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Gudino trial update: expert doubts teen was sleepwalking

February 24th, 2011, 12:35 pm by

The Crime: On May 18, 2009, Colorado Springs police arrested a 13-year-old boy on charges that he shot and killed his 9-year-old brother and then wounded their mother in the family’s home in the 1800 block of Chapel Hills Drive.

The Defendant: Daniel Gudino, now 15, is being tried as a juvenile on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Defense theory: His public defenders have argued that the boy suffers from a mental illness and may have been sleepwalking when the shootings occurred.

Prosecution theory. Prosecutors contend the boy knew what he was doing when he picked the lock on a gun cabinet, loaded a .22 caliber rifle and then shot his brother Ulysses Jr. and shot and stabbed their mother Marina Gudino.

Number of days of testimony so far: 12

Number of juror questions so far: 88

What happened today: A sleep disorder expert called by the prosecution cast doubt on the defense that Daniel Gudino may have been sleepwalking during the attacks.

Dr. Mark Pressman of the Lankenau Medical Center of Wynnewood, Pa. described several ways in which Gudino’s reported behavior during the shootings did not resemble the usual traits of a sleepwalking episode.

For example, prosecutors contend Gudino sought out his younger brother and shot Ulysses as he was asleep in his bed.

Pressman said most incidents of violence during sleepwalking occur when the sleep is interrupted by someone.

“There’s nothing necessarily violent about a sleepwalker,” Pressman said. “Otherwise they go about their sleepwalking business.”

What the jurors asked: One juror asked if Pressman thought a soldier practiced in loading and shooting a gun could load it while sleepwalking?

Shoot maybe, Pressman said. Load, probably not.

“It doesn’t sound like the kind of action I’ve seen reported,” he replied.

What’s next: Colorado Springs homicide detective Donald Chagnon, who interviewed Daniel Gudino hours after the shootings, is expected to testify this afternoon.

Stay tuned to The Sidebar blog for updates on this trial.

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Gudino trial update: psychiatrist says teen knew what he was doing

February 23rd, 2011, 1:08 pm by

Daniel Gudino does suffer from mental illness but the Colorado Springs teenager likely knew what he was doing when he shot his brother to death and wounded their mom, a prosecution psychiatrist testified Wednesday.

“Daniel does have a problem,” Dr. Steven Martin, a Pueblo forensic psychiatrist, told jurors at Gudino’s first-degree murder trial in juvenile court. “He does have symptoms of psychosis. I have no disagreement with that.”

Martin noted that months before the May 18, 2009 fatal shooting of 9-year-old Ulysses Gudino Jr. and the attack on Marina Gudino, Daniel had reported hearing voices speaking in Russian and seeing scary faces.

But after reviewing the evidence and spending 4 hours interviewing the 15-year-old at a juvenile detention center in September and October, Martin concluded the boy was not in the midst of a psychotic episode when the attacks occurred at the family’s home in the 1800 block of Chapel Hills Drive.

Deputy District Attorney Amy Fitch asked Martin if he thought Gudino had the mental state at the time of the shooting to show that his actions were deliberate and intentional.

“In my opinion, I think he understood and planned what occurred,” Martin replied.

As evidence, he cited the “complicated behavior” that the then 13-year-old boy displayed by picking the lock to a gun cabinet with a toothpick, loading a .22 caliber rifle, shooting his brother three times, putting the weapon down and then later shooting his mother in the arm after she returned home.

“I wished it was otherwise,” said Martin, who added he had never testified as an expert for the prosecution before.

Martin likely will be last prosecution witness called in the trial, which is now in a third and possibly final week.

His testimony conflicts with the findings of Dr. John Hardy, another Pueblo forensic psychiatrist who testified that Gudino is mentally ill and likely was sleepwalking when the shooting occurred. Hardy concluded that Gudino lacked the intent necessary for him to be found guilty of murder and attempted murder.

Hardy cited earlier episodes of Daniel’s Gudino sleepwalking. He also pointed out that the gun cabinet may have been previously unlocked by one of the defendant’s younger brothers.

But Martin said it was unlikely that a person in a psychotic episode would suddenly snap out of it, as Marina Gudino has testified. She said her oldest son seemed like he was in a trance-like state when he shot and then stabbed her, but came to and began apologizing and asking for help immediately after the attack.

Fitch asked Martin, “Would it be normal for a person to be in an acute psychotic state and come out of it like that?”

“No,” Martin replied.

Martin’s testimony is expected to continue this afternoon.

Stay tuned to “The Sidebar” blog for updates on this trial.

