Dr. Park Dietz To Testify In Stayner Trial

A psychiatrist who testified in the high-profile cases of the Unabomber and the would-be assassin of President Reagan will testify in the sanity phase of convicted Yosemite murderer Cary Stayner. Defense lawyers lost their bid today to bar Doctor Park Dietz from testifying because he’s not licensed to practice medicine in California.

Judge Thomas Hastings rejected the argument, saying that law does not apply in criminal cases.

Hastings says Dietz can testify whether he believed Stayner was sane and could discuss past cases he has worked on so jurors could weigh his credentials.

Stayner´s attorneys plan to mount an insanity defense tomorrow to try to spare his life. If the jury finds him sane, they will then decide whether he receives the death penalty.

Stayner was convicted Monday of murdering three Yosemite tourists in 1999.