Iphigenia in Forest Hills: Anatomy of a Murder Trial by Janet Malcolm

Author:Janet Malcolm [Malcolm, Janet]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2011-03-28T16:00:00+00:00

Hymowitz concluded from Michelle’s behavior that she was “rather immature and somewhat regressed.” In answer to Perlmutter’s question “What did you attribute the child’s behavior to?” Hymowitz didn’t immediately blame Borukhova. He conceded that she had tried to encourage the child to interact with him. “She was saying and doing the right things.” However, “she didn’t firmly insist that the child allow her to leave. She did not set certain other limits with the child, now that I’m remembering. For example, the child stood on my couch with her shoes on. I had to ask the mother to have her stop doing that.”

Schnall, who appeared at the hearing as law guardian, evidently didn’t think that Perlmutter had pushed Hymowitz hard enough on Borukhova’s unfitness as a mother. When his turn came to question the psychologist, he was almost gleeful in his acrimony. “Would it be fair to say,” he asked Hymowitz, “that she exhibited sociopathic qualities and traits?” Hymowitz replied that at first he wasn’t sure “whether we’re talking about someone who was delusional, namely out of touch with reality at least in selected areas concerning the child and the father, or whether it was sociopathic and therefore more premeditated and manipulative.” After further sharp prodding by Schnall, Hymowitz said, “Having met with her by now well into late October, I began to feel that it was more likely that the behavior was premeditated, manipulative, and with callous disregard not only for the rights of the co-parent but the well-being of the child …. It began to seem more premeditated, more coherent in its fabric and less delusional.” Schnall wanted still more. “So essentially the mother was lying without conscience?” he said. After a volley of objections by Fass and reformulations by Schnall, the judge allowed this exchange:

Schnall: So it would be fair to say the mother has been lying without conscience with respect to the ramifications to the father and his relationship with the child?

Dr. Hymowitz: Yes.

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