Again and again, the defense team in the trial of Dexter Lewis has focused on as well as the abuse he witnessed
Attorneys sought to give scientific weight to that evidence Monday when they called a psychiatrist who specializes in childhood trauma.
Lewis, could be sentenced to death. The trial is in stage two of the penalty phase. In this stage, jurors hear mitigating factors and weigh them against the aggravating factors they already found were present in the penalty phase’s first part.
Dr. Bruce Perry, a psychiatrist who specializes in the effects of childhood trauma, focused Monday on the lifelong damage to brain development that such trauma can cause — especially when it comes at the hands of a parent.
“You’re supposed to be forming your sense of the world by your relationship with this person,” said Perry, who helped found the Child Trauma Academy in Houston.
The jury has heard about abuse, neglect and violence in Lewis’ upbringing.
“The earlier in life, the more malleable the brain is,” Perry said. “Childhood trauma impairs the development of executive functioning.”
With that impairment, children can grow up lacking impulse control and the ability to regulate emotions in stressful situations, he said.
Another expert is expected to deliver additional testimony Tuesday, arguing that Lewis’ childhood lessened his moral culpability when he committed the crime.
Matthew Nussbaum: 303-954-1666, mnussbaum @denverpost.com or twitter.com/ MatthewNussbaum
