Jury in Santa Barbara does not decide whether Cora Vides will be sent to prison or a psychiatric hospital

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After hearing from six psychologists, the jury is still undecided on whether Cora Vides – who was convicted of attempting to murder her Laguna Blanca classmate Georgia Avery on Valentine's Day – was mentally sane or insane at the time of the attack. Closing arguments were held on August 21 and the jury will now make a final decision on whether Vides will serve her sentence behind bars or in a mental health facility.

At the mental capacity stage, the onus was on the defense to prove that Vides was most likely insane at the time of the attack—in other words, that her mental defect rendered her incapable of understanding the nature and quality of her actions. or Be able to distinguish right from wrong.

The events that led to Vides' “psychotic breakdown” were “the perfect storm,” according to defense attorney Todd Maybrown. Vides moved to Santa Barbara from her home state of Washington due to her mother's ongoing mental health issues, and eventually transferred from Santa Barbara High School to Laguna Blanca after struggling to adjust. Combined with a new contraceptive, worsening depression, and months of mental decompensation, Vides began to have a “bad feeling.”

Eventually, Vides' “bad feeling became a fixed delusion,” Maybrown said – a delusion that was passed on to Georgia Avery.

Of the six expert witnesses – three appointed by the defense, one by the prosecution and two by the court – four concluded that Vides was insane at the time of the incident (including one of the court-appointed psychologists). However, most did not classify her mental state at the time of the attack as “delusional.”

Dr. Brandon Yakush, a court-appointed forensic psychologist, said he found no evidence of delusions, but did find evidence of depersonalization and derealization during the incident – commonly known as an out-of-body experience. “She knew the harm she was doing to the victim, but she didn't know she was doing it,” he testified. This dissociative “dream state” led to Dr. Yakush's conclusion that Vides was insane at the time of the attack.

Clinical psychologist Dr. Jamie Rotnofsky wrote two separate reports on Vides' mental state – one in February 2021 and a new one in February 2024 after it was commissioned by the defense. The first report made no mention of dissociation, while the second found that Vides “lacked strength, will, [and] no control” over the situation.

Maybrown said Vides had “extraordinary difficulty understanding what went wrong.” The only reasonable explanation for the attack, he argued, was that Vides thought “an outside force was controlling her.”

“This was staged, planned and purposeful,” argued prosecutor Kevin Weichbrod. “There was no point at which she lacked the ability” to understand the nature and quality of her actions.

After Vides stabbed Avery in the neck, a violent struggle ensued while Vides attempted to suffocate the victim, who did everything in his power to alert Vides' parents — who were sleeping in another room. Avery grabbed a shoe because she thought it would make a noise if she threw it across the room, but Vides took it from Avery's hand — an “intentional, willful, conscious act,” Weichbrod said. “Dissociation and being on autopilot is incongruent” with Vides' actions, which kept Avery from getting help, he claimed.

During the struggle, Avery testified that Vides “made an effort” to look at the wall instead of up at her. The defense and her psychologists concluded that this “blank stare” was an indication that she was in a dissociative state.

“I couldn't look at her,” Vides said that evening in a conversation with prosecutor and investigator Eric Davis – a statement that showed that she “consciously looked away,” Weichbrod added.

The other court-appointed forensic psychologist, Dr. Roxanne Rassti, worked under Dr. Yakush earlier in her career and has “the utmost respect for him.” However, she reached the opposite conclusion, stating that she found no evidence of dissociation at the time of the event and made no mention of it in her report. Symptoms of Vides' undisputed mental health diagnoses – depression and anxiety – “would not impair her sense of reality to the extent” other witnesses claimed. Since this was the “only circumstance” for such intrusive thoughts, Dr. Rassti concluded that Vides was legally competent at the time of the event.

In his closing remarks, Weichbrod noted how “convenient” it was that Vides’ only experience of dissociation was “that one moment.”

The only mental health expert who spoke to Vides within 48 hours of the attack was Dr. James Tahmisian, whose interview was highly contested at both stages of the trial. While Vides was being held on bail, Dr. Tahmisian did not tell Vides in a video call that he was a psychologist until after the evaluation, violating the ethical standard of informed consent. Vides also asked three times if she wanted her lawyer present. Each time she was told some variation of “that's your decision” and the interview continued without her lawyer.

During the interview, Dr. Tahmisian asked three times if Vides could be forced to do something she did not want to do. Each time, she responded, “I don't know.” Vides also mentioned that she was in prison because she “did something bad.” When asked about this, she said that she knew it was something bad “because I can tell right from wrong.” Based on this, Dr. Tahmisian concluded that Vides was legally competent at the time of the attack and showed “no signs of behavioral disturbance.”

If the jury finds Vides sane, she faces 11 years to life in prison. If she is found insane, she will have to spend at least six months in a psychiatric hospital. Doctors will then determine the length of her stay.