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Gudino trial update: family discontinued anti-depression medication

February 22nd, 2011, 11:15 am by

A doctor prescribed anti-depression medication for Daniel Gudino two years before he was accused of killing his younger brother, his mother testified today.

The medication seemed to help at first, but because of concerns over the drug, the parents of the Colorado Springs teenager discontinued using it, Marina Gudino told jurors at her oldest son’s first-degree murder trial in juvenile court.

Daniel Gudino, 15, is charged with shooting his 9-year-old brother Ulysses to death and wounding their mom on May 18, 2009 in the family’s home in the 1800 block of Chapel Hills Drive in Colorado Springs. The trial is in its third and possibly final week.

Earlier in the trial, Marina Gudino was called by the prosecution as a witness. On Tuesday, she testified for the defense. 

She said Daniel was in the 5th grade when their family doctor prescribed liquid Paxil for him. The medication seemed to help, she said.

“He was pretty happy all the time,” she testified through a Spanish-speaking interpreter.

 But after finishing the bottle, his parents decided to discontinue using the medication.

“I was concerned that it was a drug and that later on it was going to harm him,” she said.

She also testified that the family doctor recommended three times, including a month before the shooting, that Daniel undergo a mental health evaluation.

But his parents opted not to do so, the mother said, adding that they didn’t think his problems were that serious. Those problems included being afraid of the dark and missing days at school, according to previous testimony.

“Did you feel it was just a stage that Daniel was going through?” Deputy Public Defender Noreen Simpson asked.

“Yes,” Marina Gudino replied.

“Did you blame it on his being a teenager?” Simpson asked.

“Yes,” the mother replied.

Testimony is expected to continue this afternoon when the jurors will watch a videotaped interrogation of Daniel Gudino by a Colorado Springs detective hours after the shooting.

Stay with The Sidebar for more on this trial.

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Gudino trial update: jurors quiz defense expert

February 18th, 2011, 1:35 pm by

Can a sleepwalker pick a lock? Load a gun magazine? Chamber a bullet?

Those were some of the questions that jurors in the first-degree murder trial of Daniel Gudino had Friday for a defense expert who testified that he believes 15-year-old was sleepwalking when he killed his younger brother and wounded their mom.

But jurors quizzed Pueblo forensic psychiatrist Dr. John Hardy on the sequence of events that prosecutors claim the boy carried out during the May 18, 2009 shootings at his family’s home in the 1800 block of Chapel Hills Drive.

Guidino is accused of killing his 9-year-old brother Ulysses Jr. in a basement bedroom with a .22 caliber rifle and then walking upstairs to shoot and stab his mother Marina in the kitchen. They contend he picked the lock with a pair of toothpicks and loaded bullets into the rifle, which were normally stored unloaded.

(Under a jury reform enacted a few years ago, jurors in Colorado are allowed to pose written questions to a witness. In this juvenile court trial, Fourth Judicial District Judge David L. Shakes read them to Hardy.)

In general, Hardy answered that the more complex the task, the less likely it was to occur during a sleepwalking state.

For example, when a juror asked if a sleepwalker could climb a set of stairs, Hardy answered it was possible.

“They’re not blind. They’re asleep,” he said.

Could a sleepwalker pick a lock that they’ve previously picked or seen picked with a toothpick? a juror asked.

“I would say that’s very unlikely, because it involved fine motor coordination,” Hardy replied.

But he suggested there were other possible explanations for how Gudino could have gotten the rifle out a normally locked gun cabinet.

Besides Daniel Gudino’s DNA, investigators also found traces of DNA from his two other brothers Ulysses and Alex on the toothpicks.

Alex Gudino, 14, also testified that he had picked the lock on at least two occasions and saw his brother Ulysses trying to do so. Alex said he never saw Daniel try to undo the lock.

Jurors also wanted to know if Daniel Gudino had displayed any sleepwalking behavior in the time since his arrest while he’s been held at a juvenile detention center in Colorado Springs.

The psychiatrists replied no, although he said the youngster has reporting sometimes feeling smothered in his sleep, which Hardy described as a symptom of sleep disturbance.

The trial – nearing the end of its second week – continues this afternoon when several of Daniel Gudino’s former teachers at Mountain Ridge Middle School are expected to testify for the defense.

Stay tuned to “The Sidebar” blog for details and updates.

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Update: Gudino jurors shown bloody comforter

February 14th, 2011, 1:16 pm by

Defendant: Daniel Gudino, age 15.

