Close X
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
ADVT 
National

Psychiatrist Biased At Trial Of Damien Taylor Accused Of Killing Pregnant Girlfriend CJ Fowler: Crow

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 09 Oct, 2015 04:35 PM
    KAMLOOPS, B.C. — The Crown has suggested that a forensic psychiatrist for the defence was biased in her assessment of a man accused of killing his teenaged girlfriend.
     
    Dr. Sunette Lessing testified that she spent eight hours interviewing and testing Damien Taylor, who is on trial for the murder of 16-year-old CJ Fowler on Dec. 5, 2012.
     
    Taylor, 24, has told B.C. Supreme Court he and Fowler were walking toward the Greyhound depot in Kamloops early that morning and that he saw his pregnant girlfriend on the ground, where she was dead.
     
    Taylor said he was so paranoid and high on crystal meth and heroin that he ran from a red car, changing his clothes en route so he could run faster.
     
    Lessing said Taylor may have been in and out of psychosis, including experiencing paranoia and hallucinations at times.
     
    However, Crown lawyer Iain Currie accused Lessing of showing confirmation bias — ignoring information contrary to her opinion that Taylor may have been psychotic that night.
     
    “You remember the details in a way that’s favourable to the opinion you’re expressing,” Currie said.
     
    He also told Lessing she ignored other evidence that showed Taylor was not psychotic, including video from Royal Inland Hospital, where the couple had been hours earlier.
     
     
    Video from the bus depot, details from hospital staff who dealt with the pair and from Mounties in Prince George who interviewed Taylor hours after his girlfriend was found dead all suggest that he wasn't psychotic, Currie said.
     
    Currie also noted Taylor hid blood on his socks by covering it with a bandana, changed clothes before getting to the bus depot and lied to police about his whereabouts.
     
    Taylor's actions suggest his behaviour was rational, Currie said.
     
    “There’s no collateral information, other than what Mr. Taylor told you, that Mr. Taylor was on the psychotic continuum."
     
    He called Taylor's actions after Fowler’s death “markedly inconsistent with psychosis.”
     
    However, Lessing said Taylor may have been psychotic from the drug use and lack of sleep that he described to her.
     
    Lessing also told the jury Taylor has normal intelligence, but his short-term memory is on par with a senior showing signs of dementia, perhaps from extensive crystal-meth use.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Police Investigating Possible Cases Of Animal Cruelty In Fredericton

    Police Investigating Possible Cases Of Animal Cruelty In Fredericton
    "The cat's head was resting on her front paws as if she was sound asleep. It was definitely posed that way," Nixon said Tuesday from his home in Fredericton.

    Police Investigating Possible Cases Of Animal Cruelty In Fredericton

    Harper Promises Dairy Industry Will Be Protected In Any Pacific Trade Deal

    Harper Promises Dairy Industry Will Be Protected In Any Pacific Trade Deal
    The long-awaited 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership is shaping up to be a dominant theme on the campaign trail this week, with speculation rampant that a deal is finally taking shape.

    Harper Promises Dairy Industry Will Be Protected In Any Pacific Trade Deal

    Depression, No Support Cited At Inquest Into Deaths Of Mother And Autistic Son

    Depression, No Support Cited At Inquest Into Deaths Of Mother And Autistic Son
    The hearing began Monday examining the April 3, 2014 death of severely autistic 16-year-old Robert Robinson and the suicide of his 39-year-old mother, Angie Robinson.

    Depression, No Support Cited At Inquest Into Deaths Of Mother And Autistic Son

    Dream Of Playing In Football Game Comes True For Boy With Cerebral Palsy

    Dream Of Playing In Football Game Comes True For Boy With Cerebral Palsy
    Mark Sulymka is the coach of the Griffins Atom team, and he heard all about Logan Tonge from his regular players who have gone to school with him since kindergarten.

    Dream Of Playing In Football Game Comes True For Boy With Cerebral Palsy

    CBC wins International news Emmy award for Ebola coverage in Liberia

    CBC wins International news Emmy award for Ebola coverage in Liberia
    More than 11,280 people have been reported to have died worldwide from Ebola, according to data released by the World Health Organization earlier this month.

    CBC wins International news Emmy award for Ebola coverage in Liberia

    Medical Marijuana Seems To Help Chronic Pain Patients, Appears To Be Safe: Study

    Medical Marijuana Seems To Help Chronic Pain Patients, Appears To Be Safe: Study
    Dr. Mark Ware, the Montreal pain specialist who led the national study, says medical cannabis appears to have a reasonable safety profile when taken by patients who are experienced users.

    Medical Marijuana Seems To Help Chronic Pain Patients, Appears To Be Safe: Study