Opening statements Thursday in 2005 Lake Elsinore stabbing death trial

A jury was sworn in today for the trial of a 25-year-old mother charged in the fatal stabbing of her boyfriend at their Lake Elsinore apartment on Thanksgiving Day four years ago.

Amalia Catherine Bryant faces 26 years to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder, with a knife allegation, in the death of Robert Golden on Nov. 24, 2005.

Opening statements in the case are set for Thursday.

Golden, 20, died of a single stab wound to the torso, according to the county coroner’s office. Though Bryant confessed to stabbing her boyfriend, the defense contends it was not premeditated.

Bryant told a sheriff’s investigator that she had been angry with Golden for months because of his lack of affection for her, according to testimony at her preliminary hearing.

On the night of his death, the victim took his girlfriend to dinner at his aunt’s home but ignored her, sheriff’s Sgt. Cheryl Owens testified.

Bryant told Owens that after she gave birth to twin boys, Golden rarely touched her and showed her no affection, only becoming animated when his friends or family were around. Otherwise, he was despondent and quiet, making her feel jealous, Owens testified.

When the couple arrived home from dinner, Golden immediately got onto the computer and Bryant went into the bedroom to write in her journal and listen to music, according to the defendant’s account.

Golden had already told Bryant he did not want sex that night, further depressing the defendant, Owens testified.

Bryant said that when she went to call a friend, Golden followed her into the bedroom, grabbed the receiver and hit her hard on the leg with it, the sergeant said.

Bryant told investigators that the two fought and she ended up on her back in the bed, with Golden straddling her body and choking her and her kicking him in the groin, Owens said.

The brawl carried into a front room as Bryant tried to slice her wrists with shards of broken glass and a knife, Owens testified.

Golden knocked the knife away, but Bryant grabbed another one and slashed at him, cutting his wrist, according to the defendant’s account. She said she then moved the knife to her other hand and thrust forward, and the knife came back bloody, Owens said.

According to testimony, Golden initially tried to keep Bryant from going out to get help, but she forced the door open and screamed for help, at which point he fell face-down in the doorway.

At the hospital, where he died, Bryant wrote him a note expressing remorse and asking for forgiveness, while stating her hope that he would live, Owens testified.

Under cross-examination by the defense, the sergeant testified that Bryant had bruises on her arms from a violent encounter earlier in the week and that the defendant told her Golden had been violent in the past.

Tags: Amalia Catherine Bryant, Lake Elsinore, Robert Golden, Southwest Detention Center, SWRNN

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