Magnotta jury puts questions to witness on Day 33 of murder trial
Posted November 20, 2014 12:17 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Day 33 of Luka Rocco Magnotta’s first-degree murder trial has seen the jury ask questions of a witness for the first time.
Justice Guy Cournoyer read out three questions to Dr. Joel Watts, a psychiatrist who assessed Magnotta for criminal responsibility on behalf of the defence.
The first had to do with what effects a combination of Temazepam, Benadryl and alcohol could have on a person suffering from paranoid psychosis.
The second addressed Magnotta’s 2011 hospitalization in Miami, while the third dealt with the extent to which the accused’s answers to Watts might have been shaped by what his lawyer told him about the case.
Magnotta admits having caused the death and dismemberment of Jun Lin in May 2012, but is arguing in favour of a mental disorder defence.
Watts and another psychiatrist have testified for the defence that Magnotta was psychotic the night of the killing and was incapable of telling right from wrong, while the Crown is arguing the crimes were planned and deliberate.
