A prosecutor urged jurors Tuesday to convict an herbalist of two misdemeanor charges stemming from the death of a 13-year-old diabetic boy from the Harbor Gateway area, but the man’s attorney insisted the government had not proven its case.
Citing what she called “criminal negligence” and “callous disregard” for Edgar Lopez’s life, Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Heidi Matz told the seven-woman, five-man panel that Timothy Morrow gave “hope” to the teen’s family by assuring the boy’s mother that he was going through a “healing crisis” and convincing them to use herbal products instead of insulin to treat his Type 1 diabetes before the teen’s August 2014 death.
Morrow’s attorney, Sanford Perliss, countered that the teen’s mother didn’t even know Morrow when she informed a doctor that she wanted to give her son herbal remedies.
“Nobody held a gun on Edgar. Nobody held a gun on Edgar’s mom. Nobody stole insulin from that house so Edgar’s mom couldn’t use it,” the defense attorney said in his closing argument before the downtown Los Angeles jury. “Edgar’s mom wanted to do what Edgar’s mom wanted to do.”
Morrow, now 84, is charged with one count each of child abuse and practicing medicine without a license.
Jurors — who were handed the case late Tuesday by Superior Court Judge Victoria B. Wilson — are due back in court Wednesday to continue their deliberations.
The herbalist’s attorney noted that the teen’s mother testified about growing up in Mexico using traditional remedies and about Morrow telling her his story about successfully battling cancer without undergo chemotherapy or radiation.
“That’s his life,” Perliss said. “Is it a crime to tell people your experiences?”
The defense lawyer — who urged jurors to acquit his client — suggested that Morrow became a “sacrificial lamb” after the teen’s death, and said that the case “hasn’t been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”
In her rebuttal argument, the prosecutor countered, “This case is proven beyond any doubt …”
She told jurors that the boy died within hours of Morrow visiting the family’s home and that Morrow’s control over the boy’s family did not abate until the teen passed away.
“Edgar died unnecessarily and today we are here for him,” the deputy city attorney said.
Through a Spanish interpreter, the teen’s mother, Maria Madrigal, testified last week that she initially began giving her son supplements and only used products that Morrow sold after meeting him. She told jurors that Morrow had warned her “not to trust doctors,” and that she “absolutely” felt he had brain-washed her.
Morrow could face up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine if convicted of the charges, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office said last year shortly after the case was filed.