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	Druce Showing Restraint in Court -- Even While Pleading Insanity WHDH [Worcester MA] January 15, 2006 http://www3.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO12607/ WORCESTER (AP) -- There's no question that Joseph Druce, a convicted murderer, killed a celebrated cellmate: defrocked priest John Geoghan. He's admitted it but says he did it to "save the children" and prevent Geoghan, one of the leading figures in the clergy sex abuse scandal that engulfed the Boston Archdiocese, from harming children in the future. He contends he's not guilty of the crime by reason of insanity. Yet for someone with that defense, he's shown remarkable restraint while jurors -- the people deciding his fate -- are in the courtroom. Instead, Druce has made it clear in his trial, which began last week, that he sees the courtroom drama, at least in part, as a forum for him to speak about his case and the abuse scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic church. Druce has frequently shouted out his views to reporters as he is led out of the courtroom during trial recesses. "Cardinal Law should be held accountable for crimes against innocent children," Druce yelled during one break. "Start with the Vatican," he said during another recess. Other outbursts from Druce have focused on: Gov. Mitt Romney, accusing him of allowing his reported presidential aspirations to slow reforms of the Department of Correction; DOC guards, for his claims that they beat him after he killed Geoghan; and the Boston Archdiocese, for allowing pedophile priests to have contact with children. But by and large, Druce has been generally subdued. His comments have come exclusively during courtroom breaks, while the jury is out of the room, and have been directed at reporters. David Frank, a former prosecutor who works for Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, said it's difficult to predict what effect, if any, Druce's behavior might have on the case. "That's the million-dollar question. The concern among prosecutors is that the bizarre courtroom antics of a guy like Druce are out of their control," he said. "As a lawyer, there's nothing you can really do about it." He said jurors can be skeptical of odd behavior when the case hinges on an insanity plea. He said that although jurors are told not to watch the news or discuss the case, not all jurors follow those rules and the judge could order them sequestered if Druce's outbursts continue. At court hearings before his trial began, Druce loudly complained about his treatment in prison and what he has described as retaliation against him by corrections officers. During one hearing, Druce wrote "DRUCEGATE" on an envelope and propped it up for reporters to see. Druce, 40, unsuccessfully used an insanity defense during his 1989 trial for the killing of a man who allegedly made a sexual advance toward him after picking Druce up hitchhiking. According to psychiatric testimony at that trial, Druce was a troubled child who had violent fantasies. Records introduced during that trial showed he took the anti-psychotic drug Thorazine and the hyperactivity treatment Ritalin as a teenager. Druce's lawyer, John LaChance, told the jury that Druce was sexually abused as a child and now suffers from dissociative disorder, a serious mental illness in which the patient seeks to escape reality, often because of a painful or traumatic memory. LaChance said Druce lives in a "fantasy world." When he strangled Geoghan in his prison cell in August 2003, Druce fantasized about himself as "the savior of the children," LaChance said. Many of the prison guards who have testified have described a "boastful" Druce who repeatedly said he killed Geoghan to stop him from molesting more children. Geoghan became the face of the clergy sex abuse scandal after internal church documents made public in 2002 revealed that Law and other church officials shuffled Geoghan and other priests from parish to parish after they were accused of sexually abusing children. The scandal forced Law to resign in December 2002. Geoghan, 68, was accused in lawsuits of molesting about 150 children. He was serving a prison sentence for groping a 10-year-old boy when Druce -- serving a life sentence in a 1988 murder -- strangled him in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski prison. Druce's actions appear to have won some supporters. During jury selection, one man was excused after he said he felt Druce "almost did the state a service" by killing Geoghan, who he said "probably didn't even deserve to live" because of what he had done to children. During testimony at the trial Friday, a nurse's assistant testified that Druce received "lots of fan mail" after Geoghan was killed. Several courtroom spectators also said they showed up to watch the trial because they empathize with Druce. "I have pity for him, I sympathize with him, and I empathize with him," said Richard Chesnis, a man who said his son was molested by a Worcester priest in the 1980s. "The suffering that (Geoghan) caused to children and to families -- I sympathize with Mr. Druce's reasoning -- that (Geoghan) should never be let out to do it again."
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