GUILTY TX - Athena Strand, 8, Abducted & Murdered by FedEx Contract Driver, Tanner Horner, Paradise, 30 November 2022 #2

[shotgun09]

Next blurred witness is 'Mary', a licensed social school something. Had some personal knowledge of Tanner H.

 

[Megnut]

State calls the Defense's bluff. Defense wants her testify to her expertise but without presenting her as an expert.

 

[scottishgal]

Off topic but wanted to share…
(Some details changed)

Many years ago I did a court riskassessment on a young man (diagnosed PTSD, ADHD and Autism) who was arrested at age 18 for molesting a 9 year old girl whom he was asked to babysit by a family friend.

During this assessment, I learned that his mother attempted suicide while pregnant with him by poisoning herself. He had to be immediately removed from her womb 7 weeks early and receive a full blood transfusion. He grew up in rural poverty with his depressed mother, a couple siblings and a stepfather. The stepfather sexually abused all the children and would force them to watch violent pornography. He would punish the children by making them kneel on rice for hours until their knees bled. He strangled several family cats to death in front of my client and eventually shot himself in the face with a shotgun in the home. After, my client ended up living in a car with his mom until he found her unconscious following a suicide attempt. He was then sent to live with his father and uncle for the remainder of his adolescence up until his arrest. As a teen, he struggled greatly socially and expressed interest in sex and dating but did not have the age appropriate skills to connect with female peers. His father and uncle were later arrested for uploading child pornography. Not all of this was self-reported during the assessment but there was documentation of all of it.

I share this because while mental health history doesn’t excuse behavior (rare exceptions) it can begin to explain behavior when viewed in the proper context. Did we really expect this individual to grow up “normal?”

The dots are not being connected for me here. I think it’s very human to fill in the gaps the defense is leaving wide open with “he’s just an evil person” (which is where I’m at right now tbh unless they give me more to mull over).

Sorry for the essay but ya’ll are great critical thinkers and I figured you’d find it interesting.

OMG.....your client's childhood , cudnt read without tears....

As bad as kidnapping and sexually molesting athena was, i think if TH had dropped her back in an hour at the end of her driveway being incapable of murder - his crime would have been much lesser in the eyes of law and prob not DP level - although rape of a minor below 8 is DP in florida as we saw in the Stephen S case?

Murdering her after molesting her was , what purpose did it serve, unless he enjoyed that as well? I mean, with therapy and healing, eventually she could have at least lived and lived a normal life. Dont think Im articulating well what I am trying to say here. If murdering her was so she could not report him /identify him to cops , then it served no purpose at all

 

[browneyes]

State calls the Defense's bluff. Defense wants her testify to her expertise but without presenting her as an expert.

I’m shocked the judge is allowing her to testify. No personal experience, but global. What does that mean?

 

[Megnut]

She evaluated students for autism, small district, didn't really evaluate high-functioning autism.

Describing general things they would do to develop IEPs.

Mary should have dialed this in. Or not.

 

[browneyes]

OMG.....your client's childhood , cudnt read without tears....

As bad as kidnapping and sexually molesting athena was, i think if TH had dropped her back in an hour at the end of her driveway being incapable of murder - his crime would have been much lesser in the eyes of law and prob not DP level - although rape of a minor below 8 is DP in florida as we saw in the Stephen S case?

Murdering her after molesting her was , what purpose did it serve, unless he enjoyed that as well? I mean, with therapy and healing, eventually she could have at least lived and lived a normal life. Dont think Im articulating well what I am trying to say here. If murdering her was so she could not report him /identify him to cops , then it served no purpose at all

Kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 7 year old should be the death penalty, IMO. No matter if the victim is not murdered. IMO

 

[Megnut]

State objects [to this witness speaking in generalities about a disorder we don't even know TH had, MOO]

Judge sustains.

Defense asks to be heard.

Judge: no, ma'am.

 

[scottishgal]

is it just my eyes or is the whole courtroom blurry now

 

[Walela]

I wonder if the defense are doing a deliberately poor job just because they have to do something. They aren’t really providing any defense for what he’s done, are they?!

