During closing arguments in Queens for an Ivy League-educated lawyer on trial for killing his Weight Watchers exec-girlfriend, both sides hit hard at each other’s expert witnesses.
“If you pay him $25,000 you can get Dr. Bardey to say anything,” charged prosecutor Patrick O’Connor, denouncing doctor to the stars Alexander Sasha Bardey’s defense testimony as offering “disingenuous” scientific opinions.
Jason Bohn is on trial for beating and strangling Danielle Thomas inside their Astoria apartment on June 24, 2012.
The contract attorney claims he was under the thrall of a condition known as Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) which was brought on because of his maternal abandonment issues.
If the jurors agree that Bohn killed Thomas under IED, they can convict him of a lesser charge of manslaughter which carries a sentence of five to 25 years in prison.
“Bohn is a control freak, he even said on tape, he’ll be fine by himself, but the doctor with his crystal ball says he feared abandonment when he killed Danielle…he has dominance and control issues,” said O’Conner.
The prosecutor told the jurors that Bardey’s agenda was to present 35-year-old Bohn as a teenage IED patient with mommy and daddy issues.
“Science does not show what is or isn’t reasonable, that’s up to the jury, a society determination…how arrogant of him to change the law,” said O’Conner who urged the jurors to “discredit” Bardey for stepping outside of his expertise role on the stand and giving his personal opinion on the case.
“His EED findings are based on pure speculation,” the prosecutor added.
Bohn’s attorney, Todd Greenberg, attempted to downgrade the prosecution’s expert, Dr. Jennifer Rosner.
“Dr. Rosner’s experience is limited to competency hearings, that’s it!” charged Greenberg, who said Rosner’s knowledge on IED was from “Cliff’s Notes” and accusing her of being “biased.”
Bohn was heard on a four-minute voicemail repeatedly squeezing Thomas’ throat and asking her about a “508” area code number, yet Bardey testified he was not in control of his actions.
“If Dr. Bardey stopped and listened to Jason Bohn’s answers instead of creating his next screenplay he’d hear what his objective was, it was to get an answer about the 508 number. He interrogated and tortured Danielle until she gave an answer he wanted,” said O’Conner.
During earlier testimony, Bohn’s ex-girlfriend Jasmine Nieves broke down in tears when she testified about being choked nearly unconscious until she admitted to Bohn that she was interested in another man, even though, she said, she wasn’t.
Jurors begin deliberations on Tuesday.