Second day of Cayce doctor’s shooting trial has tumultuous end. Here’s what happened
The final witness proved the most consequential on the second day of the trial for a Cayce doctor charged with shooting and killing a medical equipment salesman in the doctor’s home.
Questions from a prosecutor with the 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office to pathologist Dr. Janice Ross and her answers abruptly ended the day’s testimony just after 3 p.m in the trial of Adam Lazzarini, a former Lexington Medical Center surgeon who is accused of shooting medical equipment salesman William Player Holland in October 2017.
Judge Debra McCaslin sent the jury home early so that the legal issues pertaining to the questions and answers could be sorted out.
The sudden stop could be a sign of trouble for the prosecution’s case going forward.
The abrupt end came after prosecutor Shawn Graham asked Ross, who performed Holland’s autopsy, if it was her expert opinion that his death was a homicide. She answered that it was her expert opinion that his death was a homicide.
Graham then asked if Holland’s death was natural, an accident, suicide, or undetermined, which along with homicide are the five manners of death pathologists conclude in their autopsy reports. Ross said no to all those, affirming it was her expert opinion that Holland’s manner of death was homicide.
The prosecution, defense and judge had a talk outside of the courtroom after Ross’ testimony. When they returned, the judge let jurors go for the day.
After jurors were out of the courtroom, Greg Harris, one of Lazzarini’s defense attorneys, objected to Graham asking about the manner of death not being an accident and Ross answering that it wasn’t.
Harris argued that the scope of Graham’s question was beyond an agreement made between the defense, prosecution and the judge sometime earlier.
With jurors sent home for the day, Harris argued vehemently that legal precedence did not allow the prosecution to ask expert witnesses questions that spoke to the guilt of the accused. He told the judge that case law didn’t allow Ross to opine on Lazzarini’s guilt. By saying that Holland’s death was not accidental, the prosecution and expert witness had broken these rules, Harris argued.
The defense’s case laid out in opening statements was going to entail on proving Lazzarini was not guilty of involuntary manslaughter because the shooting was an accident and not criminally negligent.
In Ross’ series of answers, “she said every bit of what Mr. Swerling said in his opening was not true,” Harris told the judge.
Attorney Jack Swerling, another attorney for Lazzarini, gave the defense’s opening statement.
McCaslin, the judge, didn’t immediately toss out Harris’ argument.
“I’m not sure (Ross) hasn’t exceeded her bounds,” McCaslin said.
Harris went on to grill Ross — outside the jury’s presence — about how she determined Holland’s death to be a homicide.
Ross, who said she had conducted 15,000 autopsies, said she based her determination on an investigator telling her Lazzarini’s story about the shooting had changed and the forensic interview of Lazzarini’s 5-year-old daughter. Ross was shown video of the interview with the daughter.
Harris questioned Ross on what other evidence and reports she considered beyond her own examination, the investigator’s report and the interview with Lazzarini’s daughter. She said she hadn’t reviewed any other reports or evidence.
“Were you provided one shred of evidence that was favorable to (Lazzarini)?” Harris asked.
Ross replied that she hadn’t.
Harris’ argument revolved around the differences in a murder trial and an involuntary manslaughter trial.
A case for murder goes far beyond the defense arguing that a death was an accident. But an involuntary manslaughter trial leaves room for a jury to consider if the death was an accident.
“That’s why the implications are so much stronger” with Ross saying Holland’s death wasn’t an accident, Harris argued to the judge.
What it means for the case is unclear. But it was a heated moment in court for a case that’s shaping up to hinge on small details and the specifics of what constitutes involuntary manslaughter.
Details about what happened before the shooting have been established by testimony and isn’t in dispute. Lazzarini and Holland spent Oct. 9, 2017, together in Columbia and Cayce after a trip to Georgia to see a new medical operation. The operation was cancelled, and so the pair returned to Columbia. Between 7 and 8 p.m., Lazzarini showed Holland some handguns. That’s when Holland was shot.
Lazzarini told investigators that night that Holland shot himself. He gave investigators two versions of where he was when Holland was shot, according to testimony. In one version he was in the room with his back turned to Holland. In the other version he was out of the room.
When police charged Lazzarini with Holland’s shooting in May 2018, they said Lazzarini shot Holland. How Lazzarini shot Holland is expected to come out in later court testimony.
Prosecutors have indicated that they plan to show that Lazzarini’s shifting stories are part of his criminal negligence. The defense said in its opening statements that Lazzarini was shocked and confused about what happened when Holland was shot.
The trial will resume Friday morning.
Luke Pincelli of the 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office is also prosecuting the case. Alissa Wilson is partnered with Harris and Swerling on Lazarini’s defense team.
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 9:36 AM.