Close X
Thursday, November 14, 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

    Quebec To Rename Sites Whose Official Names Contain Offensive N-Word

    Quebec To Rename Sites Whose Official Names Contain Offensive N-Word
    Eleven Quebec sites whose names contain words with pejorative or racist connotations will be renamed, a provincial commission announced Friday.

    Quebec To Rename Sites Whose Official Names Contain Offensive N-Word

    NDP Tables Climate Change Plan, Conservatives Criticize Trudeau Ahead Of Debate

    NDP Tables Climate Change Plan, Conservatives Criticize Trudeau Ahead Of Debate
    Two of the three major political parties tried to score domestic political points on Sunday, one day ahead of a major foreign policy debate by the leaders.

    NDP Tables Climate Change Plan, Conservatives Criticize Trudeau Ahead Of Debate

    U.S. Drug Company Challenges Ottawa's Ability To Control Patent Drug Prices

    U.S. Drug Company Challenges Ottawa's Ability To Control Patent Drug Prices
    Canada's ability to control the price of patented drug prices could be at risk after a U.S. company challenged the constitutionality of a federal patent drug price regulator.

    U.S. Drug Company Challenges Ottawa's Ability To Control Patent Drug Prices

    Man Arrives At Surrey Hospital With Gunshot Wounds, RCMP Investigating

    Man Arrives At Surrey Hospital With Gunshot Wounds, RCMP Investigating
    Sgt. Joe Johal says the 36-year-old arrived at around 3 a.m. Saturday with injuries to his lower extremities. He says the wounds are not life-threatening. 

    Man Arrives At Surrey Hospital With Gunshot Wounds, RCMP Investigating

    Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette Murder: Alberta Man Accused Of Killing Dad, Toddler, Out Of Coma

    Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette Murder: Alberta Man Accused Of Killing Dad, Toddler, Out Of Coma
    Global and CBC say unnamed sources say 22-year-old Derek Saretzky was speaking as of Friday afternoon.

    Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette Murder: Alberta Man Accused Of Killing Dad, Toddler, Out Of Coma

    Search Underway On Mackenzie River For 2 People After Capsized Canoe Found

    Search Underway On Mackenzie River For 2 People After Capsized Canoe Found
    Mounties say they received a report Wednesday that the watercraft was found about five kilometres upstream from Tsiigehtchic.

    Search Underway On Mackenzie River For 2 People After Capsized Canoe Found