Overton Hearing Expected to Wrap Up Monday
Overton Hearing Expected to Wrap Up Monday
Posted: Apr 30, 2012 11:18 AM EDT
Updated: Apr 30, 2012 11:54 AM EDT
CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) -
UPDATE: The hearing officially ended at 10:45 on Monday. Judge Jose Longoria now has 30 days to submit his recommendation to the Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin.
It appears the hearing for Hannah Overton could wrap up Monday. Both, the prosecution and defense are expected to finish their closing arguments before 12:00 PM Monday. In closing arguments, prosecutor Bill Ainsworth says that Overton took a gamble by not allowing a jury to consider a lesser charge in her capital murder trial. Ainsworth then said there has been a lot of talk about "Justice for Hannah." He reminded everyone that justice for Andrew Burd needs to be considered.
Medical Examiner, Dr. Ray Fernandez continued his testimony in the special hearing for Hannah Overton. Overton is trying to get her 2007 capital murder conviction overturned.
During questioning, Dr. Fernandez said he couldn't tell how the exact makeup of the spice mixture killed Andrew Burd. He did testify that in his opinion, he considers what happened to Andrew was both abuse and torture. During the autopsy of Andrew Burd, Dr. Fernandez testified that there were no unusual signs found in the boy's digestive tract.
Thursday an attorney for the defense team broke down on the stand after admitting the defense team made a crucial mistake by not putting Dr. Moritz on stand. The attorney says after 30 minutes of watching the doctor's deposition, he knew they had made a mistake because he believes the testimony would have proven this was not child abuse. The testimony brought the defense team, Hanna Overton and members of the audience to tears.
Members of the prosecution say the defense team elected not to use the doctor because he also had damaging information.
Wednesday morning, former Nueces County prosecutor, Sandra Eastwood took the stand. Overton's defense attorney, Gerry Goldstein, asked Sandra Eastwood if she was abusing prescription drugs during the 2007 capital murder trial. Following that question, there was a huge uproar in the courtroom with objections coming from the prosecution table.
Judge Longoria then called for the recess lasted about 20 minutes. Eastwood was back on the witness stand after the recess and testified that she is a recovering alcoholic, but that it did not affect her job on the Overton case.
The Corpus Christi mother has been in prison since 2007. That after jurors decided Overton intentionally used a spice-filled drink to kill her 4-year old foster child, Andrew Burd. Overton is serving a life sentence for that crime.