A psychiatrist testified in his defense in the guilt phase, and a forensic psychologist was the only witness on his behalf in the penalty phase.
The psychologist, Shera Bradley, told the jury on Tuesday that Harris’ father died when he was 2, his mother didn’t enroll him in school, and he was neglected and sexually abused while living in poverty in the New York area. Harris was arrested at 17 with a stolen gun in a stolen car in South Carolina and sent to prison after violating probation.
Prosecutor David Stanton undercut Bradley’s conclusion that Harris might benefit from a prison environment without access to drugs, alcohol or weapons. He presented records detailing Harris’ disciplinary trouble in South Carolina prison, and pointedly noted the Nevada smuggling scheme got cellphones, chicken wings, alcohol and methamphetamine behind bars.
Stanton also played for the jury a recording of a jail telephone call following Harris’ arrest in Los Angeles in which he talks about getting an armed assault team for $20,000 to spring him from custody when he was transferred to Las Vegas in March 2013. Police reported taking precautions at the time, but never reported an escape attempt.
No one disputed during the weeklong trial that Harris was the shooter who triggered the pre-dawn carnage Feb. 21, 2013.
Prosecutor Pamela Weckerly cast him as so ego-driven that angry words with a man in the valet area at the Aria resort was enough to spark the murderous rampage that left cars spun-out, crashed and burning at the busiest intersection in Las Vegas.
Video recorded Harris’ black Range Rover driving jockey for position with a Maserati in a tire-squealing chase on neon-lit Las Vegas Boulevard, and the sound of gunshots from the SUV before the sports car accelerated through a red light and slammed into a taxi that ignited in flames in front of the Caesars Palace and Flamingo resorts.
Cherry was mortally wounded driving the Maserati. A passenger, Freddy Walters, was wounded. Cab driver Michael Boldon and passenger Sandra Sutton-Wasmund of Maple Valley, Washington, perished in the flaming taxi.
At least five other vehicles were damaged in chain-reaction crashes.
Separate cameras caught the Range Rover speeding away in the night.