Meilin Tompkins@MeilinTompkins
3h3 hours ago
Defense opening statement: Claims #DonaldSmith has mental illness "This is not going to be a pretty picture"
Destiny Johnson@Hello_Destiny
3h3 hours ago
It is insurmountable... it's a little bit like a train coming down the tracks blowing its horn, you can't get out of the way." Defense says of #DonaldSmith evidence.
anne schindler@schindy
3h3 hours ago
Defense attorney Charles Fletcher "it's a hard case to try. Not much to work with." The evidence he concedes, "is insurmountable" #DonaldSmith @FCN2go
Stephanie Brown@SBrownReports
3h3 hours ago
Defense Attorney Charles Fletcher delivering opening: It's rare that defense will paint a dark picture of their client, but you need the full story, will not be a "pretty picture" #DonaldSmith #CherishPerrywinkle
First Coast News@FCN2go
3h3 hours ago
"This week it's about mental illness," said the defense. Last week it was about what #DonaldSmith had done.
Stephanie Brown@SBrownReports
3h3 hours ago
Fletcher: Didn't give a closing statement in trial because they couldn't say #DonaldSmith was not guilty, but this phase is about mental illness #CherishPerrywinkle
Bridgette Matter@bridgetteANjax
3h3 hours ago
Fletcher: "What could I say? How could I stand up here and say #DonaldSmith is not guilty." Fletcher explains why the defense did not give a closing last week. He says this week is about mental illness. @ActionNewsJax
anne schindler@schindy
3h3 hours ago
"he was sexually aware at the age of 5" he was doing things "that would get you classified as a voyeur" at age 10 "There is something wrong with him" @FCN2go #DonaldSmith
Destiny Johnson@Hello_Destiny
3h3 hours ago
"All the signs of a pedophile, something, a sickness up here," gestures to his head, "something he didnt choose, theres something wrong with him." #DonaldSmith
Stephanie Brown@SBrownReports
3h3 hours ago
Fletcher: There were signs #DonaldSmith was not right "up here" when he was 5-years-old, were signs when he was young that he would be a pedophile #CherishPerrywinkle
Destiny Johnson@Hello_Destiny
3h3 hours ago
Nobody wakes up and says, hey I think Ill be a pedophile for the rest of my life, Its a mental disorder. #DonaldSmith Defense says there is 40 years of documentation of this mental illness.
anne schindler@schindy
3h3 hours ago
"That's how sick he is" Defense Attorney Fletcher says "Nobody says 'I think I'll be a pedophile for the rest of my life.' It's a mental disorder." @FCN2go #DonaldSmith
Meilin Tompkins@MeilinTompkins
3h3 hours ago
#DonaldSmith In 2009 #DonaldSmith impersonated an employee of DCF in order to lure a girl out of her house. "That's how sick he is" -Defense
Meilin Tompkins@MeilinTompkins
3h3 hours ago
#DonaldSmith tried to get himself baker acted -- just two weeks before he met Cherish Perrywinkle
First Coast News@FCN2go
3h3 hours ago
More
11 days before meeting the Perrwinkles, #DonaldSmith tried to Baker Act himself while on a cocaine binge, admits to using drugs and tries to admit himself. Is told to return in a couple weeks, says the defense.
Meilin Tompkins@MeilinTompkins
3h3 hours ago
He was ultimately turned away #DonaldSmith
Bridgette Matter@bridgetteANjax
3h3 hours ago
Fletcher has repeatedly called #DonaldSmith "Sick" @ActionNewsJax
Stephanie Brown@SBrownReports
3h3 hours ago
Fletcher: The pull on #DonaldSmith was so strong that he walked up to the Perrywinkles in front of cameras, used real name, offered up his driver's license #CherishPerrywinkle
Meilin Tompkins@MeilinTompkins
3h3 hours ago
#DonaldSmith's defense: Smith even put the rope in the grocery cart -- without any regards of how people will think about it
Destiny Johnson@Hello_Destiny
3h3 hours ago
Referring to the tapes of #DonaldSmith talking about 12-13 year old girls being his "target area": Thats sick, he has a mental illness, he is wired differently than me, and all these people out here. @FCN2go
Meilin Tompkins@MeilinTompkins
3h3 hours ago
#DonaldSmith is acting on impulse, and it's sick, we know that. But that's how strong it is
Eileen Kelley@reporterkell
3h3 hours ago
The defense attorney is outlining #DonaldSmith's long lists of sexual crimes. "That' sick. He has a mental illness. He is wired differently."
First Coast News@FCN2go
3h3 hours ago
One of the doctors describes, your brain is a tapestry, his is tattered. He didnt choose to be that way, thats something that started when he was little, says defense attorney Charles Fletcher. He cannot control his impulses. #DonaldSmith
anne schindler@schindy
3h3 hours ago
Smith suffers from "Executive dysfunction" his attorney tells jurors, "it's a powerful storm that corrupts his brain. he can't control his impulses. We are not saying he's insane. He knows right from wrong." #DonaldSmith @FCN2go
Stephanie Brown@SBrownReports
3h3 hours ago
Fletcher: #DonaldSmith is not "insane, "he knows right and wrong", but damage to his brain prevents him from not acting on an impulse. #CherishPerrywinkle
Eileen Kelley@reporterkell
3h3 hours ago
"We are not making excuses," Fletcher said in #DonaldSmith, "we are explaining it."
Destiny Johnson@Hello_Destiny
3h3 hours ago
"You don't have to vote for death, you can choose mercy. And sometimes mercy is given to someone who doesn't even deserve it." #DonaldSmith @FCN2go
anne schindler@schindy
3h3 hours ago
Atty assures jurors if sentenced to life "he will wear an outfit just like that
and he will ultimately leave prison in a prison made pine box" @FCN2go #DonaldSMith
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