What did blood show at a Cayce shooting scene? Expert testifies in doctor’s trial
An expert in the way blood splatters after a wound testified Wednesday in the trial of a Cayce doctor that it was “possible but not probable” that a medical equipment salesman was holding the gun that killed him.
Retired state agent Steven Derrick testified on the seventh day of the trial of Dr. Adam Lazzarini, a former Lexington Medical Center surgeon. Lazzarini, charged with involuntary manslaughter, faces up to five years in prison if he’s found guilty of killing William Player Holland, who sold medical equipment and had Lazzarini as a client.
The two had spent the day together on Oct. 9, 2017, and went back to Lazzarini’s home. There, they looked at the doctor’s gun collection in the moments just before Holland’s shooting.
Lazzarini’s defense has tried to create doubt among jurors about who was holding the gun and who pulled the trigger. Defense attorneys Jack Swerling, Greg Harris and Alissa Wilson have tried to show through testimony that Holland could have shot himself or the gun could have accidentally fired while being passed from one hand to another.
Prosecutors Luke Pincelli and Shawn Graham with the 11th Circuit Solicitors Office have argued that Lazzarini pulled the trigger.
Derrick has decades of experience with analyzing crime scenes and the patterns in which blood marks those scenes. His analysis of the bedroom where Holland was shot seemed to support the prosecutors’ theory.
But Swerling asked Derrick to repeat that it is possible Holland held the gun when he was shot.
During the testimony, jurors saw photos of the bloody crime scene and of parts of Holland’s body. As the photos were shown, Holland’s mother and father had their arms around each other, with other family members and friends nearby laying their hands on the parents.
Derrick explained to the jury the various elements of the shooting that can be determined from the blood, including that Lazzarini was no further than 3 feet away during the shooting.
There’s no question that Lazzarini and Holland were facing each other when the shot was fired, Derrick testified.
That contradicts two stories Lazzarini told about the night of the shooting. In one version, Lazzarini told investigators that he had his back turned to Holland when the gun was fired. In another version, Lazzarini said he was out of the room.
The defense has not fought hard against testimony that Lazzarini had the pistol in his hand when Holland was shot. Rather, the attorneys have attempted to convince jurors that the two were exchanging the gun and it somehow went off. Holland was also responsible for making sure the gun was unloaded when handing it back to Lazzarini, the defense has argued.
With a fake gun, Derrick showed jurors how the gun could have been held.
Judge Debra McCaslin is presiding. It is the seventh day of the trial. The was set to resume Wednesday afternoon.
Check back with The State for the latest in the trial.
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 12:57 PM.