Testimony: Blunt force trauma killed Love

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Feb. 15 (UPI) -- A Virginia medical examiner says Yeardley Love had alcohol and Adderall in her system the night she died but what killed her was blunt force trauma to her head.

Assistant Chief Medical Examiner William T. Gormley testified Tuesday at the trial of George Huguely, who is accused of banging Love's head against a bedroom wall and leaving her to die in her apartment near the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, Va.

Gormley said Love's blood-alcohol level the night she died in May 2010 was 0.14, nearly double the legal limit of 0.08. She also had low levels of Adderall, a drug used to treat attention disorders, in her system. Huguely told police he had 12 drinks the night his former girlfriend died but his blood-alcohol level wasn't tested until after his arrest the following day, The Washington Post reported.

Love and Huguely, who both played for lacrosse teams at the University of Virginia, had an on-and-off romantic relationship. Prosecutors allege Huguely was angry at Love and shook her until her head hit a wall. He has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges. He allegedly told police after his arrest that he had shaken Love "a little bit" during an argument but that she didn't seem badly hurt when he left.

Huguely's attorneys tried to raise the possibility in questioning that either an irregular heartbeat provoked by Adderall or a massive rush of blood to Love's brain after cardiopulmonary resuscitation could account for bruising found in her brain found during autopsy, the newspaper said. Expert witnesses, however, discounted the possibility of either argument, the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch reported.

Huguely, of Chevy Chase, Md., is charged with felony murder, first-degree murder, robbery, breaking and entering, and grand larceny.