Convicted Killer Has Abnormal Brain, Doctor Testifies
<p>Convicted killer Alan Brett Holland has an abnormal brain, a defense witness testified Thursday.
Dr. Joseph Chong Sang Wu, acting director of the Brain Imaging Center at UC Irvine, showed video images of brain scans--one depicting a normal brain and the other showing Holland’s. Using a pointer, Wu showed jurors that the convicted killer’s brain is asymmetrical.
“This is a pattern of a damaged brain--of an impaired brain of some sort,” Wu said. “There is some type of abnormality in this brain.”
Wu could not say for certain what damaged Holland’s brain, but he told the defense attorney, Willard Wiksell, that it was possible a poisoning incident in Holland’s youth could have caused the damage.
Wiksell is trying to show that brain damage to Holland as a child--caused by exposure to pesticides--has impaired his judgment.
In December, a jury ruled that Holland killed 65-year-old Mildred Wilson in a Ventura mall parking lot so he could steal her car and purse.
Now, in the penalty phase of the trial, jurors must decide whether Holland should live the rest of his life in prison or be executed.
Medical testimony from the defense will resume Tuesday.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
