The woman accused of launching an axe attack on unsuspecting customers in a convenience store has laughed at a suggestion from prosecutors that she lied about what she could remember from the night.
Evie Amati, 26, is on trial in the New South Wales District Court, where she started last week to publicly give her version of events for the first time since the incident at a 7-Eleven store in the inner Sydney suburb of Enmore in the early hours of Jan. 7, 2017.
Two customers were struck with an axe at the store and suffered injuries from the blows, which were captured in graphic CCTV footage, while a third man narrowly avoided getting hit on the street outside by using his backpack as a shield, the court has heard. All three victims were strangers to Amati.
She has pleaded not guilty to charges including two of wounding or causing grievous bodily harm with intent to murder and one of attempting to wound or cause grievous bodily harm with intent to murder, with her barrister arguing she was experiencing a mental illness at the time.
On Thursday last week, Amati told the court her last memory before she went to the store was a voice telling her to kill people and “start the rise of hell on Earth”, and having a “sinister smile” plastered across her face that she couldn’t control. This happened while she was smoking cannabis on her balcony, she said.
Her mind then went into a “blackout” and the next thing she remembers is waking up shackled to a hospital bed surrounded by nurses and police, she told the court.
Under cross-examination from prosecutor Daniel McMahon, Amati was questioned about statements she had made to psychiatrists that suggested she in fact could remember more from the night.
One psychiatrist report says Amati reported a “vague memory” of picking up the axe, while another – based on a conversation in January this year – stated Amati had a memory of both picking up the axe and walking to the 7-Eleven.
Amati reiterated on the witness stand that she had no memory today of either picking up the axe or walking to the 7-Eleven.
“Would you agree with me that the reason why your story has not remained consistent is because it’s not true?” asked McMahon.
Amati laughed and poured herself a cup of water.
“No, not at all,” she replied.
Later, she told McMahon: “The reason why [I can't remember it today] is because my memory has faded. It was 18–19 months ago. If you would prefer me to give an entirely consistent account I can do that, but it wouldn’t be truthful. I was under the impression I was required to give truthful answers.”
She was also cross-examined over statements she had made to a psychiatric doctor at the hospital after her arrest, and to a mental health nurse in prison on Jan. 10, that she had not experienced hallucinations or delusions.
“I wanted to speak with my lawyer before I divulged all the symptoms I was experiencing,” Amati said. “There was no attempt to deliberately mislead anyone. I was confused. I was in a situation where I had no understanding of what was going on. I was not about to spill out my entire life story, especially after I’d done so to hospitals already.”
She denied that her initial statements about not experiencing hallucinations were in fact the truth.
McMahon also asked Amati about her online activity in the hour and a half before she went to the 7-Eleven at 2:20am on Jan. 7.
He suggested a message exchange she had with a woman she had met on Tinder on Jan. 6 and met up with that evening indicated that she was extremely angry about the perception that the Tinder date had rejected her.
“You would agree that tone of these messages is you getting very upset over the fact you believed [the woman] had rejected you because you’re transgender?” McMahon asked.
“Yes. It was a trigger for my depression. It has led to similar very low points previously," Amati said.
“More a trigger for your anger than your depression, wasn’t it?” he said.
“No, I was very low,” Amati replied.
She said the messages she sent in the hour before the attack – which included statements like people “deserve to die” and “I’m going to kill a lot of people” – did not reflect her actual beliefs.
She also said she had no memory of posting a Facebook status at 1:55am, 25 minutes before she arrived at the store, that said: “Humans are only able to destroy, to hate. So that is what I shall do.”
Last week, psychiatrist for the prosecution Yvonne Skinner said the precise language and grammar of the status did not suggest the author was in a psychotic state.
“It’s not consistent because there’s no sign of confusion but there’s also no sign of incoordination – for instance, a person might make a spelling error by pressing the wrong key,” Skinner said.
Amati said she had no memory of posting the status.
“You just happen to get the grammar perfect. Is that right?” asked McMahon.
“I have autocorrect on my phone,” she replied.
The trial continues before Justice Mark Williams.