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Doctor's mental state issue in alleged plot
By LEANORA MINAI, Times Staff Writer
TAMPA -- The Seminole podiatrist accused of plotting to bomb mosques and Islamic centers shuffled into a federal courtroom Tuesday with a blank look on his face.
U.S. Magistrate Thomas B. McCoun III ordered Goldstein detained pending an evaluation within 30 days by a forensic psychiatrist. "The nature of the case suggests he presents a danger to the community," McCoun said. Before Goldstein's arrest, he was taking a blend of medications, his lawyer said in court. Those included Celexa, an anti-depressant; Xyprexa, an anti-psychotic for schizophrenia and manic depression; Depakote, a mood stabilizer; Valium, which treats anxiety; and the painkiller Ultram. Goldstein, 37, will remain in the Orient Road Jail in Hillsborough County. He was arrested Friday by federal authorities. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms says he illegally possessed 20 bombs and plotted to damage or destroy Islamic centers and mosques around the Tampa Bay area and state. Authorities also seized 50 to 60 other kinds of weapons and firearms, most legal. On Tuesday, Muslim leaders held a news conference at the Civics Center of the Islamic Community of Tampa Bay in Tampa and called for more security at Islamic centers and mosques, although authorities already have been visiting them. "There is a terrorist in our own back yard," said James Muhammad, a local representative of the Nation of Islam. "This man has a mapped out plan of how he was going to blow up my niece's and nephew's playground, and when they would try to escape they had booby traps and rocket launchers," said Isam Sweilem, a representative of the Muslim Student Association. "This man was not working alone." When authorities searched Goldstein's residence at Townhomes of Lake Seminole, they found a typed list of 50 Islamic worship centers in the Tampa Bay area and Florida. Attached to the list were three pages that included a schematic drawing of an unknown center and instructions on what to wear and how to carry out an attack. The "Mission Template" made reference to an attack on a center with a person named "Val" or "Mike." No one else has been arrested. During Tuesday's court hearing, evidence collected from Goldstein's home was not discussed, nor were the alleged motives. His lawyer, Myles Malman of Hollywood, Fla., suggested afterward that Goldstein's plans were unreal. "There's a strong indication that the mission template was a product of fantasy and imagination," Malman said in an interview. "If a Val and a Mike existed that were part of this plan, they would have been arrested." Malman told the judge that Goldstein has a "history of emotional disturbance" and asked that Goldstein be evaluated by a psychiatrist. "He cannot properly assist me in the preparation of his defense based on the time I've spent with him thus far," Malman said. The judge appeared skeptical of Goldstein's inability to communicate. "Quite frankly, we've had some other people talk to this gentleman, and they haven't had as much difficulty," McCoun said. Malman also told the judge that the conditions for Goldstein in jail are "very difficult" because he is in a cell 24 hours a day with a light on. That did not generate much sympathy from the judge. "He's received rather special care," McCoun said. "The fact that he has been closely observed is a product of his own making." Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Murphy did not oppose a psychiatric evaluation. However, she told the judge that investigators have not uncovered any evidence suggesting Goldstein is incompetent. "In fact, his lifestyle would indicate otherwise," Murphy said. Depending on what the psychiatrist reports, either the prosecution or defense could request a second opinion of Goldstein's competency. McCoun will decide whether Goldstein is competent to continue with the criminal proceedings. Prosecutors have 30 days to indict Goldstein. A claim of mental incompetence is a relatively rare issue in federal court, lawyers said. "It can get very complicated," said Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa. Goldstein's arrest last week stunned his neighbors and other residents of Seminole, a city of 17,000. Acquaintances, patients and neighbors who knew him casually described him as professional and businesslike. But one former patient, David P. Bramhall of Largo, said Tuesday that he and Goldstein discussed the doctor's enthusiasm for guns when he went to him for a bone spur about seven years ago. Bramhall said in an interview that during one office visit, the two started talking about guns, and Goldstein stepped away and came back with a Heckler & Koch pistol. "I just thought it was a little strange," he said. Bramhall said Goldstein told him about trips he took to Central Florida during which Goldstein would wear camouflage and participate in paintball combat in the woods. Goldstein's wife of four years, Kristi Goldstein, 28, shared a liking for guns to some degree. She once had a concealed weapons permit, public records show. It was a domestic argument between the couple that first brought Pinellas sheriff's detectives to their townhome Thursday night. On Monday, with Goldstein in custody, Kristi Goldstein obtained a domestic violence injunction against her husband. She said in court documents that he has been threatening to kill her on a weekly basis since their November 1998 wedding and once held a loaded gun to her head when she threatened to leave. "He beat me and tried to strangle me in 1999 as well as holding a loaded .22 weapon to my head until I promised not to leave," she wrote in court documents. -- Times staff writer Babita Persaud and researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report. Leanora Minai can be reached at minai@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8406.
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