BENTONVILLE — Broderick Laswell’s fate soon will be in the hands of seven men and five women.
Laswell, 22, of Farmington was found guilty Feb. 8 of capital murder and aggravated robbery. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Testimony for the sentencing phase ended Thursday. Circuit Judge Robin Green will read jury instructions at 8:30 a.m. today. Attorneys will then make closing statements.
The jury will decide whether Laswell should spend the rest of his life in prison or be sentenced to death for his role of 47-year-old Randall Walker’s murder.
Walker’s burned body was found Aug. 30, 2007, in a bedroom of hi home on Beaver Hollow Road near Garfield.
Laswell and Brandon Lacy, 31, of Rogers were arrested in connection with Walker’s death. Lacy was tried and sentenced to death.
Mark Cunningham, a forensic psychologist from the Dallas area, spent several hours Thursday testifying about Laswell. Cunningham interviewed Laswell and family members, and reviewed Laswell’s educational, employment and criminal records.
Cunningham pointed out several factors that may have impacted Laswell’s reasoning and decision-making skills. Those include Laswell’s immaturity and youthfulness, along with substance abuse and dependence. Other factors included his relationship with Lacy and the context of the crime.
Cunningham said Laswell, then 19, was immature, especially when compared to others the same age.
According to Cunningham, the brain is still developing, especially the frontal lobe, into the early 20s and sometimes to the mid-20s. He described the frontal lobe as the command center housing a person’s judgment, impulse control, empathy, delay of gratification and the appreciation of consequences and responsibility.
“A 20-year-old old has a better wired brain than an 18-year-old,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham used a slide presentation to show images of the brain.
“Is it fair to say that a teenage brain or the brain of someone in their early 20s is a immature brain?” Kent McLemore, one of Laswell’s attorney, asked.
Cunningham agreed, saying that’s why 25-year-olds make better parents and spouses than 18-year-olds.
Cunningham said simply being 19 meant Laswell was working with an immature brain. Cunningham told jurors Laswell was particularly immature at 19. Cunningham termed Laswell as functionally immature.
Cunningham testified Laswell’s life was negatively impacted by his family’s generational dysfunction and by being abandoned by his father.
Cunningham said Laswell’s mother did not take any action concerning her son’s obesity, poor hygiene and learning problems. She did so to keep her son dependent on her, he said.
“It is psychological unhealthy,” Cunningham said. “It’s destructive.”
Cunningham termed mother Arlene Laswell’s failure to address her son’s obesity as neglect.
Cunningham said Broderick Laswell told him he was harassed daily about his weight until he reached the ninth grade. Laswell weighed almost 400 pounds when he was arrested.
“He did not ask girls out because he did not expect them to be interested in someone so overweight,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham said Laswell did not have a history of close friendships, which left him hungry for those kinds of relationships and susceptible to Lacy.
Lacy attacked Walker with a fireplace poker and beat him with a fireplace shovel and tongs. Lacy also stabbed Walker five times in the chest and cut Walker’s throat before setting the fire in the bedroom. Laswell admitted to striking Walker twice with a weight bar.
Cunningham told jurors at some point during the attack Laswell’s reactions began to mirror those of Lacy.
Laswell did not have history of acting out violently, Cunningham said.
Cunningham also said Laswell may have been sexually abused as a child by a babysitter, who was five or six years older than him.
Cunningham told Van Stone, Benton County prosecutor, Laswell may have a learning disability, but he did not test Laswell for such a disability. He also did not test to find out whether Laswell has an attention deficit disorder.
Stone wanted to know whether Cunningham was aware a sheriff’s deputy allowed Laswell to babysit his children. Stone asked whether it was evidence of Laswell’s responsibility and maturity level.
Cunningham said it was the deputy’s view of Laswell’s responsibility and maturity.
The defense rested its case with Cunningham’s testimony.
Prosecutors called one rebuttal witness.
Deputy Christina Nance testified Laswell weighed 382 pounds in September 2007 when he was booked into the Benton County Jail. Nance said the scale in the booking area only goes to 350 pounds, so Laswell told her his weight.
The deputy said Laswell has spent 645 days in lockdown for a list of infractions. He has 46 infractions, including assaulting another inmate, refusing commands from deputies, flooding his cell and hoarding food.
Laawell is being held without bond in the county jail.
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The Case
Sentence Possiblities
Broderick Laswell, 22, is being held in the Benton County Jail. He could be sentenced to life imprisonment without the benefit of parole or the death sentence. He is charged as a habitual offender and faces from 10 to 60 years or life in prison for the robbery conviction for the murder conviction.
Source: Staff Report