SLEEPWALKING MURDER TRIAL
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PHOENIX (Court TV) —A sleep expert for the prosecution told jurors Monday that Falater's actions during his alleged sleepwalking episode indicate that he was really awake when he killed his wife

Falater is on trial for allegedly murdering his wife, Yarmila, on January 16, 1997. Falater stabbed his wife 44 times at their home, dragged her into their pool and then held her head under water.

The defense does not deny that Falater killed his wife, but insists that he did not commit murder because he was sleepwalking at the time, and therefore lacked the intent to kill. Yarmila, the defense believes, was killed when she tried to awaken a sleepwalking Falater while he was trying to fix a pool water pump with a hunting knife.

However, prosecutors doubt the sleepwalking theory and claim that Falater's actions — such as changing his bloody clothes and placing them in the trunk of his car — suggest that he was not sleepwalking at all during the attack.

A neighbor, Gregory Koons, previously testified during the four-week trial that he saw Falater return to the pool and stare at his wife's body before going back into the house. Koons also claimed that Falater made a gesture to his dog to keep quiet. Because of Koons' testimony, prosecutors — and their sleep experts — insist Falater's fatal attack on his wife was premeditated.

"Returning to the body is simply an impossible act for a sleepwalker," prosecution expert Mark Pressman testified Monday. "They wouldn't even know they had attacked a person, much less know where the victim's body was lying in the back yard."

Pressman also cast doubt on the defense's assertion that Falater's sleepwalking episode lasted between 45 and 50 minutes. He said that most sleepwalking instances last between 10 and 20 minutes. Pressman also testified that the fact that Falater tried to calm his dog down after the attack and put a bandage on a cut on his hand showed that he was alert.

"I find it hard to believe that he'd respond to the dog in this appropriate manner and yet not respond to someone [Falater's wife Yarmila] screaming," Pressman said. "It [applying the bandage] is one of a series of very sophisticated acts, none of which could be done by a sleepwalker."

Pressman was the second prosecution rebuttal expert to undermine Falater's sleepwalking defense. Dr. David Baratz testified Friday that it is "very uncommon" for a sleepwalker to perform the "neat, tidy progression of events" that Falater followed on the night of the killing.

Defense expert Dr. Roger Broughton conceded earlier in the trial that Falater's placement of his bloody clothes in his car after the murder and his return to the house were baffling. But, Broughton said, those illogical actions suggest that Falater was not cognizant and could have been sleepwalking. However, Pressman suggested those actions made perfect sense if Falater wanted to try to get away with murder by using a sleepwalking defense.

"It makes perfect sense if the defendant was awake and trying to kill his wife," Pressman said.

The testimony of Koons and Drs. Pressman and Baratz is prosecutor Juan Martinez's only counter to Falater's defense, and a jury will decide later this week whether that will be enough. Martinez had a witness whom he claimed would testify that weeks before the murder, Falater discussed a similar sleepwalking case out of Canada where the defendant was acquitted of murder. But Judge Ronald Reinstein barred the testimony, citing that it was hearsay evidence.

Prosecutors are expected to end their rebuttal case Tuesday. Closing arguments may take place Wednesday. If convicted, Falater could face the death penalty.

— Bryan Robinson