GUILTY OH - Brenda Powell, 50, stabbed to death by daughter Sydney, Akron, Mar. 3, 2020

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texaslb218 said:
I agree with her opinion, but I think her "yep" and such are too flippant and off-putting. She sounds dismissive, but just IMO
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I give her points for not being defensive in tone. But, I can see your interpretation of her testimony, too.

ETA: Dr "Uhmmm's" testimony was awful for me. ;)
 
ifindedout said:
Has Sydney worked anywhere?
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I don't believe so. I haven't read that she's done anything apart from hang out with friends and wanting to get good grades. No witness refers to leadership skills, intellectual acuity, community service, artistic talent. And no mention of AP's.

I've been quite struck, actually, with how vague the defense witnesses seem to be about Sydney's personal qualities. The university witnesses were much more direct and discriminating in their testimony; they know how to evaluate young people, and I'll bet they size them up pretty quickly. I was very impressed by these 2: it doesn't seem as though Sydney had ever encountered this kind of directness anywhere until this point in her entire life.
 
IMO, I was surprised when I heard that the prosecution expert, PsyD Sylvia O’Bradovich had never testified as an expert before. I wonder if that was a mistake? Especially since she was the only prosecution expert, it gave the defense grounds to attack her as inexperienced. I thought she needed some coaching on how to not appear so informal and slightly unprofessional in her demeanor on the stand. As far as being a subject matter expert, I thought she was quite good. JMO
 
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ifindedout said:
A messy bun has acquired a level of chic in recent years, but it's not appropriate for a court appearance. It does her no credit.
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I think failure to run a comb through the hair during a trial looks like a deliberate snub to the jury. I would be very offended.
 
fred&edna said:
I could be wrong but I thought her father testified that she had a job for a couple of "summers"... I think as an assistant/helper in the "kids zone" with a local sports team of some sort.
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AKA "babysitting on weekends"? IMO there's a lot of fluff in this trial that has little substance. In fact, I think this is the problem Sydney ran into in university: she ran into adults who were ALL substance with some can-do added (i.e. the Dean witnesses), and a touch of touch-feely. No fluff.
 
NeverPersonal said:
I had never heard of this case before I started watching clips of it on YouTube through Court TV this afternoon as I recover in the hospital from a surgery (so I've got allll the free time in the world... surgery 1 of 3 down, 2 to go...) and I am absolutely at a loss as to why this girl would do this. I haven't gotten a whole lot of context just yet - I am still reading - but I cannot imagine stabbing my parent to death period, let alone over being a college dropout (which I also am). I don't get it.
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@NeverPersonal - 3 surgeries sounds daunting - hope you are hanging in! Sounds like these are back-to-back surgeries so just wanted to wish you well and not let your mention go unnoticed. I bet you are ALL caught up on this wild and sad case by now. =)
 
Trebor5591 said:
IMO, I was surprised when I heard that the prosecution expert, PsyD Sylvia O’Bradovich had never testified as an expert before. I wonder if that was a mistake? Especially since she was the only prosecution expert, it gave the defense grounds to attack her as inexperienced. I thought she needed some coaching on how to not appear so informal and slightly unprofessional in her demeanor on the stand. As far as being a subject matter expert, I thought she was quite good. JMO
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It does seem a bit risky to use a previously unqualified expert. I wondered if maybe others didn't want to go up against well-known psych defense experts? 'Just a wild guess... I really have no idea. (I think Dr O'Bradovich will learn from this and any future cases... hopefully refining her demeanor)
 
DAY 7 – 9/18/23

  • Prosecutors urge jurors to set aside their emotions and find Sidney Powell guilty of murder in the death of her mother
  • Defense Attorney Don Malarcik becomes emotional during his closing telling jurors he’s been guided by four words throughout the trial, “Please help us Brenda”
  • Prosecutors urge jurors to set aside their emotions and find Sidney Powell guilty of murder in the death of her mother
  • After hearing closing arguments jurors deliberated for 15 minutes before recessing for the evening
  • Prosecutors called one witness in rebuttal, Dr. Silvia O’Bradovich, a clinical psychologist, who said she interviewed Sydney for two hours and diagnosed her with borderline personality traits and unspecified anxiety disorder and concluded that she was malingering. O’Bradovich said she did not use any of the tests administered by the defense experts to rule out malingering because they relied on self-reporting, furthermore she testified that such tests did not accurately reveal whether someone is insane at the time of the crime, because they were administered years after the homicide. She also disagreed with their diagnosis that Powell was suffering from a psychotic break due to schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.
  • “The best source of information for an insanity evaluation is what was said and felt at the time of the incident,” O’Bradovich explained. She said she took a different approach than the others, by examining what she knew to be true and comparing it to Powell’s statements and symptoms. “It just didn’t add up to Schizophrenia,” she said noting that Powell reported that she began experiencing symptoms at the age of 11, which would make her case extremely rare. The psychologist said among women, symptoms of schizophrenia usually surface around mid to late twenties. She also noted that it would have also been rare for such symptoms to go unnoticed.
    • When shown the video of Powell appearing to be catatonic lying on the driveway, she opined that Powell was suffering from shock after the trauma of killing her mother. Catatonia, she said was not something that one could slip in and out of, rather the condition usually lasts 24 hours to several days.
    • O’Bradovich also disputed that Sydney had no motive to kill her mother, opining that Sydney was willing to kill her mother because she would do anything to keep from disappointing her.
    • Defense attorney Donald Malarcik questioned her expertise noting that O’Bradovich had never before testified as an expert witness on an insanity matter in a criminal case. The judge recognized her as an expert over his objection.

www.courttv.com

OH v. Sydney Powell: Mother Stabbed Murder Trial

UPDATE: A judge has sentenced Sydney Powell to 15 years to life for the the fatal stabbing of her mother in the family's home.
www.courttv.com www.courttv.com
 
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