Robert Carter today pleaded innocent to all 24 criminal charges against him, including one count of premeditated first degree murder for the shooting death of his 13-year-old daughter Angel Morse.
Carter’s attorney entered the plea on his behalf and told Judge Thomas Motley that he would likely be pursuing an insanity defense on behalf of Carter.
“I’m pretty confident this is the way we’ll be going,” said attorney Steven Kiersh, mentioning that he had reviewed many of Carter’s medical records back to his teen years.
Kiersh said those records showed substance abuse issues, a history of psychosis and a suicide attempt.
Carter was calm at his arraignment, showing no signs of the the unsettlement he exhibited at his preliminary hearing. During Thursday’s proceedings he watched the court gallery but did not appear to try and make eye contact with any of those gathered for his arraignment.
Motley gave Kierch two weeks to file notice of an insanity defense. A status hearing was set for Sept. 30 in the case.
