PTSD on Trial, Marine Iraq veteran sent to get help

Iraq flashbacks led veteran to pull gun on wife in 'Daddy, don't shoot Mommy' case, lawyer says
Lehigh Valley Live
By Sarah Cassi
March 05, 2014

A Lower Milford Township veteran accused of pointing a gun at his wife and threatening to kill her in front of their son -- leading the child to say, "Daddy, don't shoot Mommy" -- was suffering from flashbacks of his tour in Iraq, his defense attorney said today.

Jay Raymond Landis Jr. served with the U.S. Marine Corps and has post-traumatic stress disorder, attorney John Waldron said.

Landis was drinking and had flashbacks of his tour, Waldron said, the night Landis is accused of threatening to kill Jody Lee Mauzey. Mauzey was in their son's room at the time and the child woke up and said, "Daddy, don't shoot Mommy," records say. Mauzey ran barefoot through the snow to a neighbor's house where she called police, records say.

Today, Landis, of the 1000 block of Standard Lane in the township, gave up his right to a preliminary hearing before District Judge Jacob Hammond in Central Court on charges of making terroristic threats, false imprisonment, simple assault, reckless endangerment and harassment.

Waldron and Assistant District Attorney Steven Luksa agreed that Landis, who is in Lehigh County Prison in lieu of $500,000 bail, should be released on unsecured bail to a Veterans Affairs inpatient rehabilitation program for drug and alcohol in Wilkes-Barre. The judge made it a condition of bail.

If he completes that program, Landis would be sent to a post-traumatic stress disorder program in Coatesville, Pa., Luksa said. As part of the PTSD program, Landis would transition to moving home with his wife and son, Luksa said. If Landis does not complete the programs, he would go back to jail, Luksa said.
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