Cockrell is charged with aggravated murder, murder by abuse and criminal mistreatment in the death of his 3-year-old daughter, Alexis Pounder, who was covered with bruises, underweight and malnourished when she died in early 2010.
Cockrell's ex-fiancee and former co-defendant, Michelle Nicole Smith, pleaded guilty in Clackamas County circuit court last year to the murder and agreed to testify against Cockrell. Defense attorney Robert Huggins immediately focused on Smith's motives and her long history of drug use and how it affects her memory.
Smith is a key to the prosecution's case, and she is the only witness who was present inside the home. But the case against Cockrell, however, rests on more than Smith's word. Alexis did not die in minutes. Her death crept upon her slowly, over weeks and months, as she was battered, her weight dropped and her health deteriorated. She weighed 21 pounds when she died, the same as she weighed at 18 months.
If Cockrell showed extreme indifference to the child's obvious injuries and physical decline, he could be found guilty of murder by abuse.The family lived in a 900-square-foot mother-in-law apartment at Smith's parent's house in rural Sandy. Seven people occupied the apartment: Smith and her two daughters, Cockrell and his two daughters and a child Smith and Cockrell had together.
Smith said the couple physically disciplined their children in different ways, sometimes administering bare-bottomed spankings, sometimes slapping them in the face and telling them to shut up.
Smith said both she and Cockrell "were hitting too hard." She conceded she was responsible for some of Alexis' bruises. "I don't know which ones I'm responsible for," Smith said.Huggins led Smith through her history of drug use and how it affects her memory. Smith said she used painkillers daily.
Smith was sometimes evasive and contradicted herself. She couldn't pinpoint the month she and Cockrell had a major quarrel, then remembered exact date. A week before Alexis died, Smith withdrew $900 of Cockrell's money from the bank. She couldn't recall what she did with the cash, then admitted spending it on drugs.
Prosecutor Christine Landers warned jurors during her opening statement they would not like Smith and called her a terrible person.
By her own admission, Smith was addicted to pain killers for years, often "doctor shopping" -- going to multiple doctors or hospitals -- to illegally obtain opiates, specifically oxycodone. She said she financed her drug habit various ways: child support payments, state-paid health insurance or conning relatives out of cash.
Huggins questioning was intended to expose Smith as a person willing to lie for personal gain and show that her drug-affected memory thinking makes her an untrustworthy witness.
Huggins also tried to portray Smith someone with a deep resentment of Cockrell and a reason to lash out at Alexis.
Life in the crowded apartment with five pre-schoolers "was crazy," Smith testified. "There wasn't enough room. It was a disaster. It was chaos. There was no routine."
She decided to end their relationship a few weeks before Alexis died. "Me and Donny were done," Smith said.
"Did you tell him that?" Huggins asked. "He thought you were getting married in April."
Smith said she believed Cockrell repeatedly came home late because he was romantically involved with another woman,
How did you feel about Alexis, Huggins asked.
"Distant," Smith said.
"Did you resent her?"
"No"
Were you angry at Donald Cockrell?
"I didn't care about Mr. Cockrell at that point," Smith said.
"You didn't care about Alexis either."
"I cared about my kids. That was it," Smith said.
-- Steve Mayes: 503-294-5916
Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2013/02/ex-fiancees_drug_use_motives_q.html
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