By Jonathan Mummolo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 27, 2008

An Ashburn woman said yesterday that she was hearing voices and had a "psychotic breakdown" before holding her doctor and his wife at gunpoint because she blamed him for her son's cerebral palsy. A judge then found her not guilty by reason of insanity on several counts against her.

Michele Davidson, 39, entered the insanity pleas in Loudoun County Circuit Court to charges of abduction and breaking and entering while armed. Judge Thomas D. Horne accepted the pleas and dismissed three counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

According to testimony, Davidson entered the Leesburg home of Chauncey Stokes and his wife, LaSheryl, on May 31 while armed with a handgun. Davidson was distraught over her infant son Grant's spastic quadriplegia, a form of cerebral palsy. She thought that Chauncey Stokes took too long last year to deliver Grant, her fourth child, and that the delay caused his condition, Davidson's family and attorney said.

Davidson, a nurse midwife who has delivered more than 1,000 babies, threatened to kill herself during the incident, according to testimony, but wanted to first make Stokes wait with her holding the gun for as long as she said she did for the delivery: an hour and 30 minutes. Authorities went to the house after Stokes's daughter ran to a neighbor's to ask for help. Davidson was arrested about 30 minutes after she entered the home. No one was hurt.

Before yesterday's ruling, Horne reviewed reports by mental health experts for both the prosecution and the defense that concluded that Davidson was insane at the time of the incident.

"Both doctors have diagnosed a major mental illness and . . . as a result, you were unable to distinguish between right and wrong at the time of these offenses," Horne told Davidson in court.

Davidson, who has been in custody since the incident, will be transferred to Virginia's Central State Hospital for evaluation and will remain hospitalized unless doctors determine that she is not a danger to herself or others and a court approves her release. Horne also ordered that Davidson, should she be released, not have contact with the Stokes family or visit their home or place of business. She also may not have any firearms, Horne ruled.

Before Horne's ruling, Davidson addressed the court and apologized to the Stokes family and her own.

"There is no one that regrets the incident on May 31 more than I," Davidson said, her voice quavering. "I suffered from a psychotic breakdown. . . . I heard voices . . . commanding me to commit suicide in front of Chauncey Stokes."

Prosecutors said they were amenable to Davidson's plea in light of the doctors' evaluations.

"We feel that justice is served by this plea," said Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Nicole Wittmann. "The community's safety is assured."

Wittmann said that she had spoken to Chauncey Stokes and his wife before the hearing and that they "are very pleased with this" and "very relieved this matter didn't go to trial." Messages left at Chauncey Stokes's home and office were not returned yesterday.

After the hearing, Davidson's attorney, Todd F. Sanders, said the ruling means that his client will get the care she needs, a sentiment echoed by Davidson's family.

"We're pleased it's finally over and she gets to go to a hospital, where she belonged in the beginning," Sanders said. "It's unfortunate she had to spend six months in jail."

Davidson has a civil suit pending in Loudoun Circuit Court against Chauncey Stokes, his wife and his practice. According to the complaint in that case, Davidson entered into a birthing contract with Stokes in 2006 that specified that he participated in the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program, which provides a number of lifetime benefits for infants that incur certain injuries during birth.

Davidson later learned that Stokes had not been making the annual $5,000 contribution to the program necessary to make Grant, now 18 months old, eligible for benefits, the complaint states. She is suing for breach of contract.