Expert witness still sought in Pa. murder trial
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SOMERSET (AP) – A defense attorney is making another bid for permission to use testimony on battered woman syndrome at the trial of a western Pennsylvania woman charged in the death of her housemate 2½ years ago.
Prosecutors in Somerset County allege that 27-year-old Erin Everett shot 21-year-old Tory Minnick twice in the head and then bludgeoned her with a hammer in Jerome in March 2011.
A judge rejected defense attorney Brent Peck’s request to present testimony on battered women syndrome, spousal abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder, which prosecutors said would be “grossly misleading.”
The (Somerset) Daily American says Peck said the ruling would be “devastating” to his case. He asked the judge Thursday to reconsider and delay trial to allow the Pennsylvania Superior Court to decide on his appeal.