Feb 23, 2007  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO J  | COMMENTS     

decision to seek out a potential new boyfriend on an internet site just one month after the death of Bates was another in a series of signs showing Carl Roberts was not in distress over Bates’ death. Combined with other developments, such as Roberts’ decision not to attend Bates’ funeral or a memorial service organized by friends and relatives in Washington raised questions about Roberts’ motives in connection with Bates’ death, Austin argued.

Defense attorney Raymond raised the subject of Clint Roberts’ medical history, which includes treatment for depression and bipolar disorder. She noted that he takes medication to treat the two conditions, which, according to Raymond, have side effects that include memory loss.

Clint Roberts denied he suffered any memory loss from his medication.

Similar to evidence presented in the first trial, Austin pointed to witnesses who would testify that Roberts told them shortly after the incident that he had asked “the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive him” for what he had done.

Austin pointed to another witness who reported Roberts saying, in an alley behind his apartment building, that there was a “struggle” and that his boyfriend “went out the window.” Roberts repeatedly asked for “forgiveness” as he recounted what happened, Austin reported the witness as saying.

The defense has cited Roberts’ claim that the marijuana had been “laced” with another substance that caused Bates to experience a negative reaction that made him suicidal. Bates curled up in a fetal position on a bed where the two had lain naked at the time they smoked the marijuana, witnesses reported Roberts as saying.

Bates’ behavior prompted Roberts to call the police 911 emergency number for help, a development that was confirmed by the city’s fire and emergency services agency, which dispatched a team of emergency medical technicians to the apartment building. Roberts told friends and neighbors that Bates expressed suicidal intentions as he began climbing through the bathroom window, according to the defense.