WSET.com - ABC13Witnesses Focus on Medical Issues in Former UVA Player Murder Trial

Witnesses Focus on Medical Issues in Former UVA Player Murder Trial

Reporter: Jeremy Mills | Videographers: Daniel Heffner & Ricky Beckwith

Charlottesville, VA - The judge in the George Huguely murder trial is letting testimony go late Tuesday in hopes that the prosecution will finally wrap up its case.

Another six witnesses have taken the stand Tuesday, all of them focusing on medical issues.

Prosecutors have even recalled the state medical examiner. His testimony turned out to be quite significant. He admits that the mechanism for Yeardley Love's death appears to be cardiac arrhythmia. That is exactly what Huguely's attorneys say killed Love.

The difference is the medical examiner says the heart failure was brought on by blunt force trauma to the head, so he says that is the cause of death.

Two neuropathologists testified for more than six hours that the pooling of blood around Love's brain stem was enough to disrupt cardiac functions. They spoke specifically about the brain of Love saying it was heavier than most her age and was more red and swollen than it should be.

The doctors detailed internal damage that included multiple brain bruises and three main hemorrhages. They say those hemorrhages caused blood to pool around the brain stem, which would affect cardiac and respiratory functions. Both testified the injuries would have been fatal in less than two hours.

The defense has said they will prove her heart stopped due to her use of the prescription Adderall.

A toxicologist also testified Tuesday for the prosecution saying that the Adderall level in Love's system was a .05 concentration. He indicated it would take four times that amount to constitute a lethal dose.