At first I thought this defense was the best they had to work with but......now, I have taken an opposite view and believe there is a good possibility that the strategy is purposefully poor and non-relevant so as to provide TH with grounds for an ineffective counsel appeal. I believe his attorneys know he will be sentenced to death and have prepared for that very thing so they are setting the grounds for the appeal. There have been no records produced to back the defense claims of ADHA, FAS, etc and these witnesses are contributing nothing substantial or relevant when describing his first 2 years of life. The experts aren't really experts and some haven't even spoken with TH. Their claims of 24 times higher lead level with an instrument not approved for use with humans is flat out absurd. Is this because there's nothing there to begin with or is it because what is there has been intentionally suppressed in favor of an 'after-the-sentencing' chance at a sentence reversal?? IDK....what do you think?

 

[browneyes]

State objects.

Judge sustains.

Defense asks to be heard.

Judge: no, ma'am.

Everything today has just been irrelevant IMO.

 

[Megnut]

Defense attorney, laugh laugh laugh

This witness doesn't even know when she would have worked with TH, which grade level.

 

[browneyes]

At first I thought this defense was the best they had to work with but......now, I have taken an opposite view and believe there is a good possibility that the strategy is purposefully poor and non-relevant so as to provide TH with grounds for an ineffective counsel appeal. I believe his attorneys know he will be sentenced to death and have prepared for that very thing so they are setting the grounds for the appeal. There have been no records produced to back the defense claims of ADHA, FAS, etc and these witnesses are contributing nothing substantial or relevant when describing his first 2 years of life. The experts aren't really experts and some haven't even spoken with TH. Their claims of 24 times higher lead level with an instrument not approved for use with humans is flat out absurd. Is this because there's nothing there to begin with or is it because what is there has been intentionally suppressed in favor of an 'after-the-sentencing' chance at a sentence reversal?? IDK....what do you think?

I just think this is all they have. TH is evil. No reason. IMHO

 

[BUF]

She doesn’t remember if he was in elementary school, junior high, or high school when she saw him???

 

[Megnut]

TH was bright, in regular classrooms.

So why is this witness still talking?

 

[scottishgal]

zzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[browneyes]

Defense attorney, laugh laugh laugh

This witness doesn't even know when she would have worked with TH, which grade level.

She sounds unsure and uneducated on what they are asking her. IMO

 

[Walela]

I tuned out when the babysitter cousin started talking about th pooping coins too

why is Mr weebles on screen now also blurred ?

Probably so he's not recognized and if he has any clients they won't run the other way as fast as they can. moo

 

[scottishgal]

have they forgotten to unblur the camera......

 

[imstilla.grandma]

After Horner's mother and a paternal great-aunt testified on Wednesday, two more relatives took the stand on Thursday: Horner's paternal aunt and a cousin on his mother's side. Once again, the camera feed from the courtroom was blurred to obscure the witnesses' identities, and neither woman was referred to by name.

The first witness was a sister of Tanner Horner's late father Terry Horner. She testified about her brother's struggles with drugs, and how he was in and out of jail for much of his life. She also recalled Tanner Horner crying a lot as a baby. On cross-examination, she admitted to the prosecutor that she had only seen Horner a few times in his life.

The second witness, only referred to as Ms. Sullivan, is a first cousin of Horner's mother. Sullivan said Horner's mother babysat her as a child, and then she babysat Horner when he was an infant and toddler. Sullivan is about 10 years older than Horner.

Sullivan described how, as a pre-teen, Horner's mother would leave Horner alone in her care during the summer, sometimes for entire weekends. At about 10 years old, she was left responsible for feeding, diaper changes and putting Horner to bed. The arrangement continued when Horner was a toddler. Sullivan testified that Horner's mother began by paying her in cash, but eventually paid her in marijuana.

Tanner Horner's relatives, expert on lead exposure testify in his murder trial sentencing

Tanner Horner's defense attorneys are trying to convince a jury to spare him from the death penalty.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[browneyes]

Blah, Blah, Blah