People will be allowed to question Bullock's step father about Bullock's prior drug use and "issues with family"

Gary Lee Bullock's stepfather's testimony was interrupted shortly after 11 a.m., attorneys talked briefly with Judge John Feeney, then jurors and John Bruno left the courtroom and attorneys presented brief oral arguments.

The jurors were sent home at 11:30 and asked to return at 1:30. A 402,hearing was held and John Bruno was questioned by the attorneys.

Gist of final ruling by Judge Feeney was that the prosecution can ask Bruno about Bullock's prior record as long as it is something he personally observed or Bullock told him.

In his arguments, Deputy District Attorney Andrew Isaac told Judge Feeney, "I want to explore that Gary has a long history with the family, he was in prison in Texas, still engaged in drugs after that. It shows his consistent problems have been drugs not sanity."

During attorney discussion and questioning of Bruno, Sempervirens was mentioned, later clarified Bullock was admitted to Singing Trees and he walked out before completing treatment.

Mr. Isaac also referred to phone testimony, between Bruno and Bullock where they discuss using insanity as a defense.

I will update this post later with complete details of the evidence hearing, and do a separate detailed post Bruno's afternoon testimony later. Aside from Officer Crnich's testimony, this was the most crucial testimony of the afternoon.

In three responses to questions posed by Deputy District Attorney Andrew Isaac during cross examination, Gary Lee Bullock's step father John Bruno slightly changed his responses after the lunch break. In one instance he answered, something like that about Bullock ingesting PCP; in another he said no to something Bullock had told him in a phone call from the jail and the last one about discussing insanity as a defense, Bullock's attorney, Mr. Kaleb Cockrum objected.

After the defense rested, the People presented DA Investigator John Burke as a rebuttal witness and played four jail phone calls for the jury.

The calls had the exact statements that John Bruno denied flat out or said he could not exactly recall or was not allowed to answer. Bruno told Mr. Isaac twice that he was aware that the jail phone calls were being recorded.

Before the jurors left this morning for a break during Bruno's testimony, two female jurors cried as they heard Bruno talking a call from the Sheriff's office, his surprise that "Gary" was involved in the death of Fr. Eric Freed, he had watched on the morning news and turning his step son in to law enforcement.

Bruno said the family tried to get Bullock help with drug rehab, his wife tried to get an appointment to see if he was bipolar. That appointment, ironically, was the morning Bullock killed Fr. Freed. Frustrated with arrests and repeated drug use and how it was affecting the family, especially concern for Bullock's wife Stephanie and two daughters, John Bruno asked Bullock at one point, "When is this going to stop?"