Prosecutors focus on cause of death of Yeardley Love as George Huguely murder trial continues

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Week 2 has now begun in the George Huguely murder trial. It’s expected to be a long week filled with continual grueling testimony as to what happened the night of May 3, 2010, a night when former UVa women’s lacrosse player Yeardley Love was found dead in her apartment bedroom.

On Monday, the trial resumed as prosecutors continued to build their case against Huguely by placing him at the murder scene in hopes of showing the jury that George Huguely is indeed the man guilty of the murder of Love.

Prosecutors began the day by reflecting on the tape played in the previous week of Huguely’s interrogation with police officers. According to Charlottesville, Va., newspaper, the Daily Progress, Huguely told police he went to Love’s apartment where she in fact let him in. However, Love the went to her bedroom and locked the door.

In that same tape, Huguely said he then kicked a hole in Love’s bedroom door. From there, according to the Daily Progress, Huguely said that Love got aggressive with him, and hit her own head on the wall, before the two ultimately wrestled their way to the floor of Love’s apartment.

As the tape was played for the courtroom, Huguely was seen crying, according to NBC 12 affiliate in Virginia.

Testimony on Monday highlighted many crucial aspects to the case and saw key testimony from the doctor who performed Love’s autopsy, where prosecutors hoped to prove Huguely inflicted severe physical damage to Love.

On Monday, prosecutors brought forth the Assistant Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Bill Gormley, to testify of the damage that was found to Love. According to NBC 12, Gormley began by telling jurors that Love had “bruising on both legs, her left hand, knuckles and forearm.” In his testimony and according to NBC 12, Dr. Gormley also told the court that “an examination of her soft neck tissue showed a small area of hemorrhaging suggesting blunt force injury from pressure.” He also informed the jury that when he looked at Love’s skull he could visibly see a 2-by-3-inch bruise on its right side.

From here, prosecutors told the jury that there was no way Yeardley Love hurt herself that bad, and that Huguely took the struggle into his own hands.

In response to the Dr. Bill Gormley testimony, Huguely’s attorneys argued that George left the apartment and was really only aware that Love had a bloody nose. According to NBC 12 and upon further testimony of Dr. Gormley, he informed the court that in his medical findings, “Love also had bruising on the right side of her face, including her right eye, underneath her chin and inside her lip. But no injury to her nose.”

According to the Washington Post, it was also stated and shown that at the time of Huguely’s interrogation his hands were very bruised and cut up. Huguely’s attorneys told the jury that the injuries and marks seen on their clients hand were from a prior lacrosse game.

As the trial resumed Tuesday, prosecutors once again dipped into their evidence and called neuropathologist Christine E. Fuller to the stand, where she testified of the damage she found when examining the brain of Yeardley Love. According to the New York Daily News, Fuller told the court Love did in fact suffer severe brain damage as she “suffered a lesion on the lower portion of her brain.”

Prosecutors then told jurors this brain damage was a direct result of a very violent struggle between Huguely and Love. Fuller went on to testify, according the Daily News, that she found another injury on Love “near the base of the brain that would have been caused by violent twisting action.” Fuller also told jurors that injury “had potentially lethal consequences.”

The defense team pointed out that Love’s autopsy revealed amounts of alcohol and the prescription drug Adderall in her system. They hoped this would allow the jury to see another side of Yeardley Love and also support that fact that this could have also been a key contributor to her irregular heartbeat that they have told jurors was really the cause of her death.

However, according to ABC News, Dr. Gormley stated that the levels of alcohol and Adderall in Love’s system would not have been enough to cause the Love’s death. Gormley told the jury, “Love had a 0.05 concentration of Adderall in her system, and it usually take a concentration between 0.20 and 0.50 to be fatal.”

The trial concluded for the day and will once again resume Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. ET. ABC News reported that the prosecution is expected to rest its case sometime Wednesday. From there, attorneys for George Huguely will present evidence that their client is not responsible for Love’s death. It is possible that the defense in this case could wrap up early Friday morning, which would then allow for final closing arguments by both sides.

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