with the victim and defendant's parents, after defendant's consent was procured. The call came from the police who insisted that he immediately come in to view a woman they had found at the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal, someone they thought might be his missing wife. The defense argues that these rulings were improper because: 1) there was no evidentiary foundation to justify the opinion evidence and the scenario depicted in the video demonstration, i.e., that they were purportedly based on speculation; and because 2) these forms of evidence are extremely potent, inflammatory, and therefore they unduly prejudiced defendant in a case like this where, according to him, there is no proof to support the opinions or the scenario shown on tape. One of the prosecution's key assertions was that defendant was motivated to kill his wife because she threatened to destroy him by exposing the letter's contents should he fail to meet her divorce demands. Conviction of former Minot surgeon But last week, a Manhattan jury found Dr. Bierenbaum guilty of killing his first wife and dumping her body from an airplane. The existence of a physical shock or trauma has often been cited as a key consideration (see People v. Brooks, 71 N.Y.2d 877, 527 N.Y.S.2d 753, 522 N.E.2d 1051; People v. Brown, 70 N.Y.2d at 516-517, 522 N.Y.S.2d 837, 517 N.E.2d 515;6 Wigmore, Evidence 1745[1] [Chadbourn rev. Alayne Katz told ABC News she immediately knew something was very wrong. Meanwhile, her husband moved on and began seeing other women. Parker was Defendant was pretty surprised and stunned and asked her what she knew. I wanted her to stop yelling at me and I attacked her, he said, according to the article. In considering whether this defendant's behavior and statements show evidence of his consciousness of guilt, we find that they unquestionably do. The network is featuring the case Friday night on 20/20.. O'Malley inquiring how the investigation was proceeding and met with him on July 13. As this Court stated in Farrow v. Allen, 194 A.D.2d 40, 608 N.Y.S.2d 1, once a patient authorizes his or her psychiatrist to release, what might otherwise be, a privileged letter to a third party who is completely unconnected to his or her treatment and who is not subject to any other privilege, its release is sufficient to waive the privilege as to the information contained in the letter itself (id. In addition, he made contradictory statements to the police and others about whether he cleaned his living room rug shortly after July 7, telling the police he did not, but telling the victim's friend, Dr. Feis, and others that he had. Inmate Search | Washington State Department of Corrections
Red Wattle Pork For Sale,
Loughborough Echo Archives,
Suliranin At Solusyon Sa Sektor Ng Industriya,
Hamilton Tiger Cats Tailgating,
Articles R