CHARLESTON, S.C. — An effort by lawyers who blame the antidepressant Zoloft for a 12-year-old's killing of his grandparents may have backfired Wednesday.

A psychiatrist who works for the drug's manufacturer told jurors that just as many children attempted suicide while taking a placebo during clinical trials as did children taking Zoloft.

"The causal link is not there," testified Dr. Steve Romano of Pfizer Inc., explaining that children who participate in clinical trials can be aggressive, suicidal or even hostile regardless of whether they take Zoloft.

According to studies conducted by Pfizer, two children out of 189 taking Zoloft attempted suicide, while two children given a sugar-pill placebo had a combined total of three suicide attempts, Romano said.

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"There were no episodes of what I think the court would consider violence," he added.

The defense contends that data maintained by the FDA supports the opinion of its experts that an adverse reaction to Zoloft led Christopher Pittman to hear "echoes" in his mind that commanded him to "Kill. Kill. Do it."

Christopher admits to shooting Joe and Joy Pittman to death in 2001 as they slept and then burning down their house, but his lawyers have argued that the Zoloft prescribed by a family doctor for mild depression tampered with his ability to discern right from wrong.

The defense also contends that Zoloft was responsible for Christopher's initial claims to police that a "black man" killed his grandparents and his later confession that his grandparents deserved to die because they disciplined him.

The defense called Romano to present statistics that indicate the drug was linked by medical investigators to an increased risk of suicide, suicidal thoughts and violence in children. Jurors also learned, however, that the federal Food and Drug Administration last week issued a new label for Zoloft that deleted any references to a "causal" link between antidepressants and an increase in aggression.

"All of these adverse events, I believe every one of them, were already on the label since the drug was approved in ... 1991," Romano testified. "It's nothing new."

Defense lawyer Andy Vickery tried to make Romano stick to the raw data and a strict reading of the draft and final FDA warnings about Zoloft. Romano said it was important that the findings be discussed in context.

"It's important, with all due respect, because that's been your company's position for years," Vickery said.

Romano inferred that the defense was twisting the data to suit its purposes, but he remained composed and looked at the jury as he answered.

"Getting worse over the course of a treatment doesn't mean they are getting worse because of the treatment," he said.

"Zoloft can cause mania and psychosis. Isn't that so?" Vickery challenged.

"And so can a placebo," Romano said, adding that there is no way he can testify for certain that Zoloft can cause a mood disorder because many people who take antidepressants already have mood disorders.

Behind-bars behavior

The defense called a string of witnesses Wednesday afternoon to establish that Christopher is no longer the aggressive, disrespectful, problem child he was when he entered South Carolina's Juvenile Detention Center after the killings.

Janette Mishoe, a world history teacher at the facility, met Christopher in August 2003, nine months after he killed his grandparents. By then, the defense says, the effects of Zoloft and Paxil, another antidepressant he was given while in prison, were wearing off or were gone completely.

"Chris was a model student. He made straight As," Mishoe said. "I had no behavior problems with him."

On cross-examination, Mishoe said she was aware of Christopher's behavior problems when he first entered the detention center but volunteered that he was on Zoloft at the time.

"You're trying to explain away that first bad behavior for the jury aren't you?" prosecutor John Meadors asked. "You're an advocate for Chris Pittman ... You are biased, aren't you?"

"I might be," Mishoe answered. "But I think I'm right."

"Well, I think you're wrong," Meadors said before the defense could object.

The defense also called three juvenile correction officers to testify that Christopher's early behavioral problems in jail eventually went away and he now treats them with respect. After one officer testified that he wrote Pittman up last September for possessing a shank — a sharpened tooth brush — the defense called another to testify that Christopher often held contraband for other prisoners to make them like him.

"Chris was a holder. If a kid has a piece of contraband, he might get another kid on the wing to hide it for him," said correction officer Laurie Ann Bradley.

Bradley, who is black, said she could not recall Christopher calling her the "n-word." Later, however, she seemed to recall him using a racial slur.

"When Chris called you nigger, did you take that as being racist toward you?" defense attorney Henry Mims asked.

"No," Bradley said, explaining that it is not unusual for children to act tough and aggressive during their initial assimilation into prison life.

The defense is expected to rest its case Thursday. Christopher faces up to life in prison if convicted of two counts of murder.