selected Dr. Podboy, a clinical and forensic psychologist, as the preferable expert. She was specifically interested in learning from Dr. Podboy whether Cervantes had experienced alcohol-induced blackouts. By mid-August 2012, she was also in touch with Zehnder, the forensic toxicologist who testified at trial, to estimate blood Cervantes’s alcohol level at the time of the crimes. Kirkpatrick had originally planned to use Dr. Podboy to testify about the effects of alcohol on mental state but decided against it for reasons we shall discuss Cervantes’s below. Even on the first day of trial, Kirkpatrick represented to the court that she would call Dr. Podboy as an expert witness. Instead Kirkpatrick decided to use Zehnder to opine about likely blood alcohol level at the time of the crimes, and to Cervantes’s explain to the jury the likely effects on people at various and increasing blood alcohol levels. c. Weaknesses in the Voluntary Alcohol Intoxication Defense Actually Presented Could Have Been Resolved by Calling a Neuroscience Expert Cervantes claims the defense pursued by Kirkpatrick was not a viable one. He points out especially that defense counsel did not call an expert witness to testify about the effects of alcohol intoxication at blood alcohol level. She did call Cervantes’s Zehnder, but Cervantes now claims that a different expert witness, one capable of expressing an opinion on the effect of alcohol on a brain impaired as is Cervantes’s allegedly impaired, and armed with more evidence of history of cognitive Cervantes’s deficits, could have provided more helpful testimony. Cervantes suggests that, had Kirkpatrick used a neuroscience expert instead of a toxicologist, the alcohol intoxication defense would have been much more likely to succeed. A neuroscience expert could have testified that alcohol Cervantes’s consumption, coupled with Dr. SPECT scan results and mental Amen’s Cervantes’s health history, caused him to lapse into a or in “dissociative state” “organic psychosis” which he attacked the children. Indeed, Dr. Stalcup was evidently prepared to testify to that effect. He opined at the new trial hearing that even without psilocybin mushrooms,
selected Dr. Podboy, a clinical and forensic psychologist, as the preferable expert. She was specifically interested in learning from Dr. Podboy whether Cervantes had experienced alcohol-induced blackouts. By mid-August 2012, she was also in touch with Zehnder, the forensic toxicologist who testified at trial, to estimate Cervantes’s blood alcohol level at the time of the crimes. Kirkpatrick had originally planned to use Dr. Podboy to testify about the effects of alcohol on Cervantes’s mental state but decided against it for reasons we shall discuss below. Even on the first day of trial, Kirkpatrick represented to the court that she would call Dr. Podboy as an expert witness. Instead Kirkpatrick decided to use Zehnder to opine about Cervantes’s likely blood alcohol level at the time of the crimes, and to explain to the jury the likely effects on people at various and increasing blood alcohol levels. c. Weaknesses in the Voluntary Alcohol Intoxication Defense Actually Presented Could Have Been Resolved by Calling a Neuroscience Expert Cervantes claims the defense pursued by Kirkpatrick was not a viable one. He points out especially that defense counsel did not call an expert witness to testify about the effects of alcohol intoxication at Cervantes’s blood alcohol level. She did call Zehnder, but Cervantes now claims that a different expert witness, one capable of expressing an opinion on the effect of alcohol on a brain impaired as Cervantes’s is allegedly impaired, and armed with more evidence of Cervantes’s history of cognitive deficits, could have provided more helpful testimony. Cervantes suggests that, had Kirkpatrick used a neuroscience expert instead of a toxicologist, the alcohol intoxication defense would have been much more likely to succeed. A neuroscience expert could have testified that Cervantes’s alcohol consumption, coupled with Dr. Amen’s SPECT scan results and Cervantes’s mental health history, caused him to lapse into a “dissociative state” or “organic psychosis” in which he attacked the children. Indeed, Dr. Stalcup was evidently prepared to testify to that effect. He opined at the new trial hearing that even without psilocybin mushrooms,
A140464.DOCX