Charges: first-degree murder, attempted murder

Victims: Ulysses Gudino Jr., the defendant’s 9-year-old brother and Marina Gudino, their mother.

Allegation: Daniel Gudino is accused of shooting his brother to death in the basement of their home in the 1800 block of Chapel Hills Drive on the morning of May 18, 2009 and then wounding their mother in their kitchen.

Status: the trial enters its second week today in juvenile court.

Prosecution theory: Daniel Gudino consciously and deliberately carried out the shootings.

Defense theory: Daniel Gudino is mentally ill and may have been sleepwalking during the shootings.

What happened today: This morning, jurors were shown the bullet-riddled, blood-stained flower print comforter that Colorado Springs police recovered from the bed where they found Ulysses’ body. He had been shot three times, including a fatal wound to the chest.

Cordell Brown, a fire arms examiner for the Colorado Springs Metro Crime Lab, testified he counted five bullet holes in the comforter, but added that they could have been created by fewer then five bullets. Brown also said tests found no gunshot residue on the comforter, indicating that the shots from a .22 caliber rifle were fired at a distance of at least 2-3 feet.

A DNA expert also told jurors that she found traces of both Daniel and Ulysses Gudino’s DNA on toothpicks found near the family’s normally locked gun cabinet. Prosecutors contend the use of a toothpick to undo the lock showed conscious behavior on Daniel Gudino’s part.

What’s next: The defendant’s brother Alex is scheduled to testify this afternoon. Stay with the Sidebar blog for updates.

Trial notes: Daniel Gudino has a much shorter haircut today than he had earlier in the trial.

Correction: An earlier post on this trial incorrectly stated Gudino could be sentenced to the Youth Offender System in Pueblo if found guilty. Actually, he would be sentenced to the custody of the Division of Youth Corrections, since he is being tried as a juvenile, not an adult. He would be held there until he turns 21.

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The Daily Docket

February 14th, 2011, 10:21 am by
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Know of a court case I ought to be covering? Let me know.

My e-mail: john.ensslin@gazette.com

John C. Ensslin

Legal Affairs reporter

The Gazette

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Update: Mom says son suddenly recognized her during attack

February 10th, 2011, 10:49 am by

Daniel Gudino seemed to snap out of a trance like state immediately after shooting and stabbing his mother, she testified Thursday. 

That’s when her 13-year-old son started to cry and say he was sorry, Marina Gudino told the jury at a juvenile court trial in which he is charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Daniel Gudino, now 15, is accused of killing his 9-year-old brother Ulysses and wounding their mother on May 18, 2009 during a incident in the family home in the 1800 block of Chapel Hills Drive in Colorado Springs.

If found guilty, he faces incarceration in the state’s youth offender system until he turns 21.

As the trial entered its fourth day, Marina Gudino told the jurors how she was trying to plug her cell phone into a charger  and make breakfast for her kids that morning when she heard an unusual noise.

She looked up and saw her son Daniel Gudino standing at the top of the stairs from the basement, leveling a .22 caliber rifle at her.

“What’s the matter with you! What are you doing?” she recalled saying moments before he fired two shots, one of which hit her in the arm. At that point, her son said nothing in reply and had a blank expression on his face, she said.

The mother said she did not realize at first that she had been shot . She described struggling to get her arms around her son after he began stabbing her first with a scissors and then with a knife until they fell to the floor.

That’s when his expression changed and he suddenly seemed to recognize that he had hurt her, she testified.

She managed to call 911. After listening to the tape on Wednesday, Marina Gudino said it was in that moment – based on what her son was saying – that she realized he also had shot Ulysses.

Immediately after Marina Gudino testified, prosecutors called Colorado Springs homicide Det. Derek Graham as a witness.

Graham interviewed Marina Gudino twice at Memorial Hospital on the day of the attack. His recall of what she had to say that day conflicted with some of her testimony from the witness stand.

For example, Graham said that the mother described how Daniel Gudino said he was sorry and asked for help between  the shooting and the stabbing, not after the attack.

Graham said the mother also said she realized right away that she had been shot. He quoted her as saying that she screamed for her other two children to get out of the house, something she did not recall in her testimony.

He also said she discovered that Ulysses had been shot prior to making the 911 call. Graham said when Marina Gudino called out to Ulysses during the attack, she said Daniel replied that he had killed him.

Graham said Marina Gudino appeared to be in pain, but was not on any pain medication when he first spoke to her at the hospital.

He also said there did not appear to be any language barriers between them.

Marina Gudino speaks English and Spanish, but during the trial her testimony has been given through a Spanish interpreter.

