Opinion ID: 147061
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Katz's statements

Text: Over defense objection eleven witnessesfriends, relatives, colleagues and Katz's therapistwere permitted to testify about conversations they had with Katz between 1983 and 1985 in which she talked about the state of her marriage, her fear of Bierenbaum's temper, his controlling behavior, his threats, and an argument in 1983 during which he choked her to the point of unconsciousness. Certain of these witnesses also testified that Katz told them she had received a letter from Bierenbaum's therapist warning her that Bierenbaum was a danger to her, and that Katz intended to threaten Bierenbaum with disclosure of this letter. The trial court permitted this testimony as background evidence of the state of the marriage and Katz's state of mind, and Bierenbaum's motive, intent and identity. The trial court gave a limiting instruction to that effect after each witness's testimony and at the close of trial, and admonished the jury that they were not to take this testimony as proof that Bierenbaum had acted in accordance with the statements, or as evidence of propensity. Hillard Wiese, Katz's cousin, testified that Katz reported to him in the fall of 1983 that she had an argument with her husband during which he had choked her to unconsciousness. This was not the first time Bierenbaum had choked her, but it was the first time that she lost consciousness. Wiese advised her to leave immediately. Katz moved out and lived for a time with her grandfather. Alayne Katz, Katz's sister, testified that Katz had called her in the fall of 1983, extremely upset, and told her that her husband had tried to strangle her, that she lost consciousness, Bierenbaum revived her and apologized profusely. Alayne Katz testified that her sister told her about a letter she had received from Bierenbaum's psychiatrist warning her about Bierenbaum's potential for dangerousness and advising her to move out. She also testified that they had many times discussed Katz separating from her husband. Dr. Leigh McCullough, Katz's employer in the fall of 1983, noticed bruises on Katz's neck one day. McCullough testified that Katz told her that her husband had gotten angry at her and choked her because she had been smoking a cigarette. Katz confided in McCullough that she was having difficulty in her marriage, and that she and Bierenbaum fought a lot. Denise Kasenbaum, a friend, testified that Katz had told her there were problems in the marriage, incidents of violence, that Bierenbaum was very controlling, and that she was not happy. Katz recounted an incident when Bierenbaum discovered her smoking a cigarette, got very angry, came at her and choked her. Katz also told Kasenbaum that she had gotten a letter from Bierenbaum's psychiatrist. Kasenbaum testified that Katz told her she was having an affair with a colleague at a hospital where she was interning. Kasenbaum saw Katz on the day before she disappeared. Katz told her that she was looking for an apartment and that she was going to tell her husband that weekend that she was leaving. Francesca Beale, a former employer, testified that in a telephone conversation in 1983, Katz said that her husband had a terrible temper, that she was afraid of him. Katz asked Beale if she could move in with her. Maryann DeCesare, a friend, testified that Katz told her that she was afraid of Bierenbaum's temper and that he had threatened her. Katz told DeCesare that she had gone out on the terrace of their apartment to smoke a cigarette, where he confronted her and choked her. Katz told DeCesare that she was unconscious, and that Bierenbaum had to call 9-1-1 for assistance. Often thereafter Katz would ask her for advice: would DeCesare leave her husband if he threatened to strangle her; had DeCesare's husband ever threatened to hurt her; should she leave Bierenbaum. DeCesare testified that Katz told her that Bierenbaum had threatened to kill her if she left him. In another conversation Katz told DeCesare that she and Bierenbaum had discussed the Claus von Bulow case, and that Bierenbaum had said the problem with the case was that von Bulow left evidence and that he would leave no evidence. A few days before she disappeared, Katz told DeCesare that she had met someone in whom she was interested, and she wondered if DeCesare thought it would be all right if she brought him up to the apartment when Bierenbaum wasn't there. She also told DeCesare that she thought she was being followed. In their last telephone conversation, Katz told DeCesare that she planned to ask Bierenbaum for a divorce, and that she had secretly borrowed $10,000.00 and put it in a safe deposit box to pay for a year of graduate school. Dr. Kenneth Feiner developed a romantic relationship with Katz in the months prior to her disappearance. He testified that Katz discussed with him her wish to leave her husband, their constant fights and arguments, and one argument during which Bierenbaum put his hands to her neck. Katz told him that she was going to move in with her friend Ellen Schwartz in Connecticut. Katz had an affair with Anthony Segalas, an investment banker, during the summer of 1984 and the spring of 1985. Segalas testified that Katz told him she was in a very unhappy marriage, that she was afraid of her husband and that he had tried to strangle her once. More recently she talked of moving in with a girlfriend in Connecticut. Segalas and Katz used cocaine together. Dr. Yvette Feis, Katz's former professor and friend, testified that Katz told her she was looking for other sexual partners. In 1984 Katz told her about a time in 1983 when Bierenbaum noticed her smoking a cigarette on the terrace of their apartment, became violent and began choking her. Late in 1984 or early 1985 Katz told her that she had received a letter from Bierenbaum's psychiatrist warning her that Bierenbaum posed a danger to her, and suggesting that Katz separate from him. Katz told Feis that she intended to use the letter as leverage in divorce proceedings by threatening to use it to ruin his career. Dr. Sybil Baran, Katz's therapist, testified that Katz was afraid of Bierenbaum's anger. Katz told her about an incident, precipitated by smoking, when Bierenbaum became enraged and attempted to strangle her. In the four to six months before she disappeared she told her therapist that she was looking for an apartment so that she could separate from Bierenbaum. Dr. Ellen Schwartz, a close friend from graduate school, testified that Katz told her she was afraid of her husband, and that she was planning to leave him soon. Katz told her that the night before she took her Graduate Record Exam, Bierenbaum choked her to unconsciousness because she smoked a cigarette.