PTSD on Trial: Corey Flugga, accused of killing step son

Army evaluation found murder defendant wasn't risk to others
By RUSS ZIMMER • Advocate Reporter • September 3, 2008


NEWARK — An Army psychiatrist who evaluated Corey Flugga, who is accused in the June death of his 3-year-old stepson, did not find the 22-year-old to be a risk to the public, according to military records released this week.

After an Oct. 23 evaluation with Flugga, an Army specialist who was injured in Iraq in August 2006, Dr. Richard Poe found that he was neither “suicidal nor homicidal,” Poe’s recommendation to the Army Medical Evaluation Board states.

Investigators would argue otherwise and Flugga was charged in the death of Carson Hanson roughly eight months after the Army assessed his mental condition.

“I don’t think there is anything in there that changes the merits of the case,” Licking County Assistant Prosecutor Dan Huston said of the 310 pages of Flugga’s military history filed in the murder case.

Licking County Deputy Coroner Dr. Jeff Lee determined Carson had died from internal bleeding caused by tremendous blunt force trauma to his abdomen. The bruising pattern on the child’s stomach was consistent with that of a fist, he wrote.

Police have stated that no other adult was home during the time the mortal blow could have occurred.

Flugga has pleaded not guilty to two charges of murder — alleging the death either occurred as the result of a felonious assault or child endangerment — and a three-day trial, originally scheduled for later this month, was set for Jan. 5, according to statements by Huston and defense attorney David Barth after a pretrial hearing Wednesday afternoon.

Barth, who has not had an opportunity to review the military records, said that his client waived his right to a speedy trial due to the volume of discovery materials still coming in and to coordinate times with an expert witness.

On Aug. 9, 2006, Flugga was riding in the gunner position of an Army Humvee in Iraq when an anti-tank land mine detonated beneath the vehicle, Poe’s report states.
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PTSD on trial: Toddler dies, step-father charged

Toddler also hurt in incident before his death
Attorney: PTSD won't be a defense in Flugga case
By RUSS ZIMMER • Advocate Reporter • August 3, 2008

NEWARK -- A two-word phrase -- "Daddy hit" -- was uttered by 3-year-old Carson Hanson on multiple occasions and was witnessed by two people before his death in June, according to investigation records released last week.

Prosecutors continue to look into the possibility of previous abuse by Corey Flugga, Carson's stepfather who has been charged in connection with the boy's death. Flugga steadfastly has denied ever laying a hand on Carson.

Although that issue remains open, neither side is questioning the mental stability of Flugga, a decorated Iraq war veteran who told detectives he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, but did not think that medical opinion was justified. His defense attorney even said it won't be used as a defense.

Carson was pronounced dead at Licking Memorial Hospital the evening of June 21. Suspicious bruising, as well as what emergency officials thought was strange behavior by Flugga, led to Flugga's arrest two days later.

Licking County Deputy Coroner Dr. Jeff Lee determined Carson had died from internal bleeding caused by tremendous blunt force trauma to his abdomen. The bruising pattern on the child's stomach was consistent with that of a fist, he wrote.

Flugga has no criminal record outside of an underage consumption conviction in Hancock County, but prosecutors are interested in looking into possibly undocumented cases of abuse.

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