By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — The mom charged with murdering her autistic son at the Peninsula Hotel had been diagnosed with a controversial illness whereby parents exaggerate the severity of their children's illness and force them to undergo unnecessary treatments, prosecutors said Friday.
Assistant District Attorney Kerry O'Connell told a judge that Jordan had a history of Munchausen's syndrome by proxy, a mental illness that causes parents or guardians to inflate symptoms and seek medical attention for their children as a way to elicit sympathy.
O'Connell said that medical professionals had diagnosed Jordan as having Munchausen Syndrome and that she was seeking unnecessary treatment for her child, Jude Michael Mirra.
Hospital staffers saw that as "medical abuse," O'Connell said.
Friday's hearing was the second half of a bail hearing to determine whether Jordan, 49, can leave the East Elmhurst Hospital jail and voluntarily commit herself to the psychiatric ward at St. Vincent's Hospital.
Defense attorney Gerald Shargel didn't specifically address the Munchausen diagnosis in court. He said that Jordan did take Jude across the country to seek a cure for his autism.
"It was devotion; it was dedication, and it was love," he said.
Outside court, Shargel told reporters that during a 2008 involuntary mental-ward commitment in Wyoming Jordan was diagnosed with the syndrome, but that it was subsequently withdrawn, the Daily News reported.
Shargel wants his client released on $5 million bail. Her assets would be frozen and she would wear a GPS tracking device on her ankle.
He claims she needs more medical attention than what is provided by the Department of Correction.
"Putting Ms. Jordan there is essentially warehousing her," Shargel said.
Prosecutors are opposed to Jordan being voluntarily committed because they say the multimillionaire is a flight risk.
"They are not going to have armed guards sitting outside her door 24/7," O'Connell said.
Both sides are due back in court on April 8 for a decision.
