Attorneys for a man accused of serial killings revealed a defense strategy Friday to focus a jury's attention off morality and onto science.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
|
Have a thought?
Go to the Forums or Chat.
|
|
|
Reinaldo Rivera, 39, is scheduled to stand trial Nov. 10. He has pleaded innocent, but Friday his attorneys once again said they hope to present a case that convinces the jury that Mr. Rivera is guilty but mentally ill, and not deserving of the death penalty.
Medical experts hired by the defense team of Peter Johnson and Jacque Hawk have finished their examinations of Mr. Rivera, but haven't yet provided written reports. Mr. Johnson said the experts are needed to explain a theory that crime might not be as much a morality issue as one explained by neuroscience.
Mr. Rivera faces charges of murder, rape, aggravated sodomy and aggravated assault in Richmond and Columbia counties. He is accused of the deadly attacks on Sgt. Marni Glista, 21, and Tabitha L. Bosdell, 18, and the nearly fatal attack on an Augusta teenager Oct. 10, 2000.
Judge Albert M. Pickett said he wanted Friday's hearing to find out where defense and prosecutors are in trial preparations. District Attorney Danny Craig said he cannot arrange for state-requested examination of Mr. Rivera until he knows what defense experts have to say.
Mr. Johnson said their experts will explain how a PET scan reveals the differences between a normal brain and Mr. Rivera's brain.
"There are remarkable differences," Mr. Johnson said, and they are in the regions of the brain neurologists believe control judgment and aggression.
Defense attorneys have through the end of the month to have their medical experts complete reports and to turn over the information to the prosecution. Mr. Craig will have the two months remaining before the trial date to request addition testing or examination of Mr. Rivera.
Both sides said Friday that, except for this issue, they are ready for trial.
Mr. Rivera remains in the Richmond County jail without bond. According to statements given to investigators in October 2000, he sexually assaulted and killed two South Carolina teenagers before committing more crimes in the Augusta area. Warrants also have been issued in Aiken County.
Investigators reported he claimed responsibility for the July 17, 1999, slaying of Melissa Dingess, 17, and the Dec. 4, 1999, slaying of Tiffaney Wilson, also 17, both in Aiken County; the attack on Ms. Bosdell the next June; the attack of Sgt. Glista less than three months later; and the last attack Oct. 10, 2000, when an 18-year-old woman survived being sexually assaulted, stabbed and choked.
The remains of Ms. Dingess and Ms. Bosdell were found as a result of Mr. Rivera's statements. Ms. Wilson's body was found three weeks after she disappeared. Sgt. Glista was found badly injured in her Augusta home and she died three days later at a hospital.
The teenager who survived told investigators she met Mr. Rivera by chance and he talked her into taking him home and letting him photograph her. It was a pitch he delivered to dozens of young women in the Aiken-Augusta area, and one Mr. Rivera told detectives worked on the four homicide victims.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or shodson@augustachronicle.com.
