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Anne Norris, 30, sits in Supreme Court in St,. John's on Feb. 14, 2018, as her first-degree murder trial continues. (Glenn Payette/CBC)Anne
Norris's defence team wrapped its case in Supreme Court in St. John's
Wednesday afternoon, meaning she won't be taking the stand in her
first-degree murder trial.
The 30-year-old woman has admitted to killing Marcel Reardon on May 9, 2016, by hitting him repeatedly in the head with a hammer, as well as placing his body under the steps of Harbour View Apartments and getting rid of the hammer by placing it in a borrowed backpack and tossing that into the harbour.
Justice William Goodridge, who is presiding over the case, told jurors Wednesday afternoon that they won't be needed back in court until 10 a.m. on Feb. 19, and to expect to still be in the trial through most of that week.
Jurors were also told that the Crown will have a chance to present rebuttal evidence on Monday.
Ladha was asked by Norris's defence to do an assessment, after Norris was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
Dr. Nizar Ladha, who did an assessment of Anne Norris after she was charged, is being cross-examined by Crown lawyers. (Glenn Payette/CBC)
He
said Norris's actions right after killing Reardon don't paint the
picture of a criminal mastermind who completely understood the
consequences of what she was doing.
The defence had first called Ladha to the stand Monday morning, and between cross-examination and re-direct questions from the defence, his testimony continued until Wednesday afternoon — the 15th day of the murder trial.
Iain Hollett, one of the Crown prosecutors of the case, asked Ladha about the amount of questioning he did of Norris's account of what happened, and whether he sought to verify that what she told him was truthful.
He
pointed, for example, to her telling police that she didn't know who
killed Reardon, that she had nothing to do with his death.
Hollett also pointed to a section of Ladha's report where he recorded Norris saying she had kept on hitting him, meaning Reardon, and that he wasn't dead yet.
Hollett's question was around whether or not Norris know the physical consequences of hitting someone repeatedly with a hammer — that it could kill them.
Anne Norris has admitted to killing Marcel Reardon, 46, by hitting him repeatedly in the head with a hammer. (Submitted)
Ladha
said that yes, Norris knew that hitting someone with a hammer could
hurt or kill, but her overall understanding of the situation as a whole
was foggy.
Norris has admitted to killing Reardon, 46, by hitting him repeatedly in the head with a hammer on May 9, 2016. She said she positioned his body under the steps of Harbour View Apartments, put the weapon in a borrowed backpack and threw it into the harbour.
Her defence is seeking a ruling that she was not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. The Crown argues Norris knew the consequences of her actions.
Iain Hollett is one of the Crown prosecutors in the Anne Norris first-degree murder trial. (Glenn Payette/CBC)
On
Wednesday, Ladha said that taking one section of his report on Norris
didn't put it into the full context of her history of mental illness.
Norris told him she felt unsafe, afraid of everyone in her building at Harbour View Apartments, and that just because she did spend time alone with people there at other times, doesn't mean she wasn't afraid and following a pattern of hoarding weapons to protect herself.
In
addition, Ladha said her actions right after killing Reardon — placing
his body under the steps and then going to the harbour with Kevin
O'Brien to dispose of the weapon — didn't point to someone who knew what
they were doing.
"A seasoned criminal wouldn't do that kind of stuff in my opinion," Ladha said.
In court Tuesday, the defence wrapped its questions for Ladha, and Crown attorney Hollett started cross-examination in the afternoon.
Rosellen Sullivan and Jerome Kennedy are defending Norris in the first-degree murder trial. (Glenn Payette/CBC)
Hollett
didn't dispute that Norris, 30, is mentally ill, but raised questions
about whether she met the legal requirements for being declared not
criminally responsible.
Hollett pointed to statements Norris made to police about what happened that night: that she walked home alone, stayed in her apartment reading a book, and knew nothing of the body outside her building.
Ladha said hearing those statements, which would prove to be untrue, didn't change his opinion.
