Posted on 06/07/2006 7:59:29 AM PDT by SmithL
MARTINEZ — A well-known television psychic can testify as a witness in the murder trial of self-described soothsayer Susan Polk, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Laurel Brady's decision came despite objections from prosecutor Paul Sequeira, who argued that allowing a psychic to testify could send the wrong message to the jury and could raise thorny legal issues.
"If a psychic is going to testify and say, 'I am a psychic and I can see the future and I have solved cases with my psychic abilities ... the very nature of the testimony is that of an expert of sorts," Sequeira said.
"The court would laugh me out of here if I called a psychic as a witness."
Brady's decision will allow very limited testimony from Campbell-based psychic Annette Martin, whose Web site offers her professional service as a psychic detective, a "ghost investigator" and pet psychic who can talk to your animals. Martin is credited with helping Pacifica police find the body of a missing man in 1997, a case profiled on Court TV's "Psychic Detectives" program. Martin did not return a call seeking comment.Brady said she will not allow Martin to testify about the validity of psychics, only about her career.
"This is tangentially relevant only for credibility," Brady said.
Polk, 48, has testified throughout the trial that she is a medium.
She said she predicted the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II and a number of other events. Brady is allowing Martin's testimony because Polk feels the prosecution has used her psychic claims to impeach her credibility.
Polk is on trial for the October 2002 slaying of her 70-year-old psychologist husband, Felix Polk, who she claims was an Israeli spy who ignored her psychic predictions.
(Excerpt) Read more at insidebayarea.com ...
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Just when I thought this trial couldn't get any weirder!
Not Me! I'm a true believer. I believe this will continue to get weirder and weirder. Furthermore, I have no expectation that the weirdness will end with a jury verdict, either way.
OTOH, I think the judge just goofed, big time.
If Susan is so psychic and predicted all those things, plus "many other events," I'd like to know if Felix's untimely death at the hands of his wife was among them.
All this, just to fulfill her "cred" factor with the others at the psychic fair over at the Holiday Inn?
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