from www.patch.com – A New York psychiatrist testified Friday that Felicia Lee died from taking too much GHB, not from being smothered to death.

A psychiatrist who specializes in substance abuse was called to the witness stand by Brian Lee Randone’s attorneys to testify that Felicia Lee died of an overdose of GHB, not from being smothered to death.

Dr. David McDowell, a New York psychiatrist who has studied and written about the effects of “club drugs” like GHB, said Friday that he had “no doubt” that Lee died from ingesting too much GHB, commonly known as the date rape drug.

“The facts are absolutely clear in my mind,” McDowell told Ed Rucker, one of Randone’s two attorneys.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that a GHB overdose is the cause of death in this case.”

Asked to explain his opinion, McDowell said the high level of the drug found in Lee coupled with the 31-year-old’s “reckless” history of drug abuse points toward GHB as the cause of death. He also noted that the behavior described in the 9-11 call placed by Randone, where he told dispatchers that Lee was flailing around before she stopped breathing, matches classic signs of GHB overdose.

“If I had to write a script about someone having a GHB overdose, it would include all those elements,” McDowell said.

To read more about the effects of GHB and how the drug is involved in the case, click here.

McDowell’s opinion contradicted the testimony of the medical examiner who performed Lee’s autopsy. Dr. Ajay Panchal of the Los Angeles Department of Coroner ruled Lee’s cause of death as “asphyxia by smothering.” He said the abrasions on Lee’s face and inside her mouth indicated that she had been forcibly smothered to death.

Randone is charged with one count of murder and one count of torture for allegedly beating and smothering Lee to death in Monrovia in 2009. The torture count stems from the more than 300 blunt force trauma wounds found on Lee’s body at the time of her death. Randone’s attorneys argue that the wounds were caused while Lee was flailing around during a GHB overdose.

Prosecutor Philip Wojdak may recall his own expert witness next week to rebut McDowell’s testimony, he told Superior Court Judge Dorothy Shubin. That witness, Dr. Cyrus Rangan, the director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Toxicology, said on the witness stand that it was impossible to determine if someone had ingested a lethal amount of GHB because the drug affects everyone differently.

The amount of GHB found in Lee’s body has killed some people and merely sedated others, Rangan said.