Jury To Deliberate Friday In Alton Nolen Trial

Over three years since the beheading incident at Vaughan Foods, some answers will likely come Friday.

District Attorney Greg Mashburn said they only have one more witness to call in the rebuttals. Then closing arguments will happen. Judge Lori Walkley will then instruct the jurors before they head into deliberation.  This is stage one of the trial.

If Nolen is found guilty, stage two would begin on Monday. Stage two would determine if he gets life with parole, life without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty.

This week, Nolen’s defense attorney’s put on their case, including two psychologists. Both doctors diagnosed Nolen with schizophrenia and said he was insane when he beheaded Colleen Hufford and injured Traci Johnson.

The defense rested their case on Thursday morning and the state began their rebuttals. The state called two of their own doctors to counter the defense.

Dr. Shawn Roberson testified. He was the doctor that did Nolen’s pre-trial evaluation. He said he found no signs of mental illness. Roberson said Nolen has strong religious beliefs, but that is different than being religiously delusional.

Dr. Jarrod Steffan also testified. While Nolen refused to see him in person, Steffan said he had thousands of documents and records that were enough for him to make a diagnosis. He disagreed with the schizophrenia diagnosis and instead diagnosed Nolen with a personality disorder with antisocial traits. With this diagnosis, Steffan said Nolen still knew the beheading was illegal. But in his head, Nolen believed Allah would make the final judgement.

News 9’s Tiffany Liou will return to the courthouse at 9:30 on Friday morning as the trial continues.