Witnesses for Katuria D'Amato testify about her mental stability at hearing

An attorney who visited the estranged wife of former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato during her involuntary hospital stay testified in court Monday that she was “coherent” and he had tried to get permission for her to leave.

The testimony came as the D’Amatos’ child custody battle continued in Mineola, with Katuria D’Amato again acting as her own attorney on a day in which she also called her mother as a witness.

State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Lorintz had granted Alfonse D’Amato temporary custody of the couple’s son, now 10, and daughter, now 9, after the former senator questioned Katuria D’Amato’s mental stability.

The former senator sought custody after Katuria D’Amato’s 911 call in September 2017 about a possible home intrusion brought police to her Lido Beach home – an event that led to the couple’s child custody and divorce case.

Nassau police have testified Katuria D’Amato, 53, was “delusional” and that she believed Alfonse D'Amato, 81, would let intruders who hid behind lasers into the residence.

Police also said she told them she hid in a closet and unsuccessfully tried to load a shotgun before calling 911 but couldn’t find the key to the weapon’s gunlock.

Mineola attorney Dennis Lemke testified Monday that Katuria D’Amato was upset when he saw her at an Oceanside hospital about two hours after her arrival there, but didn't believe she was a danger to herself or others.

“You were coherent,” Lemke testified as Katuria D’Amato questioned him.

Lemke also described acting as Katuria D’Amato’s lawyer while appealing to a hospital official then for her release – a request that was rejected.

But under cross-examination, Lemke agreed with the D'Amato children's appointed attorney, Mark Green, that he hadn’t been present at the time police decided to take Katuria D’Amato to a hospital against her wishes.

In other testimony, Katuria D’Amato’s mother, Joann Jessie Hicks, said she’d been on the phone with her daughter before the 911 call. Hicks, who lives in Washington state, said her daughter told her she saw on a security camera what looked like a possible intruder on her home’s deck.

“We hung up so you could call the police,” Hicks said as Katuria D’Amato questioned her.

The mother also testified her daughter never mentioned lasers or a shotgun, seemed to be her usual self on the phone, and that she wasn’t aware of Katuria D’Amato having had a psychiatric history or treatment.

But Alfonse D'Amato's attorney, Stephen Gassman, later named specific mental health professionals and asked the woman if she knew if her daughter had been treated by them.

Hicks said she didn’t know, and Katuria D’Amato objected to the question, before Lorintz said she had “opened the door” to the inquiry.

Testimony continues Tuesday.