HUTCHINSON– Judge Trish Rose dismissed the jury early Monday in the trial for a Kansas teen accused of the murder of his mother and sister.

Samuel Vonachen, 17, Hutchinson, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated arson after allegedly setting a fire to his family’s home on September 26, 2013.

On Monday afternoon, Vanochen’s defense team called their expert witness, Dr. Kathleen Heidi.

She is a mental health counselor in Florida and also teaches at the University of South Florida.

She told the court she’d had spent a total of 11-hours in meetings with Vanochen at various times, including a number of them in person while he was in the Reno County Youth Services Detention Center.

The state challenged her credentials because she’s not a licensed psychologist either in Florida, where she resides or Kansas and they argue that you have to be licensed to make any kind of diagnosis of whether a criminal defendant suffers from mental disease or defect.

So far, Judge Trish Rose is allowing the defense to continue.

Earlier in the day, the defense put a number of officers with Reno County Youth Services on the stand to testify how the teen is getting along while in their custody. They all say that he does interact with the others in the facility and has earned privileges and is at the top or close to it for his good behavior inside the facility. That includes being allowed to have books in his room and also getting to stay up late on weekends, usually till around midnight.
The state each time got them to admit that he is extremely intelligent and is fully aware of where he is and what is going on around him.

There was one officer who testified that Vanochen was seen talking to an orange and other times talking to himself when he first arrived and that he would build a tent with his mattress and sit inside making it difficult for an officer to spot him.

Testimony is scheduled to resume at approximately 9 a.m. on Tuesday.