Chen in 2011 (Image: CHS)
The legal team for Louis Chen, accused of stabbing his partner and young son to death inside a First Hill condo in August 2011, is preparing to mount an unusual defense for the doctor.
According to legal documents filed with King County Superior Court in a dispute over an expert witness in the now four-year-old case, Chen’s lawyers plan to contend that their client was suffering from psychosis brought on — “in part” — by dextromethorphan, a commonly used cough suppressant:
The Seattle Times was the first to report on the new direction for the case after reviewing court documents filed this fall:
The revelations were made as the defense sought to bar an expert witness — a former state forensic scientist who resigned under a cloud as the head of the State Patrol Crime Lab in Seattle — from testifying when Chen, now 43, is tried on two counts of aggravated first-degree murder in April.
According to Chen’s defense team, “overuse of Dextromathorethan (sic) can lead to psychosis, hallucinations, and sometimes to episodes of violence.” The “defense theory” also includes a plan to present evidence that Chen’s “genetic make-up” contributed to the condition.
Victims Eric Cooper, 29, and Cooper Chen, 2 (Image: Courtesy of Vernon O’Reilly Ramesar/Facebook via Seattle Times by Permission)
Chen’s trial is currently scheduled to begin in April following a drawn out series of legal battles over the defendant’s mental competency. In 2013, CHS reported that Chen’s lawyers were mounting an insanity defense for the murders.
Chen stands charged with two counts of first degree murder. Prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty for Chen who faces life in prison for the murders if convicted. In 2011, the prosecution requested more time to prepare for the case in order to complete a reconstruction of the bloody murder scene. CHS detailed SPD’s account of the brutal murders here in which Chen is alleged to have stabbed his partner more than 100 times and stabbed his child to death. The bloody scene was discovered by a co-worker on the morning of August 11 inside the condo on the 17th floor of First Hill’s M Street building. SPD’s account included an alleged confession by the injured Chen as he was rushed to the hospital.
Weird, it should certainly be dextromethorphan not “dextromathorethan” but apparently his law firm couldn’t spell the exculpatory substance correctly.
My thoughts go out to the families and Mr. Chen and everyone else affected.
Thanks for catching — fixed (I believe!)
The drug discussed in this article is actually dextromethorphan also known as “DXM”. Unfortunately it appears to have been misspelled in the court transcript and the misspelling (“dextromathorethan”) was likely just carried on into this CHS article.
Interesting. This line of defense is presumably supported by high serum dextromethorphan levels in tests of Chen’s blood taken at his admission to the hospital after the murders.
If indeed he was specifically tested for that?
It never ceases to amaze me the things that defense lawyers concoct in order to get their clients free of responsibility for heinous crimes. But this one takes the cake. I think they are going to have a very difficult time proving that the cough syrup (DM for short) had anything to do with what Chen so viciously did.