War stress defense expected
A former Army Reserve sergeant whose family says his Iraq war experiences led to an outburst last year that left him and a Nye County sheriff’s deputy with gunshot wounds pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday to several charges, including attempted murder.
Nye County District Judge John Davis set a trial date of March 29 for 47-year-old Joseph Patrick Lamoureux, who is accused of going on a shooting spree at Terrible’s Lakeside RV Park and Casino in Pahrump. The spree ended after a pre-dawn gunbattle with Nye County sheriff’s deputies on Sept. 19.
"It’s going to be interesting," District Attorney Bob Beckett said about the case, which he expects will focus on a defense that Lamoureux suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
"The defendant has the right to assert any defense that is legally viable. But the question of guilt or innocence will ultimately be decided by a jury," Beckett said.
Well-known East Coast criminal defense lawyer Mickey Sherman, a frequent expert legal commentator on television news shows, is representing Lamoureux with attorney Thomas Gibson, whose firm is contracted as Nye County’s public defender.
Sherman successfully used the PTSD defense to defend a Vietnam War veteran who was charged with murder years ago.
Sherman said Lamoureux "absolutely" will have a solid case for an acquittal.
"This case is significant not only for Pat Lamoureux but for a heck of a lot of veterans out there who live with this every day," Sherman said.
Sherman’s high-profile clients have included Michael C. Skakel, a Kennedy family cousin. Skakel was convicted seven years ago of murdering a female teenage neighbor in 1975.
Sherman said his attorneys fees are being paid by a private citizen from Las Vegas "who didn’t know Lamoureux" and asked not to be named.
Although he said insanity defenses "are not popular in this country," PTSD is an insanity defense.
"Clearly that’s what’s going on here. He’s been diagnosed with PTSD," Sherman said after a three-hour meeting with Lamoureux at the Nye County detention facility.
In the first year of the Iraq war after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Lamoureux served with the Las Vegas-based 257th "Rolling Thunder" Transportation Company.
His wife, Sue Lamoureux, has said her husband snapped one night nearly a year ago after being distraught by the loss of a fellow soldier and nightmarish flashbacks of a suicide bomber attack.
In the gunbattle with Nye County sheriff’s deputies, one of them, Eric Murphy, was wounded from shots fired from behind boulders and trees with two weapons.
"Pat" Lamoureux, as he is known by fellow former soldiers, was shot in the legs.
During Tuesday’s brief court appearance, Lamoureux wore an orange-and-white prison jumpsuit and appeared confident and relaxed, his wife said.
"I feel so overwhelmed," Sue Lamoureux said.
"I have felt from the beginning that this was a tragedy and the way Pat has been treated the last year is shameful for our veterans," she said. "He should have been receiving treatment instead of being incarcerated."
Joseph Lamoureux faces 15 counts on various charges, including attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon upon an officer and discharging a firearm into a structure or vehicle.
Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.
