TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A Marine captain awaiting trial in Tampa on a DUI-manslaughter charge will offer an insanity defense because he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, conditions he acquired during combat.
The 38-year-old Scott Sciple is charged in the death of Pedro Rivera. Florida Highway Patrol troopers said Sciple was drunk and driving the wrong way on a Tampa interstate when he crashed into Rivera’s car.
Sciple’s lawyer says he was having a “dissociative episode” at the time of the crash and believed he was on a military deployment.
Marine officials wrote an 860-page report on Sciple’s case and acknowledged that the corps should be more thorough in evaluating and treating PTSD.
Sciple is in jail in Tampa while awaiting trial. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 14.