At the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Chism, now 24 years old, is serving a 40-year to life sentence for the rape, robbery, and murder of Ritzer, an Andover resident.
On October 22, 2013, Ritzer, a math teacher, was murdered in a Danvers High School restroom. She was 24 years old and in her second year of teaching.
At the time, Chism was a freshman in Ritzer’s math class and was fourteen years old.
Attorneys Michael Schneider and Benjamin Brooks want the state supreme court to require judges, upon request, to allow juries to take into account the most recent theories regarding the development of the adolescent brain when determining whether or not a teenage defendant was suffering from a mental illness or defect.
The attorneys contend that denying the jurors this choice prevented them from somewhat considering Chism’s claim of insanity, infringing upon his right to due process and slanting the jury against him.
The attorneys in this case had to obtain authorization from the SJC before filing their extraordinarily long brief.
In addition, Chism’s attorneys delayed filing the official appeal until 2021, partly because it took so long to acquire and examine transcripts of the pretrial motions, trial, and sentencing.
The Essex District Attorney’s office has been given until the end of May by the SJC to submit its brief in this matter. The Chism team could then try to answer that brief after submitting it.
The court will schedule an argument in the matter once all the briefs have been submitted.
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