The trial for Caryn Kelley will continue Tuesday and her fate could be in the jury’s hands by the end of the day.
Kelly, an Orlando realtor, is accused of shooting and killing her boyfriend, Phillip Peatross, in July 2011. On Friday, the defense rested, without Kelly taking the stand.
“I've decided not to testify because I'm too emotional about the situation,” Kelley said in court late Friday afternoon.
Her choice not to testify came as a shock as her attorney said all along the she planned to take the stand and was anxious to tell her story to the jury.
Kelley said Peatross accidentally shot himself as the two struggled over her gun. The prosecution has been trying to prove it was Kelley who fired the gun after a night of drinking and an argument.
Orange County Medical Examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia testified that the gun was three to six inches from Peatross's face and pointed at him.
“It’s possible a struggle ensued, the angle is not inconsistent with a struggle going on, but it is very inconsistent with a suicide,” said Dr. G.
The defense called its own expert to the stand to refute Dr. G’s testimony.
Former medical examiner Dr. William Anderson said his investigation found the shooting could have been either an accident or a suicide and the gun was as close as two inches to his face.
"This is not a particularly common finding in homicides, the close range in a homicide, because normally people in homicides try to make defensive moves, do something to get away,” Dr. Anderson said.
DNA from both Peatross and Kelley was found on the gun. Crime lab analysts testified that based on that, they couldn’t determine who pulled the trigger.
The state plans to call three rebuttal witnesses Tuesday morning before closing arguments begin. Kelley is facing 30 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter.