It’s been more than three years since dressage rider Michael Barisone was found not guilty by reason of insanity on a charge of second-degree attempted murder, and bit by bit, he is regaining some autonomy.
At his eighth Krol hearing Tuesday, the 2008 U.S. Olympic team alternate got permission for a little more latitude in his movements, with judge Stephen Taylor allowing him to drive from his Florida farm to New Jersey as needed so he can retrieve belongings from his former home state. Previously, he was required to fly to New Jersey for the Krol hearings.
They are held to evaluate the progress of a criminal defendant who has been confined to a psychiatric institution following a verdict like the one delivered for Barisone in April 2022. The next hearing is scheduled for February.
Michael Barisone with the Olympic team in Hong Kong, 2008. The others are Debbie McDonald, Courtney King Dye and Steffen Peters. (Photo © 2008 by Nancy Jaffer)
Barisone was charged in the 2019 shooting of Lauren Kanarek, a tenant at his former farm in Long Valley, N.J., farm who also trained there. He said he doesn’t remember the incident, which left Kanarek hospitalized with two bullets in her chest. The shooting occurred during a confrontation with Kanarek and her boyfriend, Rob Goodwin, who had been at odds with their landlord.
During Barisone’s trial, his lawyer, Edward Bilinkas, asked Kanarek whether she was bent on destroying his client and threatening everything he held dear. She replied, “at some point, yes.”
As was the case during the last Krol hearing seven months ago in the Morris County, N.J., Courthouse, Taylor listened to testimony from clinical psychologist Dr. David Landry, who usually sees Barisone on a weekly basis in Florida.
In response to a question from Morris County Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn, Landry said on a Zoom call aired in the Morristown courtroom that in his opinion, Barisone has no signs of any active mental diseases or disorder.
Asked by Schellhorn whether he discussed the shooting, referred to as the “index event,” with Barisone, Landry said they talked about “his lack of memory of the event and what that means for his having to internalize and accept these events as occurring, and where we go from here, knowing that this has occurred…and what his plans are in moving forward.”
Landry said Barisone, 61, spends much of his time working around his farm in Loxahatchee, Fla., and keeps “a low profile.”
As a result of the shooting incident, Barisone is under an interim suspension from the U.S. Center for SafeSport, which means he can’t take part in any U.S. Equestrian Federation sanctioned competitions, or even be on showgrounds. That sanction remains in place pending the outcome of an investigation or final decision.
Michael Barisone riding at his former farm in Long Valley.
Landry characterized the SafeSport situation as a “stressor,” in Barisone’s life, noting that is “pretty typical in these circumstances.”
In treatment, doctor and patient talk abut all possible outcomes. Landry said they “develop plans around that. He seems to be okay with whatever happens and has a plan in the event any outcome would occur.”
In an interview after the hearing, Barisone said, “I’ve been doing everything exactly as I’m supposed to do. I’ve abided by every single rule.”
Speaking about the judge’s decision, he observed, “At least now I can start finishing moving my stuff out of New Jersey and really get the place in Florida (to be) home. So I think at this point, this process happened just like it’s supposed to, like it’s written in the law.
“The doctors all say, `He recovered from what happened to him’ and I’ve been given pretty much freedom to be about as normal as I can.”
When he returns to Florida, he hopes to start riding after a break to deal with legal matters.
Barisone riding in Florida earlier this year.
But there also are other legal matters with which is involved.
In July, Barisone sued the USEF. Those legal papers state that on Aug. 1, 2019,, he had phoned Sonja Keating, the federation’s chief operating officer and general counsel, saying he was “in a life and death situation due to the malevolent and dangerously unpredictable conduct of Kanarek and Goodwin,” and that he feared for his life.
The lawsuit noted Keating offered no assistance and suggested he call the police. Barisone told Keating the police refused to help. According to the lawsuit, Keating never mentioned the Center for SafeSport, nor did she say she would refer the matter to the Center. The lawsuit stated she was obligated to refer the matter to SafeSport, which she did not do.
On August 7, 2019, the shooting took place.
The lawsuit also noted that Murray Kessler, who was USEF’s president at the time, did not return Barisone’s phone calls about his situation.
The lawsuit contends that USEF “breached its fiduciary obligations to the Plaintiff in that it did not exercise its duty of care and protect the Plaintiff from the actions of Kanarek and Goodwin,” and as a result, Barisone was damaged.
He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages from USEF.
Asked for a comment on the lawsuit, a USEF spokesperson said the federation does not comment on matters in litigation. Attorney Steven Tarshis, who filed the lawsuit, said USEF attorneys had requested an extension until the end of September to respond.
In February, Barisone sued Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, where he was a patient for more than a year in 2022 and part of 2023 before the judge allowed him to live in a private home later that year.
The way he was treated at the hospital led to “emotional harm, pain, damage and suffering, among other injuries,” according to the lawsuit filed by attorney Christopher Deininger, which alleges medical malpractice.
A motion by the hospital to dismiss the action was denied by a judge, but the hospital has filed another such motion that has yet to be ruled on.
