Pathologist rejects torture claim

Kim Smith

Friday, Nov. 10, 2000 | 10:06 a.m.

A Texas forensic pathologist told jurors Thursday that most of the wounds suffered by one of the victims of a quadruple murder were not the result of torture.

Prosecutors are trying to persuade jurors in the Richard Powell case that Powell deserves to die for the deaths of four Las Vegas residents in May 1992.

One of their arguments has been that one of the victims, Samantha Scotti, was shot as many as eight times before she died, with one of the bullets tearing the fingers off one hand.

Dr. Randall Frost of Bexar County, however, testified he believes Scotti was only shot four times. Some of the wounds she sustained, including the one that took her fingers, occurred when she raised her hands and arms to ward off the bullets, he said.

Thursday was the second day in the penalty phase of Powell's trial. The jurors must decide if the aggravating circumstances in the case outweigh the mitigating circumstances. If so, they could impose the death penalty.

By putting Frost on the stand, Powell's attorneys, Bret Whipple and Lee McMahon, tried to disprove one of the aggravating factors prosecutors Mel Harmon and L.J. O'Neale have cited -- torture.

Powell, 37, was convicted last week in the shooting deaths of Scotti, 24, Lisa Boyer, 26, Germaine Woods, 19, and Stephen Walker, 18, on May 1, 1992.

Prosecutors believe Powell wanted Scotti dead because she set up a drug deal between him and an undercover police officer in December 1990. The other three died, they said, because they just happened to be in Scotti's apartment.

Powell's co-defendant, Vernell "Little Ray" Evans Jr., was convicted and placed on death row in 1994.

The defense attorneys also put two of Powell's friends on the stand Thursday, Robert Vasquez and Monique Morris.

Both described Powell as a "respectful" man who was generous. Vasquez said Powell, who once lived across the street from him, often had weekend barbecues and was great with children.

In her second trip to the stand, Morris said Powell was a "great guy" who was always willing to give his friends money and advice.

Under cross-examination, Morris admitted she never knew Powell to have a job in the 16 years she's known him and he was her drug supplier.

Prosecutors put a reluctant Morris on the stand last month. She testified then that Powell had told her two months before the murders that she should stop hanging out with Scotti because "something bad" was going to happen.

The hearing is expected to continue next week following the Veteran's Day holiday.