This is the case

Weighing the defense's mitigating factors against John Couey's crime, Prosecutor Ric Ridgway asked jurors to vote for death.

When jurors were selected, he reminded them, they said they would consider capital punishment.

If this is not the case to recommend death, what case is? Ridgway asked them.

If this person does not deserve it, who does?

If now is not the time, then when is?

"This is the case," he told them. "Recommend a death sentence."

Evil

There is only one word that can truly describe what John Couey did to Jessica Lunsford.

"Evil," Prosecutor Ric Ridgway told the jury in his closing statements.

Many descriptions of Couey's crime have been thrown around during the course of the trial: wicked, indifferent to suffering. But "if you could find one word to describe" Couey's kidnap, rape and murder of a little girl, "it's the only one that comes close," Ridgway said.

Ridgway outlined the aggravating factors that jurors will have to weigh against mitigating ones. Couey killed Jessica in the midst of acting on another felony (kidnapping), the victim was under 12, he murdered simply to avoid arrest, among other factors, the prosecutor said.

But one stands out above all.

"It's so big and consuming it blocks out all the others," Ridgway said. This was a particularly heinous crime.

Couey snatched Jessica from her own bed, where she was surrounded by dolls and stuffed animals, the love and security of her family. He took her to his house, forced her on a dingy mattress and sexually battered her, Ridgway said.

Then, afraid she would identify him, he dug a hole.

"He stood above her raking the leaves to cover the site" as Jessica struggled to breathe below, Ridgway said.

-- Elena Lesley

Verdict in the air

Benches have started to fill up inside Courtroom 4-1 as officials, media and Jessica Lunsford's family wait for closing arguments to begin. There's a quiet energy brewing, a feeling that after one false start in Tavares, prolonged jury selection in Miami and even a guilty verdict, that judicial closure is near. At least for now.

Mark Lunsford is sitting next to his mother, who has a pink blanket draped across her lap and a box of tissues at hand. Actor David Keith, who is working with Mark to fight pedophilia and child porn, is with the family.

John Couey is engrossed in his coloring as usual. He has been using a paper cup to trace circles.

-- Elena Lesley

On to closing statements

After both the state and defense rested their cases, Judge Ric Howard reviewed jury instructions with the attorneys.

Closing arguments will begin at 3pm.

Howard has denied the defense's request to include most of the special mitigating factors, such as retardation and mental illness, in the jury instructions. The public defenders appeared visibly frustrated by this decision.

-- Elena Lesley

Long trip, short stay

After flying in from St. Petersburg, Dr. Eric Cotton spent less than 10 minutes testifying about John Couey's brain scans.

In his opinion, the radiologist said, Couey's brain is normal.

His brief testimony contrasted in content -- and length -- to that of Dr. Joseph Wu, who took the stand yesterday on behalf of the defense. For over an hour, Wu, from the University of California at Irvine, described asymmetries in the defendant's brain that could predispose him to impulse control problems, aggression and hypersexuality, among other behaviors.

But Cotton said Couey's brain was scanned June 2, 2006 at his Pinellas County facility and he could not find the abnormalities Wu had described.

In his cross-examination, defense attorney Alan Fanter asked Cotton if he'd had any other information about Couey when he was reviewing the scan. Wu had testified that PET imaging must be weighed with other factors to make a diagnosis. Cotton said he hadn't.

Isn't it possible that two people could look at the same images and develop different opinions? Fanter asked.

"Imaging can be subjective," Cotton admitted.

-- Elena Lesley

A new look

Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy is in court today, sporting an olive green suit instead of his typical uniform. His wife and son are here as well.

Even though John Couey was found guilty last week, Dawsy, like others intimately involved in the case, has said he wants to see the process through.

Court breaks, jurors may deliberate today

Because the state's next witness is not scheduled to arrive until 11:30am, Judge Ric Howard has called an early recess.

Scheduling witnesses "is an art, not a science," he said.

The state has another witness scheduled to testify tomorrow, but Prosecutor Ric Ridgway said they may rest their case today.

-- Elena Lesley

Skepticism

In his cross-examination of prosecution witness Harry McClaren, defense attorney Alan Fanter cast doubt on the motivations of those the psychologist had interviewed to assess Couey's retardation.

Was McClaren aware, he charged, that the owner of Emily's restaurant, where Couey had once worked, knew people in the Lunsfords' extended community? That a live video of the trial was being played in the establishment and a party was thrown when Couey was convicted?

"Anything's possible," McClaren said.

Fanter also questioned the reliability of Couey's sister. As a result of Couey's arrest, his sister's grandchildren had been moved from their mother's care. Anger might sway her to provide misleading information about her brother, Fanter said.

He pointed out that Couey's sister had lied about whether they had used cocaine on the night Jessica disappeared.

"So it doesn't surprise you that she might lie to you?" Fanter asked.

"No," McClaren responded.

-- Elena Lesley

Smarter than he looks?

The state's first rebuttal witness Harry McClaren, a forensic psychologist, is creating a far different picture of John Couey than jurors heard yesterday.

Instead of describing Couey as a childlike being, marred by a lack of smarts and abusive upbringing, McClaren has focused on his ability to function as an autonomous adult. He assessed Couey in February of 2005.

After interviewing a number of people who knew Couey -- relatives, former employers, corrections officers -- McClaren determined that Couey's adaptive functioning does not meet the threshold for mental retardation.

This is an important point, in terms of the retardation defense.

To prove retardation under the law, and thus evade the death penalty, attorneys must show that Couey has both a low IQ and insufficient adaptive functioning. In layman's terms, the latter means "a person's ability to get along in the world," Prosecutor Ric Ridgway clarified.

McClaren said former employers told him Couey was an effective construction worker, could move and think quickly on the job and even negotiated his salary. A corrections officer told him Couey checked out books at the jail's law library and he saw him reading them out loud to himself.

-- Elena Lesley

He's not going to talk

Judge Ric Howard started out the morning by asking John Couey again whether he wants to testify. Couey declined, though his response was barely intelligible.

Court regulars are buzzing this morning about whether the jury might deliberate as soon as today about a penalty for Couey. Jurors walked into the courtroom somewhat bleary-eyed, clutching manila envelopes that hold their notepads.

-- Elena Lesley