Testimony, Day Eight

Glenn Vickery is on the stand. He is the headcoach at Daphne High School. He was the head football coach at Davidson High School in Mobile. Jamal Woods was one of his players.

Vickery says he came up on Jamal Woods who was in a fight. He says it took several coaches to separate them.

He says Jamal lost his temper several times. He says it pained him to see Jamal expelled because of his fighting. He says he and Jamal had a close relationship and that Jamal would drop and give him 10 pushups to this day if he asked.

Vickery says Jamal became violent when he found out he would not be allowed to graduate from high school because of too many absences.

Vickery says he tried to be a father figure for Jamal Woods. He also says that when Woods was expelled from Alabama A&M, that Woods called him to apologize.

Bart Sessions is now on the stand. He is a coach at Prattville High School. He was also once a coach at Davidson High School in Mobile. He was an assistant football coach when Jamal Woods was a student there.

Sessions says the fight he witnessed between Jamal Woods and another student was one of the most violent he has ever seen.

Investigator Kevin Turner is on the stand. Kind of a strange witness for the defense, because he works for the DA's offfice. The reason he is on the stand is that he deals with gang activity.

Turner is talking about the gang activity in L.A. He says that if you were a member of one gang and went into the turf of another gang, you could be beaten or even shot.

Turner says that showing disrespect was a very big no no among gangs and could lead to violence.

Court is in recess for lunch while the defense waits on one last witness.

After a very long break, testimony has begun again. Dr. Joseph Ackerson is on the stand. He is a psychologist at UAB. He is expected to be the defense's last witness.

Dr. Ackerson performed a mental evaluation on Jamal Woods.

He says Woods has anti-social personality disorder. Among the criteria are a failure to conform to the norms of lawful behaviour, deceitfulness and reckless disregard for the well-being of himself and others.

The doctor says Jamal's main role model growing up was the head of a gang and that is what he learned from.

Dr. Ackerson says Jamal Woods is very intelligent.

The defense has rested. Closing arguments will begin at 10am in the morning.