Family Members Rush Out Of Dallas County Courtroom In Tears
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DALLAS(CBSDFW.COM) - After seeing crime scene photos of their loved one Deanna Cook that had never seen, some family members rushed out of the courtroom in tears. Prosecutors say they were necessary to show jurors the brutality of Cook's death.
Samuel Bryant, the first Dallas officer inside Deanna Cook's home, took the stand Tuesday. He said the contrast was striking: a tidy house marred with water overflowing from a bathtub and a bedroom and bath in total disarray.
"When I entered the bathtub (bathroom) she was face down in the bathtub with her feet hanging out," said Bryant.
Later testimony was technical in nature. A forensic toxicologist saying Cook had alcohol and some PCP in her system at autopsy, but because of decomposition they were likely in greater amounts than at the moment of death. He balked when defense attorneys tried to suggest PCP is what killed her.
"It can be very difficult to determine what a specific level will be for an individual that will cause death," said Justine Schwane with the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences.
Late Tuesday, a DNA analyst said a test called YSTR tracks male DNA traits, though results are not as conclusive as routine DNA tests. Defendant Delvecchio Patrick's original DNA swab did not get a match, but the analyst testified the YSTR test got hits off Deanna Cook's fingernails.
"Delvecchio Patrick cannot be excluded as a contributor form the male DNA I took from that sample," said DNA Analyst, Barbara Leal.
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