ER - Closing arguments to wrap up in sanity phase of trial

Closing arguments to wrap up in sanity phase of trial
by Kara Machado, 6/21/2007

Closing arguments are scheduled to be heard today in the sanity phase of the ongoing 2003 Bridgeville murder trial.

Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos concluded the prosecution’s case against Thomas Arthur Applegate Thursday with the testimony of Dr. Robert Soper, a psychiatrist who examined Applegate.

Included in Soper’s testimony Thursday, Soper said his examination of Applegate, 44, of Templeton, suggested Applegate had possible mild brain impairment and that Applegate “should have been on medication for years.”

Soper also testified that Applegate was “very apologetic” when asked about his assault on a woman in San Luis Obispo County just after the Bridgeville shootings.

“He wanted to make it up to her,” Soper said. “He didn’t feel he should have hurt her.”

Gallegos asked Soper if planning an alibi for the shootings ahead of time suggested Applegate could distinguish right from wrong.

Soper answered, “Yes.”

When Soper was asked if it was his opinion that, at the time of the shootings, Applegate was “not legally sane,” Soper also answered yes.

At the end of Applegate’s trial proceedings Thursday, Humboldt County Superior Court Judge John T. Feeney told the jurors they had “received all the evidence (they) will receive in the trial” and that they are to be back in court today at 9 a.m.

Feeney told jurors he anticipated the closing arguments will go past the noon hour today. But, after polling jurors on their availability for today, Feeney said he will not keep them past 1:30 or 2 p.m. today.

On June 13, the jury found Applegate guilty of the second-degree murder of Patrick Church, 34, and the second-degree attempted murder of Ross Condemi, 48.

The second phase of the trial — during which a jury will deliberate on whether Applegate was legally insane at the time of the shooting — began on June 15.

At the beginning of the sanity portion of Applegate’s trial, Feeney explained to the jury that the burden of proof in the second phase of the trial rests on Applegate’s attorney, Humboldt County Public Defender Kevin Robinson.

Robinson must prove to jurors, Feeney said, that at the time of the shootings Applegate either did not know what he was doing or was unable to tell that his actions were wrong.

(Laura Provolt contributed to this article.)
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