In re Interdiction of Benson

TERRI F. LOVE, Judge.

b This appeal arises from the interdiction proceedings of Thomas Milton Benson, Jr. During an eight-day bench trial, the trial court was presented with voluminous amounts of conflicting lay and medical witness testimony. The trial court found that Mr. Benson should not be interdicted, but denied his request for a new trial to award attorneys’ fees. For the following reasons, we find that the trial court did not err by ruling that Mr. Benson had a right not to testify. The trial court also did not err by admitting out-of-court statements of Mr. Benson and excluding the…