MAN CONVICTED OF CUTTING UP WIFE IS SEEKING A NEW TRIAL

A man convicted of first-degree murder in a case in which authorities
said he dismembered and cooked his wife's body in their Summit
Township restaurant is seeking a new trial.

The request is based on what his defense says is new evidence he was
in a state of marijuana-induced psychosis at the time of the killing.

At a hearing Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court, Dr. Joseph
Galdi said he was not questioned at Kevin Artz's trial about findings
that indicated Artz was intoxicated by marijuana when he killed his
wife, making it possible he did not do it intentionally.

"There was a high likelihood he was displaying marijuana psychosis,"
said Galdi, a retired consulting forensic examiner at the Center for
Forensic Psychiatry in Saline. Galdi testified at the 2001 trial of
the former co-owner of Kip's Pizza Taco House, 2319 Main Street off
W. Michigan Avenue.

Authorities said Artz, now 52, used a metal bar to bludgeon to death
Patricia Artz, 46, in July 1999.

A state of marijuana psychosis is characterized by intense fear,
heavy drowsiness and visual illusions, Galdi said. Artz perceived his
wife to be a demon, Galdi said Thursday.

At the time of the trial, the defense, led by Joseph Filip, now a
Jackson County district judge, argued Artz was insane or mentally
incapable of the crime. It did not argue his mental state was
impaired by marijuana, which trial testimony indicated he smoked on a
regular basis.

The jury did not buy the defense's 2001 trial arguments and
now-retired Circuit Judge Edward Grant sentenced Artz to life in
prison. He is lodged at the Gus Harrison Correctional Facility in Adrian.

Artz has since appealed his conviction. The Michigan Court of Appeals
upheld the jury's verdict in April 2003 and the state Supreme Court
refused in October 2003 to hear his appeal.

New testimony could give him another chance.

Galdi wrote a letter about his findings of marijuana psychosis in
September 2007 to federal Judge John Corbett O'Meara of the U.S.
District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Thursday's deliberations centered on the letter.

Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson did not make a decision Thursday and the
hearing is to continue Monday.

Assistant Prosecutor Jerrold Schrotenboer said the defense was given
the marijuana information and pointed out to Galdi instances in the
trial transcript where the drug was mentioned.