Psychiatrist testifies Katuria D'Amato should have been released much sooner

A psychiatrist who examined the estranged wife of former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato this fall testified in court Tuesday that she should not have been involuntarily hospitalized for three days in 2017 at South Nassau Communities Hospital.

Dr. Oliver L. Harper of Manhattan said he believed Katuria D’Amato, 53, was not suffering from psychosis and posed no danger to herself or others when Nassau police forced her to go to the Oceanside hospital  on Sept. 30, 2017.

Harper testified that he reached that conclusion based on his examination of Katuria D’Amato as well as his review of police reports and medical records, including documents from other mental health professionals who have treated her in the past.

However, Harper said he was reluctant to criticize the hospital psychiatrist  who initially admitted Katuria D’Amato for observation, Dr. Nnamdi Odiah. He said Odiah made his decision based on the information he had at the time and emergency room physicians often do not have a full picture about a patient’s mental health.

“My opinion is that it was reasonable for Mrs. D’Amato to be involuntarily committed,” Harper testified.

“It was a concern about safety,” he later added. “We err on the side of caution.”

But, he said, Katuria D’Amato should have been released the next day, Oct. 1, 2017, after doctors got a more complete picture of her mental health. “She was not a danger to herself or others,” Harper said. “All the information available to me since then supports that.”

His testimony came as the D’Amatos continue to battle for custody of their son, 10, and daughter, 9, with Katuria D’Amato again acting as her own attorney.

State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Lorintz had granted Alfonse D’Amato temporary custody of the couple’s children in October after the former senator questioned Katuria D’Amato’s mental stability.

The Republican power broker 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 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.

Alfonse D’Amato’s attorney Stephen Gassman tried to chip away at Harper’s testimony on cross-examination by getting Harper to acknowledge that he had not spoken directly with Nassau police officers who responded to Katuria D’Amato’s 911 call or most of the mental health professionals who had treated her.

Gassman will continue his cross-examination when Harper returns to the court Jan. 24.