Did Paul Rainone's killer have any idea what he was doing?

The killer of Paul Rainone may have had no idea what he was doing, an expert on the effects of alcohol testified this afternoon at the Sault Ste. Marie Court House.

Referring to the effects of nine beer and as many as 20 shots of rum over a six-hour period on a 17-year-old drinker, Dr. David Rosenbloom, professor of pharmacy at McMaster University, described the degree of impairment as such that an assailant could strike a victim three times full-force with a baseball and have no idea what he was doing.

"That is definitely possible," said Rosenbloom, former director of pharmacy at Hamilton Health Centre's four hospitals.

Under severe alcohol impairment, people can enter an automatonic state in which they may be capable of moving around and talking, and may think they know what they're doing.

But later, they'll have no recollection of their actions, the expert witness said.

On the issue of criminal intent, Rosenbloom testified that "they can't have a specific plan to do anything."

The trail continues tomorrow.