AKRON, Ohio (Court TV) — Attorneys for a young woman convicted of brutally murdering her mother appeared before an appeals court on Tuesday to ask for a new trial.
Sydney Powell and her mother, Brenda Powell, embrace in a photograph provided by defense attorney Jeff Laybourne with permission from the Powell family. (Court TV)
Sydney Powell was convicted last year of murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence after she hit her mother, Brenda Powell, with a frying pan and stabbed her with a knife approximately 30 times. Sydney, who was 19 at the time of the murder, had been arguing with her mother after it was revealed that Sydney had been kicked out of school.
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Sydney never denied killing her mother but the jury rejected her argument that she was not guilty by reason of insanity. Several mental health experts testified during her trial, offering multiple diagnoses which included anxiety, borderline personality disorder and schizoaffective disorder.
Part of Sydney’s argument for a new trial is that the judge didn’t allow her to present a surrebuttal to the prosecution’s mental health witness who was called in rebuttal to her insanity defense. Judge Kelly McLaughlin told Sydney’s defense at the time, “You have had lots and lots and lots of expert testimony in this matter,” as she denied their request.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Sydney’s attorney highlighted the fact that Judge McLaughlin denied the defense’s request for a surrebuttal twice, first denying a more generic motion before the trial even began. “It’s not the amount of expert testimony that counts,” Dan Eisenbrei, who represented Sydney at the hearing, told the appeals court. “It’s the subject of the expert testimony.”
Eisenbrei also alleged at the hearing that the prosecution’s rebuttal expert had questioned the methodology of the defense experts at trial in a new way, preventing an effective cross-examination.
C. Richley Raley, representing the state, argued that there is no “automatic right” to surrebuttal and that the defense was simply upset it didn’t get the “last word.”
In her written appeal, Sydney’s defense accused prosecutors of misconduct when they elicited testimony from witnesses about her desire, while hospitalized after the murder, not to speak to anyone except her attorney. Sydney’s attorneys argue bringing up the statements violated her right to a fair trial and to counsel. In their response, prosecutors noted that Sydney never objected to the testimony during the trial.
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Sydney’s attorneys also argued that the court committed an error when it allowed “prejudicial” photos and testimony about Brenda’s death to be entered into evidence. Sydney’s defense felt the photos were not relevant to the trial, since “there was no dispute concerning the manner of Brenda’s death or that Sydney caused it.” Prosecutors argued in their response that the photos were necessary to give the jury an “appreciation of the nature and circumstances of the case.”
The court said the matter would be taken under consideration, but did not offer any time frame to expect a ruling.
