Christopher was 12-year-old when he killed his grandparents. He was held in the custody of the juvenile court system for over a year and a half before he was waived up to Circuit Court, and after that, he was held in continued pretrial custody for another year and a half before trial.
He was tried as an adult after being interrogated while under the influence of Zoloft, with no parent or legal representative present, and the statements he made were used against him in court. According to the prosecutor, the 6th grader waived his Miranda Rights.
Christopher is reportedly the second youngest person in US history to be prosecuted in an adult court. The youngest being an 11-year old boy who was prosecuted in 1999 for murder in a Michigan court.
Unbeknownst to young Christopher, he was playing against a stacked deck from day one. Not far into the case, it was discovered that prosecutors working to convict Christopher had been provided materials by both GSK and Pfizer, the makers of Paxil and Zoloft.
GSK provided the prosecutor a copy of a "prosecutor's manual" created by the company to help fight cases alleging Paxil had anything to do with a crime and Pfizer has a similar manual, according to Ms Menzies.
It was also later learned that on January 18, 2002 before the "involuntary intoxication" defense had even been raised, a Pfizer attorney, Jim Hooper, sent information on Zoloft to Dr Pamela Crawford, the prosecution's star expert witness.
Why would a Pfizer lawyer send Dr Crawford this information? Because she was working on a "criminal responsibility" opinion for Christopher's case and Pfizer wanted to make darn sure that she did not blame his criminal conduct on Zoloft.
But as it turns out, this was no isolated incident and Pfizer was not simply responding to a doctor's questions. The company has been providing assistance to prosecutors for years, and Mr Hooper has been at the fore-front for that activity.
On at least 15 prior occasions, attorneys discovered, Pfizer has provided a "Prosecutor's Manual" or "Litigation Manual" to prosecutors so that they could overwhelm any defense lawyer who dared to raise the "involuntary intoxication" defense.
The company has sworn for years that Zoloft does not cause people to become violent, yet on May 15, 2004, Pfizer issued a Canadian Health Care Professional warning in which the company cautioned about Zoloft triggering "harm to others."
The truth is, Pfizer has known for many years that Zoloft causes violence. On May 28, 1998, Brynn Hartman was on Zoloft when she shot her husband, actor Phil Hartman, as he slept and then committed suicide herself the next morning. Friends reported that Brynn had been complaining that she felt odd after taking Zoloft.
Mr Vickery handled a wrongful death lawsuit for the Hartman family, against Pfizer and Ms Hartman's psychiatrist, and Pfizer settled the case out of court for an undisclosed amount.
According to Mr Vickery, providing manuals to prosecutors is just one of the ways that SSRI makers have tried to keep the lid on the tendency of their drugs to trigger violence towards others by helping prosecutors convict people who: (1) are taking their drugs; (2) commit acts of violence; and (3) have the temerity to raise the drug's involvement as a defense.
The drug giants also gather and maintain data, he says, on prominent expert witnesses in the SSRI field who are often called to testify and they furnish the information to prosecutors with instructions on how to attack their credibility.
"It is a deplorable practice," Mr Vickery says, "and one that we are committed to exposing."
Through her work on civil cases, Ms Menzies had documents to counter some of the information provided to the prosecution by Pfizer and GSK. She was also able to bring previously concealed documents regarding Zoloft into the case. Unfortunately, Ms Menzies says, she was prevented from using most of the incriminating documentation.
He was tried as an adult after being interrogated while under the influence of Zoloft, with no parent or legal representative present, and the statements he made were used against him in court. According to the prosecutor, the 6th grader waived his Miranda Rights.
Christopher is reportedly the second youngest person in US history to be prosecuted in an adult court. The youngest being an 11-year old boy who was prosecuted in 1999 for murder in a Michigan court.
Unbeknownst to young Christopher, he was playing against a stacked deck from day one. Not far into the case, it was discovered that prosecutors working to convict Christopher had been provided materials by both GSK and Pfizer, the makers of Paxil and Zoloft.
It was also later learned that on January 18, 2002 before the "involuntary intoxication" defense had even been raised, a Pfizer attorney, Jim Hooper, sent information on Zoloft to Dr Pamela Crawford, the prosecution's star expert witness.
Why would a Pfizer lawyer send Dr Crawford this information? Because she was working on a "criminal responsibility" opinion for Christopher's case and Pfizer wanted to make darn sure that she did not blame his criminal conduct on Zoloft.
But as it turns out, this was no isolated incident and Pfizer was not simply responding to a doctor's questions. The company has been providing assistance to prosecutors for years, and Mr Hooper has been at the fore-front for that activity.
On at least 15 prior occasions, attorneys discovered, Pfizer has provided a "Prosecutor's Manual" or "Litigation Manual" to prosecutors so that they could overwhelm any defense lawyer who dared to raise the "involuntary intoxication" defense.
The company has sworn for years that Zoloft does not cause people to become violent, yet on May 15, 2004, Pfizer issued a Canadian Health Care Professional warning in which the company cautioned about Zoloft triggering "harm to others."
The truth is, Pfizer has known for many years that Zoloft causes violence. On May 28, 1998, Brynn Hartman was on Zoloft when she shot her husband, actor Phil Hartman, as he slept and then committed suicide herself the next morning. Friends reported that Brynn had been complaining that she felt odd after taking Zoloft.
Mr Vickery handled a wrongful death lawsuit for the Hartman family, against Pfizer and Ms Hartman's psychiatrist, and Pfizer settled the case out of court for an undisclosed amount.
According to Mr Vickery, providing manuals to prosecutors is just one of the ways that SSRI makers have tried to keep the lid on the tendency of their drugs to trigger violence towards others by helping prosecutors convict people who: (1) are taking their drugs; (2) commit acts of violence; and (3) have the temerity to raise the drug's involvement as a defense.
The drug giants also gather and maintain data, he says, on prominent expert witnesses in the SSRI field who are often called to testify and they furnish the information to prosecutors with instructions on how to attack their credibility.
"It is a deplorable practice," Mr Vickery says, "and one that we are committed to exposing."
Through her work on civil cases, Ms Menzies had documents to counter some of the information provided to the prosecution by Pfizer and GSK. She was also able to bring previously concealed documents regarding Zoloft into the case. Unfortunately, Ms Menzies says, she was prevented from using most of the incriminating documentation.
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