Altersberger Penalty Trial: Day 3

A psychological evaluation of Joshua Lee Altersberger was some of the testimony provided by expert witnesses on the third day of his penalty trial.

Altersberger, 21, pleaded guilty March 13 to shooting and killing Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Nicholas Sottile during a Jan. 12, 2007, traffic stop in Highlands County. A jury in Polk County was selected last week to hear testimony in helping them make a recommendation of life in prison or the death penalty.

As the court proceedings continued, Altersberger handled himself in much the same way he had the previous two days; he generally kept his eyes fixed on the defense table and usually only looked up when his attorneys spoke to him.

Dr. Harry Krop, a Gainesville clinical psychologist, was the first witness of the day for the defense. He and his associates had three meetings with Altersberger between 2007 and Feb. 27 of this year.

Krop noted that his evaluation of Altersberger's records suggested feelings of abandonment at a young age.

"He never had contact with his biological father," Krop testified. "There were numerous men in Mr. Altersberger's life."

During his youth, Joshua received some counseling and treatment. Krop referenced one test administered to him, which was called the Adolescent Sentence Completion Test.

"The beginning of the test says, 'My father,' and Joshua's response was, 'wasn't ever there,'" Krop said. "The next thing was, 'Father should,' and he said, 'be there for his kids.'"

A contrasting sentence began: "The best thing that ever happened to me was ...," and Joshua's response was, "all my family was at my birthday," according to Krop.

On Tuesday, Rosalie Altersberger, the defendant's mother, told the jury her son was conceived after she was raped, and that she had not seen Joshua's father since he was a month old.

She also said her two daughters were fathered by two separate men, none of whom she was married to, and that the men were in and out of her children's lives.

"The other men were not particularly positive role models," Krop said.

One of these men was Armando Rivera, an inmate Rosalie said she met while working at the Hardee County Correctional Institute. The two began a relationship and Rivera moved in with the family after his release.

Rivera's influence, which included teaching Joshua the proper way to sell drugs without getting caught, wound up impacting him.

"This is a man who, basically, was a model; not a positive model," Krop said. "He taught him (Joshua) how to sell drugs. He taught him the value of drugs."

Since several men were in and out of Joshua's life while growing up, his mother looked at him as being older than his years would suggest.

"At 3-and-a-half or 4 years old, Rosalie told him, 'You've got to be the man of the house,'" Krop said.

He added that Rosalie's own upbringing may have contributed to how she raised her children. On Tuesday, both Rosalie and her half sister, Mitzi Altersberger, remembered instances from their childhood where they were subjected to verbal abuse, particularly from their mother.

"Parenting can get passed down from one generation to another," Krop testified. "Her history contributed to her ineffectiveness as a parent."

Ruben Gur, a neuropsychologist from Pennsylvania, answered questions about whether a head injury Joshua suffered at 5-years-old in a car accident could have caused brain damage.

After receiving data from Altersberger, Gur suspected the defendant could have suffered brain damage. An MRI was performed in February and showed the orbital frontal lobe, the brain's "chief executive," and the amygdala, which controls emotion, were smaller, he said.

During cross examination by Assistant State Attorney Paul Wallace, Gur said new evidence suggests excessive use of drugs and alcohol could shrink a person's frontal lobe and be considered brain damage if it passes a certain threshold.

"The longer you do it, the more the brain development is disrupted," Gur said.

Closing arguments will start at 9 a.m., today, followed by jury instructions. Then, eight women and four men will begin deliberations and make a recommendation to Judge J. Michael Hunter as to Altersberger's fate.