When asked by Chief Deputy District Attorney Shannon Gerhart about her statements to Graham, Marina Gudino replied, “I remember clearly the exact moment (of the shooting) and I do not remember Daniel having spoken.”

“But what I do remember is that when I was interviewed, I was very confused about what had happened.”

Testimony continues this afternoon. Stay tuned to the Sidebar blog for updates throughout the day.

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Scenes from the Gudino trial

February 10th, 2011, 7:50 am by

 

Chief Deputy District Attorney Shannon Gerhart. Gazette file photo by Mark Reis.

“A very good boy”

Chief Deputy District Attorney Shannon Gerhart asked Marina Gudino some questions about her son Daniel, who is accused of killing his 9-year-old brother and wounding their mom.

“He is a very good boy…very shy…very responsible,” the mother replied. He was very good at school and never drew any complaints, she said.

Did he play violent video games? Gerhart asked.

Yes, the mother replied, including one his father brought home that she did not approve of.

“In my opinion, they were very ugly,” she said.

He had other hobbies, such as going to the YMCA, she said.

“Did he have friends?” Gerhart asked.

“Yes but one or two at best,” she replied.

Did he watch TV? Gerhart asked.

Yes, Marina Gudino replied.

“A lot?” Gerhart asked.

“From my point of view, yes,” the mother replied. Daniel would watch about 2 to 2 and ½ hours per day, she said. She would have preferred about 35 minutes a day.

“Were you ever concerned about Daniel being depressed?” Gerhart asked.

Yes, the mother replied. She talked about how he became reluctant to go to school.

“Did you ever take him to a psychiatrist?” the prosecutor asked.

“No” Gudino replied, later adding, “I thought it was part of his adolescence, that afterwards it would be gone.”

Tears for Ulysses

Gerhart asked Marina Gudino to look at a framed photograph.

“Who is that?” the prosecutor asked.

“Ulysses,” the mother replied

“What kind of boy was Ulysses?” Gerhart asked.

He admired his older brother Daniel, their mother said.

“He always was wanting to look like his brother,” she said.

“He was a very good boy,” she said, crying quietly.

Marina Gudino’s testimony will continue when the trial resumes today.

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Gudino family spokeswoman reacts to judge’s decision

May 10th, 2010, 3:36 pm by

Daphne Burlingame, a former prosecutor now working as a private attorney, has been acting as a spokeswoman for the parents of Daniel Gudino, the 14-year-old Colorado Springs boy accused of killing his younger brother and injuring their mom.

In this video, Burlingame gives the parents reaction to Judge David Shakes’s decision to try their son as a juvenile. This was recorded outside the courtroom with Marina and Ulysses Gudino Sr. standing along side Burlingame

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Brightcove video.

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The Gudino case: sleeper walker or killer?

May 7th, 2010, 1:01 pm by

Fourth Judicial District Judge David Shakes asked a question today about something he found curious about the case of Daniel Gudino.

Defense experts this week have described how they believe Gudino, then 13, was sleepwalking when he shot and killed his 9-year-old brother Ulysses and wounded their mother Marina in the family’s Colorado Springs home on May 18, 2009.  They contend Gudino thought he was shooting ghosts that morning.

Why then, the judge asked on expert, did Gudino put just five rounds into his .22 caliber rifle before the shooting began?

 The magazine clip held more than that. But earlier testimony indicated the boy’s father had trained his children to load just five rounds at a time when they went target shooting together as a safety precaution.

Dr. Ann Halbower, who treats children with sleeping disorders at Children’s Hospital in Denver, said several explanations were possible.

Gudino could have acted by rote memory of what his father told him to do, she said.

Plus people with violent sleep disorders can sometimes perform complex tasks, Halbower said.

She cited the case of one sleepwalking man who was fixing an automobile engine before he killed his wife. Another was able to drive his car across town she said.

It probably wasn’t logical, she added, that a boy who thought he was killing monsters would not load the weapon all the way.

Maybe Gudino thought he was a good enough shooter not to need more bullets, she speculated.

Or, Shakes suggested, it could be “the fact that he put in five rounds means that he was aware of what he what he was going to do,”

That question is at the crux of the week-long hearing that is drawing to a close this afternoon.

Did Gudino – whom doctors say had a history of sleepwalking and hallucinations – really know what he was doing that morning?  

Or should he – as prosecutors have requested – be tried on charges of second-degree murder and attempted murder in adult court? That will be up to Shakes to decide.

Stay with Gazette.com with more on the case later today.

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