Rock throwing trial nears end, behavioral researcher called to testify
A rock was thrown out of a moving car and it killed 20-year-old Alexa Bartell in 2023.
By Andrew Haubner
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DENVER, Colorado (KCNC) — Joseph Koenig, the 20-year-old man on trial in Colorado for throwing a rock out of a moving car that killed 20-year-old Alexa Bartell in 2023, will not be testifying. He spoke early on Tuesday morning as proceedings were just getting underway.
The defense instead called Laurence Steinberg, a Temple University professor who has extensively researched behavioral health in developing brains, particularly among adolescents.
“Adolescents tend to overweight the potential rewards of a decision — ‘What’s good that’s going to happen to me if I do this?'” he said on the stand, “And underweight the potential bad consequences of a decision. ‘What could go wrong? How could I or someone else be hurt by this.
“They might think of something as a stupid prank that actually may be more of a serious risk,” Steinberg said.
The defense leaned heavily on his research in trying to create a link to the idea that Koenig, 18 years old at the time of the incident in Jefferson County, wasn’t fully aware of the danger of his actions. If the jury agrees with the finding, it could change the outcome of a trial in which the prosecution has asked that he be guilty on 19 charges including first degree murder.
But District Attorney Katharine Decker spent much of the day aiming to find logical inconsistencies within Steinberg’s research, cross examining him for over three hours.
“Can adolescents control their impulses?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
“Can they stand up to peer pressure?” she continued.
“Yes,” Steinberg said again.
“Can they think through the consequences of their actions?” she concluded.
“Yes,” answered Steinberg.
“They’re no worse than adults in how they make decisions is followed by references to their intellectual capabilities and their ability to reason logically,” he added after another line of questioning.
With Koenig not taking the stand, it is likely closing arguments could occur as early as Wednesday morning for a trial that began in Jefferson County early last week.
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