NASHUA – The attorney for Bryson Peluso, the Nashua man charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death last year of a 23-year-old man at an Amherst party on Thanksgiving Day, has notified the court Peluso may rely “on a defense of insanity” if the case goes to trial.

Portsmouth-based attorney Sven D. Wiberg stated in the notice of defenses he filed in court Monday that his client may also claim “diminished capacity,” meaning he would argue that he lacked the required intent to commit the crime because of a mental impairment.

If he were to pursue an insanity defense, meanwhile, Peluso, while admitting to the alleged action, would argue he is not culpable for the crime, based on a mental illness or impairment.

Peluso, most recently of 5 Sirelle Court in Nashua, is facing two counts of second-degree murder, accusing him of shooting Brandon Kluz in the chest with a pistol during a party early in the morning of Thanksgiving Day.

One of the counts alleges Peluso knowingly caused Kluz’s death, while the other accuses him of recklessly causing his death “under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life,” according to the indictments the grand jury handed up in June.

Wiberg, in his two-page notice to the court, said he and Peluso are considering pursuing insanity or diminished capacity defenses due to the traumatic brain injury Peluso suffered in a car crash just days before the shooting.

The vehicle Peluso was in “collided with a stationary object, and his head struck the windshield … with great force,” Wiberg wrote in the notice.

Peluso was “still suffering from the effects of his injuries at the time of the alleged homicide,” he wrote.

He added that the defense “is pursuing expert analysis of the medical facts surrounding these circumstances … ” as the case moves forward.

As it stands, the final pre-trial conference is scheduled for Feb. 27, with jury selection to take place on March 9. The trial itself will begin within two weeks of the jury being seated, and is expected to last five days, according to the scheduling documents.

The series of events that led to Kluz’s death and Peluso’s arrest began just past midnight Thanksgiving morning, when Amherst police and ambulance personnel were called to a home at 19 Baboosic Lake Road.

Upon arrival, they were met by several people who told them someone had been shot inside the house.

Police and paramedics located a young man, later identified as Kluz, who had a gunshot wound to the chest. Attempts to revive him failed, and he was later pronounced dead.

Not long afterward, police arrested Peluso, initially charging him with one count of second-degree murder.

He was arraigned the next day in Superior Court in Nashua, where Judge Charles Temple ordered him housed without bail.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256, dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com, or @Telegraph_DeanS.