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| Brenda Roth Trial: Day Two Recap 01/25/17 06:00pm |
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of Brenda Roth resumed today in Lewis County Court, with Herkimer County Judge John Crandall presiding. Background on the case, stemming from the death of 15-year-old Derek Holton in December of 2014, along with a recap of the first day of the trial, can be found here. The prosecution rested their case this morning, after testimony from three additional witnesses. The defense presented their case this afternoon, with two witnesses testifying. The defense then rested their case, with closing arguments set to begin at 9:30 AM Thursday. Mark Tuttle, Deputy Lewis County Coroner, was the first witness to testify this morning. He recalled arriving to the scene in Deer River just before 8 AM on the morning of December 28, 2014. He noted that Derek's body was on the floor, in front of a couch in the living room, covered with blankets. He noted Derek's pupils to be fixed and dilated, with a white substance around one nostril. He noted that rigor mortis and lividity had started to set in and stated "he was obviously deceased." Mr. Tuttle stated that Carthage ambulance crews had been to the scene prior, and no drugs were administered to Derek by paramedics. Paramedics had used a cardiac monitor to affirm there was no heartbeat. He then explained the measures taken to transport the body to the morgue at Lewis County General to be secured for autopsy. Medical Examiner Dr. Samuel Livingstone then took the stand, testifying to the results of the autopsy and lab results. Dr. Livingstone performed the autopsy on December 29, 2014. His initial observation of the body did not find anything out of the ordinary. He described Derek as very muscular. During his internal exam, he noted edema of the lungs, which he explained as excess fluid filling air space in the lungs, making it difficult for a person to breath properly. This in turn results to restrictions to the airflow, causing strangulation. He noted fluid had backed up into Derek's trachea and mouth. Dr. Livingstone testified that lab results showed a "lethal level of oxycodone," in addition to smaller amounts of antihistamines and other drugs. He testified that Derek's blood sample showed 470 nanograms/mililiter of oxycodone, which was on lower end of the scale of the limits of lethal intoxication. Dr. Livingstone said the amount of oxycodone in Derek's blood was the equivalent of approximately ten doses of a ten milligram pill. He testified that the other drugs were not at lethal levels, and concluded the cause of death to be "lethal intoxication of oxycodone." Under cross examination by defense attorney Gary Miles, Dr. Livingstone agreed that the average lethal dose of oxycodone was around 1,600 nanograms/mililiter. Dr. Livingstone explained that the amount can vary depending on how long a person has used the substance and how it was taken. The average contains people who use alot, and 470 nanograms/mililiter can be lethal for a new user. Crushing and snorting the oxycodone pills can result in quicker and stronger effects, as opposed to taking orally, he stated. Randy Pound, an investigator with the New York State Police, then took the stand, as the prosecution's final witness. He testified to taking two written statements from Ms. Roth on the afternoon of December 28, 2014. Ms. Roth had provided an initial statement to a trooper on scene at her residence earlier that morning. In the first statement, read in court by Investigator Pound, Ms. Roth indicated she knew she was in trouble and wanted to tell the truth now. This statement confirmed previous witness testimony that stated Ms. Roth had picked up Derek and the four teenage girls present the night of his death, at around 5:30 PM in Carthage, arriving to her home between 6 PM and 6:30 PM that evening. She stated she then went to her room and that her prescription medications were locked in a cabinet when she went to sleep. This statement went on to say at around 1:30 AM she was awoken by one of the girls stating something was wrong with Derek. She stated his breathing was congested and she learned he had taken 'Triple C's'. He was on the floor in front of the couch and they tried to put him on the couch, but he was too heavy to move. Pillows were placed under his head and she recalled saying "he can sleep it off." Everyone then went back to sleep, the statement continued, until she was awoken in the morning by one of the girls telling her Derek wasn't breathing. She described Derek as being blotchy and blue, as well as cold to the touch. At this time she called her boyfriend, an EMT, and one of the girls called her brother-in-law. In this statement she noted that the pills had been stolen from her room. She stated she had initially told the girls to lie to the police. She concludes she was scared and not thinking straight, and should have called 911 when she was awoken at 1:30 AM. She said her initial statement that morning to the trooper had been untruthful. Shortly after giving the first statement, additional information was obtained and she was confronted on whether she knew the 'girls' were taking her drugs. It was then that she offered a second written statement. In this statement she said that the prescriptions had not been locked up, and one of the girls had come into her room twice to get pills. She said she did not hand the pills to the girl, but did not stop her from taking them. In this statement she also said that one of the girls had told her at 1:30 AM, when Derek was having problems breathing, that he had taken too many of the medications. She stated that she did not call for help then and that she was sorry for that. Under cross examination Investigator Pound conceded that he couldn't locate in the statement that Ms. Roth had known if Derek had taken any of the prescriptions at the time he was doing them. Following Investigator Pound's testimony, the prosecution rested their case. After an adjournment for lunch, the defense began presenting their case in the afternoon. Before proceeding, the defense asked that all four charges be thrown out. Judge Crandell reserved a decision on this matter until prior to summations, at which point it was later denied. The defense called on two witnesses, both teenage girls present the night of Derek's death. (The other two girls present that night testified on Monday for the prosecution.) Both provided a similar series of events leading up to arriving at Ms. Roth's residence on December 27, 2014. Like the testimony of the two girls on Monday, both described going to a variety of stores in Carthage and West Carthage, until they were successfully able to steal 'Triple C's' from the Rite Aid in Carthage. Both testified that Ms. Roth was in her room the entire evening and did not directly witness any of the teens using the medications. Both witnesses stated that they both took oxycodone pills, as well as Derek, orally that night. They also testified to snorting, through a straw, crushed up Percoset, Klonopin, and Lyrica. One witness, when asked under cross examination if they had a prescription for any of those medications, stated no, they had not. When asked where they came from, she stated they were Ms. Roth's. Both stated that they had stolen medications from Ms. Roth on many previous occasions, as well as purchasing them from other sources. One of the girls said it was the first time she had used prescription pills with Derek. The first of the two witnesses indicated she was "half dead" on December 28, 2014, as a result of the drugs she had taken the night before. She was "messed up" when giving her initial statement to a trooper on the scene that morning. After returning home and sleeping for a bit, one of the girls came to her house telling her they had to go to the State Police barracks and tell the truth. She indicated she was still "very messed up" when giving a second statement to police at the Carthage barracks. She was later taken to the hospital, fears she was going to go into cardiac arrest, according to her testimony. The second of the two witnesses testified that she had initially taken the pills from Ms. Roth's room when they first arrived that evening, while the others were "bringing in the groceries." She stated after she thought Ms. Roth was asleep that night, she went back into her room and stole more of the medications. Her testimony stated Ms. Roth did not know she stole the medications. She also testified that Ms. Roth did not know that Derek was staying over or that any of the teens were using her medications. Special Prosecuter Caleb Petzoldt's only question on cross examination of this witness asked what the impact of taking all the drugs was. The witness responded "to get messed up," and agreed that they cloud thinking and impair judgement. The defense rested their case upon conclusion of the witness testimony. Closing arguments are scheduled for 9:30 AM Thursday. |
