6.Cynthia Turner Video Publication Hearing
43 linesBOYD YOUNG: Your Honor, at this time, we would request to publish the video of Cynthia Turner.
RICK HUBBARD: Your Honor, we're going to have to take that one up.
THE COURT: Okay. How long is the video?
BOYD YOUNG: About 16, about 30--
THE COURT: About 30 minutes?
BOYD YOUNG: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: All right. A video I haven't seen, may have to review, 30 minutes, I'm going to send y'all home. See you in the morning. Don't talk about the case, put your stuff in the jury room. See you in the morning same time as normal. (WHEREUPON, the jury is excused from the courtroom for the day.)
THE COURT: All right. Give me the summary of -- make sure I know what this is. This is his mother?
BOYD YOUNG: Yes, sir. This is his mother. We went to -- Your Honor signed a material witness out-of-state court order for her attendance here in South Carolina as part of this trial. And that was on the 1st of April of 2019. We approached Ms. Turner at the place where she lives and she agreed to waive a hearing in New York, and that was on April the 17th, and agreed to come to South Carolina. The facility where she's at then interjected and said they wanted to challenge her waiver in agreeing to come to South Carolina and that they would not allow anybody to accompany her to South Carolina and that she was not able to go to South Carolina on her own unescorted. There was an emergency hearing held in New York on the 8th of May, 2019. And at that time, it was ordered that a videotape testimony be taken of Cynthia Turner because she would not be allowed to leave the State. And we made the State aware of the video being, taking place. They did not participate. And we took the video, I believe, it was later that same day, the 8th or was it the next day.
THE COURT: And the Solicitor -- have you seen the video?
BOYD YOUNG: The video was taken on the 10th, Your Honor.
RICK HUBBARD: I have not. Your Honor, this -- it was done during jury selection. We've got multiple issues with this. No expert has relied on this because it was done during jury selection. We had already pulled our pool, called the case. They've already gone over her diagnosis with the expert before Dr. Hames. It was Dr. Agharkar, I think that's how you pronounce it. They've already gotten in she has schizophrenia. I think they mentioned it in their opening. They've covered that. Again, no one has relied on this video for a diagnosis on Mr. Jones. We don't have any problem stipulating whatever problems she has. But, Your Honor, to me, to put up a video where she's interviewed, the State's not there, the Court's not there, it's just making a spectacle of this woman. It's to elicit sympathy. It does nothing to help the jury as finders of fact to determine whether the Defendant was insane at the time he killed his children. She's not a material witness. And, frankly, Judge, she's not even a competent witness. That's why they wouldn't release her. Because you couldn't even put her on the stand if she came down here because of her diagnosis. She can't even testify.
THE COURT: What's it going to be relevant to?
BOYD YOUNG: I apologize, I cut the Court off.
THE COURT: What's her testimony relevant to?
BOYD YOUNG: It's relevant to Tim's diagnosis and it was relied -- reviewed and relied upon and testified to by Dr. Agharkar.
THE COURT: I don't remember him saying he relied on it. No, he relied on being told by someone of her diagnosis, but not that video.
BOYD YOUNG: No, sir, he testified that he had watched the video and his impressions from that video and how they related to his diagnosis of Tim.
RICK HUBBARD: Your Honor, my response to that is you heard the Doctor. He had already issued a report in 2018 and that report didn't change. He diagnosed the Defendant after three and a half hours of talking to him and then listening to basically hearsay, self-reported information about the Defendant that he had schizophrenia. This video had zero impact. It did not change his diagnosis. He already had it, zero relevance. And it puts the State -- what do we do, cross her? And even if she's here, I couldn't cross her. She's not competent. How do I cross somebody --
THE COURT: I understand your concerns.
BOYD YOUNG: I don't think she's ever been declared incompetent. And the State elected to not go or submit any questions or attend by video, all of which they were aware of at the time this video was taken.
RICK HUBBARD: While we were striking a jury.
THE COURT: I mean, that's really -- how could they?
BOYD YOUNG: They could have opened up this laptop, gone on Skype and said --
THE COURT: Okay, I am not--
BOYD YOUNG: -- or they could have submitted questions, here's some questions that we want to ask.
RICK HUBBARD: I have no problem if they make it a Court's Exhibit for whatever purpose they want.
BOYD YOUNG: It's up to the jury to decide. This is his mother. There's been a lot of -- there's been testimony about the inheritable nature of schizophrenia, the disease. This is her video. This is a video of her and how she is. It's not a sideshow. It's his mother. It's relevant to determination about the credibility of the experts. It's relevant to a determination as to his mental health. And it's relevant, ultimately, to a determination of whether or not he is or is not, not guilty by reason of insanity.
RICK HUBBARD: Your Honor --
THE COURT: I'll review the video in-chambers and make a decision. I don't know -- I think I've got to watch it first before I can make a decision. I don't want to watch it -- a case says you can't do that, you have got to do it.
RICK HUBBARD: I will say this, Your Honor. Every expert has conceded -- no one has contested she is severely mentally ill, schizophrenia. That's already out there. I don't have any problem with that because it's a fact.
THE COURT: Let me look at the video. I'll look at it. It will be marked Court's Exhibit what, Joy?
COURT REPORTER: The next one is 90. (WHEREUPON, Court's Exhibit number 90 was marked for identification only.)
BOYD YOUNG: Your Honor, I'd also like to make part of the record the Court order --
THE COURT: Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
BOYD YOUNG: Sorry.
THE COURT: Now, you were wanting to make a record of something else?
BOYD YOUNG: Yes, Your Honor. I was going to pass a copy of the order from New York in which the video was ordered and it was, there was never any finding as to her being not competent.
THE COURT: Okay. That will be Court's Exhibit 91. (WHEREUPON, Court's Exhibit number 91 was marked for identification only.)
THE COURT: I'm going to watch the video. We can stand down until in the morning.
RICK HUBBARD: Thank you, Your Honor.
BOYD YOUNG: Thank you.
(Whereupon, the trial will resume the next day.)