Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A neuropsychologist has told jurors that a man convicted of abducting an 8-year-old girl from a Florida Wal-mart and then raping and murdering her is most certainly a psychopath.
The Florida Times-Union reports Joseph Sesta, who has worked extensively with violent sexual predators, testified in a Jacksonville courtroom Wednesday in the penalty phase for 62-year-old Donald Smith.
Jurors took less than 15 minutes last week to convict Smith of the 2013 death of Cherish Perrywinkle. The jurors returned this week to decide whether Smith should be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison.
Sesta and other experts called by the defense all said Smith's brain is far from normal and he lacks control over his impulses. He also was described as callous, uncaring, manipulative and lacking empathy.
___
Information from: The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union, http://www.jacksonville.com
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
