{Charleston, West Virginia}...Kanawha County Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman released an order Thursday barring prosecutors from obtaining Rhonda Stewart's psychiatric records from when she was in prison after being convicted of killing her husband, Sammy Stewart. Prosecutors are also ordered to not call Dr. David Clayman who was hired to perform a psychiatric evaluation. Rhonda Stewart was found guilty of first-degree murder for shooting her husband to death in 2009 while he was being treated at Charleston Area Medical Center. Last year, the West Virginia Supreme Court reversed that verdict and ordered a new trial after ruling that the judge had erred by refusing to allow evidence indicating Stewart suffered from battered woman's syndrome, a form of mental instability fueled by years of spousal abuse. Stewart's lawyers appear ready to argue during retrial, which begins in October, that Stewart's mental state at the time of the shooting did not amount to premeditation, malice or intent, which are necessary factors for a first-degree murder conviction.
