Bryan James Riley’s Lawyers intend to argue that he was insane when he killed four people, including a 3-month-old infant, during a home-invasion attack in north Lakeland last September.
“At the time of the offense, (Riley) suffered from a mental infirmity, disease, or defect, to wit: unspecified schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder;” wrote Assistant Public Defender Jane McNeill in the legal notice confirming their intent, “and because of this condition, he did not know what he was doing or its consequences, or although he knew what he was doing and its consequences, he did not know that what he was doing was wrong.”
The notice reflects the legal standard Riley’s lawyers must present to argue insanity; then prosecutors must prove, generally through expert testimony, that a reasonable doubt exists in that insanity argument.
Riley, 33, is accused of gunning down Justice Gleason, 40, and his girlfriend, Theresa Lanham, 33, along with their infant son as they pleaded for their lives, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant State Attorney Paul Wallace, who has been prosecuting first-degree murder cases in the 10th Judicial Circuit of Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties for 43 years, said use of the insanity defense remains rare.
“It doesn’t happen often,” he said, “and in those cases that have gone to trial, juries haven’t been receptive to it.”
“The judge retains control,” Wallace said, “and if the judge decides he’s a danger to himself or others, he will remain locked up.”
Riley’s fiancé told detectives that he’d been acting strangely in the days before the killings after working security at an Orlando church, and told her the night before the shootings that God had instructed him to intervene with a girl named Amber, who was going to commit suicide. The fiancé said she tried to reason with him, but he became upset and locked himself in a room. When she awoke early the next morning, he was gone and GPS showed him at the north Lakeland home near Lake Gibson High School, according to his arrest affidavit.
Riley, who had been shot by law enforcement during the attack, was taken to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center for treatment. A nurse told officers that she asked Riley if he abused illegal drugs and he said “I do them all.” Another nurse told officers that Riley said he “did meth.”
Prosecutors have charged Riley with four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, one count each of kidnapping of a child under 13 while committing aggravated child abuse, aggravated child abuse by aggravated battery, arson and attempted first-degree murder, two counts of armed burglary, four counts of firing on a Sheriff’s Office helicopter and one count of fatally shooting the family’s dog.
His next court date is an Aug. 5 status conference