The lawyer for Edwin Alemany, the man accused of brutally murdering 24-year-old Amy Lord and attacking two other women over a 24-hour stretch of terror last summer, is planning to present an insanity defense in court.
“We’re essentially saying that we intend to use as a defense that he did not have the requisite state of mind that is necessary and that the government must prove to show criminal intent,” attorney Jeffrey A. Denner said Monday.
Prosecutors say Alemany, 29, attacked Lord when she left her Dorchester Street apartment in South Boston early on July 23, 2013. He allegedly dragged her back into the vestibule of her building, where he beat her before making her accompany him to five ATMs to withdraw money. She was found later that day stabbed to death in Stony Brook Reservation in Hyde Park.
Alemany is also charged with attacking a woman on Old Colony Avenue near Andrew Square an hour prior to allegedly kidnapping Lord, and another on Gates Street in South Boston just after midnight the following morning.
He also faces charges in a September 2012 attack that was not solved until after he was arrested in Lord’s murder.
He pleaded not guilty to the attacks in December. Utilizing the insanity defense does not mean that Alemany is admitting he was the perpetrator, Denner said. Rather, if the jury does find Alemany was the attacker, the defense would then argue that he should not be held criminally responsible because of his psychosis.
In an interview with the Globe, Denner said he is unsure how the jury will respond to the defense.
“There’s no question that insanity defenses are somewhat disfavored, but we’re always trying to explain to juries why they shouldn’t be,” he said.
Alemany has a long history of mental illness. He has been on and off medication since he was a teenager and has had several stays in mental health institutions, the Globe reported last August. A judge ruled then that Alemany was competent to stand trial.
If a jury finds Alemany not guilty by reason of insanity, he would have a hearing to determine if he is still a threat to himself or others. If found to be a threat, he would be committed to Bridgewater State Hospital.
Nicholas Jacques can be reached at nicholas.jacques@
globe.com.