Katie Owens doesn’t buy his story.

Owens, the grandmother of Chiarra Seals, said no one in the courtroom, including herself, believes former Syracuse University student Brian T. Shaw’s claim he didn’t mean to hurt Seals on March 23, 2005 or Defense Attorney Thomas Ryan’s arguments that Shaw suffers from an emotional disturbance.

Shaw is charged with second-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child in the death of Seals, the mother of his 4-year-old daughter Essence.

‘He’s a nut,’ Owens said. ‘But he’s not crazy.’

She said two days before Seals’ death, her granddaughter told her she was headed to the library with her two children at 9 a.m. Owens said that was unusual of Seals and therefore inferred Shaw was stalking Seals because she wanted to get out of the house.

‘I think he’s a sociopath,’ Owens said.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Spano finished his cross-examination of Shaw on Tuesday. Shaw reiterated his previous testimony regarding his version of the story of the events of March 23, using the words ‘I don’t know’ to frequently describe his understanding of the reality of that day.

Despite this, Ryan, Shaw’s attorney, said the trial is going as well as he had anticipated.

‘There haven’t been any big surprises,’ he said.

Ryan asked Judge Joseph Fahey to allow the jury to consider convicting Shaw on lesser charges of first-degree manslaughter. Fahey accepted the proposal for only first-degree manslaughter, which includes the application of emotional disturbance, but not second-degree manslaughter, which only implies recklessness on the part of the defendant.

Spano also said he thought testimony on Tuesday went well due to there not being any surprises, but said he felt it was improper for him to comment further.

During cross-examination, Spano questioned several of Shaw’s decisions and subsequent actions in attempt to prove Shaw was thinking rationally and clearly the day of Seals’ death.

‘Those were actions that I made,’ Shaw said. ‘I wanted to get help, but I couldn’t see.’

Shaw continually said the blanket or bed sheet wrapped around Seals was underneath her when he picked her up and took her to the car, but after some pushing from Spano said he agreed he must have wrapped it around her, though he does not remember doing so.

Spano then questioned whether or not Shaw paused in the foyer outside of Seals’ apartment when he heard a noise coming from the neighbors before proceeding out to the car.

Shaw said he ‘guessed’ he paused if that was what Spano was saying he told police on March 24.

‘It’s a rational thought to pause, to stop, isn’t it?’ Spano asked.

All Shaw could say was that he wasn’t thinking.

‘I’ve been thinking about this for the last nine months,’ Shaw said. ‘I just heard something. I didn’t know it was the neighbor. It wasn’t real. I didn’t realize anything.’

Spano then mumbled, ‘Well, I hope you think about it a lot longer.’

Ryan objected and the remark was stricken from the record.

He then questioned Shaw’s ability to operate a motor vehicle while supposedly suffering from a blackout and about the identity of pieces of evidence Spano claims are Shaw’s clothes from March 23.

Spano tried to show Shaw a ripped tank top undershirt and a pair of jeans to confirm they were in fact the defendant’s, but Shaw hesitated to look at the items, finally admitting he believed the jeans belonged to him.

When Spano threatened to make Shaw identify the suitcase he allegedly stored Seals’ body in and then left behind a detached garage on Avondale Place, Shaw immediately cut him off saying, ‘No, I don’t want to see it.’

Spano then read all the text messages received and sent from Shaw’s phone on March 23, but the defendant denied remembering any of them. He also said at no time during the three-hour class Shaw attended at 6 p.m. did he recall putting Seals’ body on the floor of his garage on Columbus Avenue.

Shaw was then questioned about intentions to get rid of the body by bringing it to Avondale Place.

‘You knew they take the trash out on Tuesdays,’ he said. ‘You were going to take her body out to the curb. Why wouldn’t you leave it on the front porch? Because you murdered her, didn’t you?’

Shaw cut off Spano and said through tears, ‘I did not.’

Spano then suggested Shaw took an iron off the dresser in Seals bedroom and wrapped the cord around her neck, a variation of the story Shaw previously alluded to in Friday’s testimony.

‘I did not do that,’ Shaw said in response while the father of Seals’ son Omari Jr. sat sobbing with his head in his lap. ‘I did not try to harm this woman.’

As for interviews with police on March 23 and early into the morning on March 24, Shaw said he did voluntarily speak to police.

Shaw’s Defense Attorney Thomas Ryan had a chance to ask additional questions of his client and used this time to focus mostly on Shaw’s relationship with students he mentored while working with SU’s GearUp program.

While Spano has implied during his cross-examination that Shaw had engaged in sexual intercourse with underage teenage girls during his time with the mentoring program, Shaw testified Tuesday that his one-on-one interactions were always with males and that all activities were in a group with adult supervision.

After a lunch recess, Ryan called Dr. Thomas Lazzaro, a forensic psychologist, to testify on Shaw’s mental state.

Ryan provided Lazzaro with police reports and outlines from previous days’ testimony, but not copies of Shaw’s medical history.

‘Brian Shaw could be malingering,’ he said, which means exaggerating or feigning an illness, due to sleep deprivation from working two jobs, school and spending time with his daughter, which he believed Shaw was doing to make up for his own childhood.

After court adjourned for the day, Ryan said he laid out all the information he wanted the jury to consider and speculated a verdict could be reached by this afternoon or Thursday.

‘We’ve had six days of testimony; there’s a lot for them to talk about,’ he said. ‘It could easily take until the end of the day, wouldn’t be surprised if they had to go home for the night, think about it and then come back.’

Closing arguments will be heard at 9 a.m. today at the Onondaga County Court House on South State Street.

‘I already had an idea what I was going to say,’ Ryan said. ‘Now we’re going to focus on the extreme emotional distress angle.’

Published on February 7, 2006 at 12:00 pm