** Note, the testimony given Monday is graphic in nature. Please watch at your own discretion.
Former Medical Examiner Valerie Rao was the sole witness Monday as Donald Davidson’s death penalty trial resumes at the Clay County Courthouse in Green Cove Springs.
Davidson stunned the court and his own attorneys late last month when he pleaded guilty in his death penalty trial. The plea allows Davidson to skip what is known as the guilt phase of his trial, and to avoid a jury altogether. He must still go through the penalty phase, however, at which Circuit Judge Donald Lester will alone decide whether he receives a sentence of death or life in prison.
Davidson admitted to murdering Roseann Welsh at her Middleburg home in 2014, and kidnapping and raping her 10-year-old daughter. He was a registered sexual predator at the time and cut off his ankle monitor during the attack. Until late May, he had pleaded not guilty to all charges in the capital murder case. On May 28, however, he told his public defender he wanted to plead guilty, saying he just wanted to “get this over with.”
Dr. Rao, now retired, will testify Monday as the only witness. All other witnesses, including those scheduled to testify on Davidson’s behalf, will appear June 27.
Because of the way Rao’s post-retirement contract is constructed, she is paid $5,000 per week of work. She is scheduled to testify at another Duval County trial this week, and if the State Attorney’s Office asked her to testify with other witnesses the week of the 27th, she would have to be paid an additional $5,000.
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