The defense for Arnett Baines, 1 of 2 men charged with murder for a 2019 triple homicide, is trying to have the death penalty removed as an option if he’s found guilty.
Baines, now 35, is facing three counts of murder for the shooting deaths of Robert D. Smith Jr., 35; Jay Michael Sowders, 43; and Christopher Carie, 18 in a 2019 triple homicide. He also is facing a first-degree assault because a fourth person, Carman Vanegas, who was 35 at the time, was also shot in the head but survived.
Baines is scheduled to go to trial on July 31. His defense team has proposed the death penalty be struck from the possible outcomes, and a 3-hour hearing was held on Friday regarding the request. The case is being heard by Daviess Circuit Judge Jay Wethington.
The hearing included expert testimony from Neuroscientist and Epidemiologist Dr. Marc Weisskopf, Clinical Psychologist Dr. Antoinette McGarrahan, and Psychiatrist Dr. Timothy Allen.
Weisskopf said Baines underwent Chelation therapy for lead poisoning when he was 1 year old.
“Chelation is not done unless the bloodlines are quite high — and by quite a high, I mean more than 40 or 45 micrograms per deciliter. So that alone says if a hospital did that, he had very high blood lead levels,” Weisskopf said.
According to Weisskopf, Baines’ health record shows that he underwent 4 sessions of Chelation therapy as a child. From this amount of lead exposure, Weisskopf said, it was fair to say that lead poisoning could have adverse effects and even cause brain damage.
“These are things that are consistent with this picture of lead poisoning. Things like low testing on cognitive function tests, difficulties in school, behavioral issues, psychological testing that involved impulsivity and aggression, cardiac effects, sometimes reports of high blood pressure can happen as well,” Weisskopf said.
McGarrahan said Baines had brain injuries at ages 2, 16, 22, 26, and 29 — all of which contributed to what she diagnosed as a mild neurocognitive disorder. While Baines’ disorder is mild, McGarrahan said, the notion does not lessen his actual diagnosis.
“The specifier of mild is still significantly relevant from a clinical standpoint in that there has been a decline, and it’s statistically significant, but it does not impair him to the point that he needs assistance in caring for himself,” McGarrahan said.
McGarrahan clarified that though she diagnosed Baines with a mild neurocognitive disorder, he does not have an intellectual disability. Additionally, McGarrahan noted that Baines had adapted social and conceptual developmental deficits.
She said deficits in these areas can lead to substantial behavioral difficulties, low self-esteem, poor social skills, and retelling and corroborating information, among other things.
Allen testified that due to a lack of surrounding evidence, they are not able to conclude specifically what caused the brain damage that Baines has undergone.
“Head injuries, lead poisoning, drug use, all these things are potential contributors. We just have to look at the severity and the actual impact on his functioning to understand what caused it,” Allen said.
Allen did not deny that Baines had cognitive decline over the years, but, like the source of the brain damage, there is no known factor that contributed to the decline.
“He’s declined since then compared to his peers, and there’s probably lots of reasons for that. I don’t disagree with [that brain damage is the] conclusion,” Allen said.
After hearing testimony from the three, Wethington concluded that the defense and prosecution should summarize their arguments and he would make a ruling on the removal of the death penalty at a later date.