He concluded that Norris was delusional at the time she killed Reardon to the extent that she didn't understand the consequences of what she was doing, that the "uncontrolled frenzied violence" was a result of her mental illness.
The diagnosis Ladha reached was that Norris was schizophrenic.
Hollett
also asked Ladha if he reviewed any of the other statements given to
police by people who were also with Norris — Kevin O'Brien, Jessica
Peach, Jack Huffman, Shawn Pumphrey — to corroborate her statements to
him.
He did not, Ladha said, but rather went on Norris's self-reporting of her state of mind at the time, as well as the history of her mental illness provided by her parents, and the statements Norris gave to police.
Follow along with the latest developments in the courtroom in our live blog.
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Justice department says help on the way for jurors, after gruesome Anne Norris murder trial
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Anne Norris won't testify in her 1st-degree murder trial, as defence wraps case
Dr. Nizar Ladha, who diagnosed Norris with schizophrenia, says her actions need to be taken in context
The 30-year-old woman has admitted to killing Marcel Reardon on May 9, 2016, by hitting him repeatedly in the head with a hammer, as well as placing his body under the steps of Harbour View Apartments and getting rid of the hammer by placing it in a borrowed backpack and tossing that into the harbour.
Justice William Goodridge, who is presiding over the case, told jurors Wednesday afternoon that they won't be needed back in court until 10 a.m. on Feb. 19, and to expect to still be in the trial through most of that week.
Jurors were also told that the Crown will have a chance to present rebuttal evidence on Monday.
Psychiatrist cross-examined
Dr. Nizar Ladha, the division head of forensic psychiatry at Eastern Health, was back on the stand Wednesday for cross-examination by the Crown prosecutors.Ladha was asked by Norris's defence to do an assessment, after Norris was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
The defence had first called Ladha to the stand Monday morning, and between cross-examination and re-direct questions from the defence, his testimony continued until Wednesday afternoon — the 15th day of the murder trial.
Iain Hollett, one of the Crown prosecutors of the case, asked Ladha about the amount of questioning he did of Norris's account of what happened, and whether he sought to verify that what she told him was truthful.
Hollett also pointed to a section of Ladha's report where he recorded Norris saying she had kept on hitting him, meaning Reardon, and that he wasn't dead yet.
Hollett's question was around whether or not Norris know the physical consequences of hitting someone repeatedly with a hammer — that it could kill them.
Norris has admitted to killing Reardon, 46, by hitting him repeatedly in the head with a hammer on May 9, 2016. She said she positioned his body under the steps of Harbour View Apartments, put the weapon in a borrowed backpack and threw it into the harbour.
Her defence is seeking a ruling that she was not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. The Crown argues Norris knew the consequences of her actions.
Following pattern of hoarding weapons
The 12-person jury heard from Ladha on Tuesday that he attributed Norris's "uncontrolled frenzied violence" to her mental illness, which he diagnosed as schizophrenia.Norris told him she felt unsafe, afraid of everyone in her building at Harbour View Apartments, and that just because she did spend time alone with people there at other times, doesn't mean she wasn't afraid and following a pattern of hoarding weapons to protect herself.
"A seasoned criminal wouldn't do that kind of stuff in my opinion," Ladha said.
In court Tuesday, the defence wrapped its questions for Ladha, and Crown attorney Hollett started cross-examination in the afternoon.
Hollett pointed to statements Norris made to police about what happened that night: that she walked home alone, stayed in her apartment reading a book, and knew nothing of the body outside her building.
Ladha said hearing those statements, which would prove to be untrue, didn't change his opinion.
He concluded that Norris was delusional at the time she killed Reardon to the extent that she didn't understand the consequences of what she was doing, that the "uncontrolled frenzied violence" was a result of her mental illness.
The diagnosis Ladha reached was that Norris was schizophrenic.
He did not, Ladha said, but rather went on Norris's self-reporting of her state of mind at the time, as well as the history of her mental illness provided by her parents, and the statements Norris gave to police.
Follow along with the latest developments in the courtroom in our live blog.
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