Stacey Pagli Mental Evaluation Postponed

The mental evaluation that could play a key role in the prosecution of Stacey Pagli will not be completed until at least early October, according to her defense attorney Allan Focarile.

Stacey is accused of killing her 18-year-old daughter Marissa Pagli almost seven months ago on the Manhattanville College campus. Stacey has been held without bail while awaiting trial since her arrest on Feb. 24.

Focarile, informed the court Wednesday that the doctor assigned to perform the evaluation will not be available until October. He said that although it is possible to have the screening complete by the next scheduled hearing on Oct. 6, it is unlikely.

"At this point we are at a position where we are probably going to need more time," he said. 

Judge Albert Lorenzo waived a need for Stacey to appear at the next court date, giving attorneys the opportunity to discuss further scheduling. 

Focarile has said that he intends to offer psychiatric evidence in the 38-year-old's defense. If a jury is convinced that Stacey was suffering from severe depression when she killed her daughter, the current second-degree murder charges could be reduced to manslaughter. 

Although the defense has already interviewed with experts offered by the defense, she must also speak to the prosecution's experts before the case can move forward.

Police believe that Stacey Pagli strangled Marissa Pagli to death during an argument in the family's apartment on the Manhattanville campus on Feb. 22. Stacey Pagli then attempted suicide but survived, according to police.

Stacey Pagli was arrested in the White Plains Hospital two days later and charged with second-degree murder, a felony. Since then she has attempted suicide at least twice while in police custody.

Marissa Pagli, a 2009 graduate of Harrison High School, was a college freshman at the time of her death.