Nov 12, 2024
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- The defense team for Bob Lee's accused killer revealed the slain tech mogul's toxicology report in court on Tuesday. Jurors learned that the homicide victim was high on cocaine and under the influence of ketamine when he was fatally stabbed on April 4, 2023, under the San Francisco Bay Bridge in the city's East Cut neighborhood.  Defense attorneys called a forensic pathologist, Dr. John Marraccini, to the stand. He testified about Lee's drug-riddled toxicology report and described how cocaine and ketamine impact the drug user's behavior. Marraccini worked as a chief medical examiner in South Miami, Florida and was hired by the defense team as an expert witness.  Several Bay Area schools targeted in apparent ‘swatting’ incidents Marraccini said he has performed thousands of autopsies. He is an expert in determining causes and manners of death, post-mortem toxicology results, and the effects of drug intoxication. A grainy Nest surveillance video shows Momeni and Lee standing close together, face-to-face, under the bridge when the stabbing unfolds.   After reviewing Lee's autopsy, the toxicology report, and "super grainy" surveillance video of the stabbing, Dr. Marraccini said he concluded that Momeni likely stabbed Lee in self-defense.  Marraccini told jurors that Lee may have pulled out the knife, and Momeni redirected the direction of the knife back at Lee. "The person wielding the knife, the knife is deflected back at them," Marraccini testified.  Marraccini noted that Lee suffered a superficial hip wound before he was fatally stabbed through the heart. Marraccini also noted that Lee did not have defensive wounds on his hands and arms.  "Usually people will try to place their hands in the way of the incoming force," he told the jury.  The witness used a rickety easel and poster board-sized paper to draw a crude diagram of ovals and arrows. He drew the directions in which Lee was stabbed.  While jurors viewed the victim's toxicology report, defense attorneys asked about how a mix of cocaine, alcohol, and ketamine could have impacted Lee's decision making the night he was slain.  Marraccini answered, "Cocaine and ketamine can reduce a person's sensitivity to pain and alter their judgement. Cocaine is a stimulant, there's incidents of euphoria and agitation. Ketamine has a sedating property but can induce hallucinations. It can create depersonalization and hallucinations of things that are not there." When asked if the mix of drugs can cause "erratic" behavior, the witness replied, "Yes. Predictability, responsibleness, judgement, are all collectively impaired." A big question hanging over the defense team’s strategy is whether they will call on Momeni to testify in self-defense. Tuesday marked the second day of defense witnesses testifying, but so far, Momeni has remained silent at his trial.
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