Wednesday morning was the final day for the prosecution and defense to call witnesses and present evidence in the Aita Gurung trial. It was a surprising start to the day when the defense chose not to cross-examine forensic psychiatrist Dr. Catherine Lewis. They instead called on their last witness, psychiatrist Dr. Maya Prabhu. Prabhu was called to the stand to specifically critique Lewis’s testimony from Tuesday, not to give her opinion on whether Gurung was insane at the time of the attack.”Dr. Lewis I believe under-represented the significance of psychiatric symptoms that were documented just prior to the event,” said Prabhu. ” did not consider reports from the family about seeing him being withdrawn, being distracted and sort of wandering outside at night taking his clothes off unexpectedly,” she said. Prabhu also countered Lewis’s testimony that Gurung’s alcohol consumption played a key role in the attack. “In fact, there are very high rates of substance abuse and alcohol use disorder in psychotic persons and individuals,” said Prabhu.There is not yet an official date for the closing statement, but court officials believe it will be no later than Monday.
Wednesday morning was the final day for the prosecution and defense to call witnesses and present evidence in the Aita Gurung trial.
It was a surprising start to the day when the defense chose not to cross-examine forensic psychiatrist Dr. Catherine Lewis.
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They instead called on their last witness, psychiatrist Dr. Maya Prabhu. Prabhu was called to the stand to specifically critique Lewis’s testimony from Tuesday, not to give her opinion on whether Gurung was insane at the time of the attack.
“Dr. Lewis I believe under-represented the significance of psychiatric symptoms that were documented just prior to the event,” said Prabhu. “[She] did not consider reports from the family about seeing him being withdrawn, being distracted and sort of wandering outside at night taking his clothes off unexpectedly,” she said.
Prabhu also countered Lewis’s testimony that Gurung’s alcohol consumption played a key role in the attack.
“In fact, there are very high rates of substance abuse and alcohol use disorder in psychotic persons and individuals,” said Prabhu.
There is not yet an official date for the closing statement, but court officials believe it will be no later than Monday.
