I’m amazed at the number of talking-head commentators and bloggers who blame the victim in the Boston trial of the so-called “Fake Rockefeller.” People are saying his ex-wife couldn’t possibly have been as ignorant as she claims: she’s too smart, too well-educated, and they were married for too long.

Even defense expert witness, psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow said on the stand that he “wished” the defendant had been married to someone who at some point urged him to get help. This testimony strikes me as very, very strange. I can’t quite figure out whether Dr. Ablow was saying something he thought would help his clients or would hurt the opposition. I can’t accept that a psychiatrist believes a whacko can’t deceive a normal person (that is, a non-psychologist).

Age does bring wisdom, because wisdom is the product of experience. It’s one of the few consolations of aging.

At my age, I can honestly say I’ve known several truly delusional individuals. And a large subset of those people lied through their teeth—consistently—for many, many years—and completely fooled me for most of the time I knew or have known them.

Sidebar: You’ve probably heard about several ways liars unconsciously reveal their lies. These include perspiration (lie-detectors), voice stress, body language, neuro-linguistic programming, and even “micro-expressions.” I hope you’re also aware that none of these is accepted as testimony or evidence in a court of law, because these are “arts” not “sciences.” No one and no test can detect every lie, especially when the liar really believes what he’s saying.

I can understand a young person looking at the very put-together, MBA businesswoman whom Clark Rockefeller deceived and saying, “No way.” Until it happens to you, it seems implausible.

But the fact is that delusional people are often very clever and are usually very consistent in the tales they tell. I’ve even known people who lived in a complex web of delusions—sharing some of their personalities and delusions with one group of people and others with other groups of people.

Worse yet, the number of people with mental problems is huge, so it isn’t as if Clark Rockefeller is all that unusual. Yes, I think he’s insane—but I’m not sure whether I would acquit him because of it. I think a high proportion of criminal defendants have some form of mental disorder.

It’s almost a sure thing that right now you know more than one person with very serious problems. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, about 26.1 % of the population “suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.” In 2007 the NIMH found that 9% of the population suffers from “personality disorders.” As I understand a personality disorder, it does not include schizophrenia (an additional 1.1%). So that means that more than 10% of the population may be delusional or suffer from serious hallucinations.

Think of it this way: if 100 people live in your neighborhood, statistics say that over 25 of them have mental problems ranging from mild depression, to panic disorders, to drug addiction, to delusional narcissism (like Clark Rockefeller), to full-blown schizophrenia. In a small town of 1000 people, there likely are 10 schizophrenics who “hear voices.”

The Rockefeller/Gerhardtsreiter Jury

As always, I understand that no jury has an easy decision if the opposing sides both do their jobs properly. In this trial, I’m not at all surprised that the jury is taking its time.

But the last person anyone should blame for the mess is the mother of the child Rockefeller kidnapped. She is to be pitied. When someone you love deceives you cruelly, it is crushing.