WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Defense attorneys continued to make their case Tuesday that Tim Ferriter was a frustrated father whose bad parenting and inability to control his adopted son led him to lock the teenager in a box-like structure in the garage of their Jupiter home, but they argue that it didn't equate to abuse or neglect.
Ferriter, 48, is on trial facing charges of child abuse, false imprisonment and child neglect. His wife, Tracy Ferriter, is facing the same charges in a separate trial that hasn't yet begun.
Prosecutors rested their case Friday after presenting jurors with hours and hours of Ring camera videos showing the Ferriters' interactions with the teen inside the 8x8 enclosure specially constructed for him the garage of the couple's Egret Landing home.
During the trial, jurors heard from the teen, who described in detail what it was like being confined to his room, isolated from his family without access to food and water.
It remains to be seen whether Tim Ferriter will testify.
Defense attorney Prya Murad began Tuesday's testimony by recalling Jupiter police Detective Christopher Lowe, questioning him about missing videos from the living room of the home.
Next to testify was Dr. Sheila Rapa, a clinical and forensic psychologist. She testified that the teen had been diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder – a condition in which a child doesn't form a healthy emotional bond with his or her caretaker – and referenced school and medical records that showed a long history of behavioral issues beginning at an early age.
Murad asked Rapa if the Ferriters' actions were
"therapeutically correct."
"I think the Ferriters' actions were against anything that we would ever tell someone to do therapeutically," Rapa said.
WATCH: Child psychologist testifies for defense
Murad then asked if it was fair to say the Ferriters' actions "probably exacerbated" their son's behavioral issues.
"Yes," Rapa said.
"But were those behaviors that [he] had caused by the Ferriters?" Murad asked.
"No, I don't believe so," Rapa said.
Murad asked Rapa if she thought Ferriter's handling of the situation "as inappropriately as he did" changed her opinion.
Rapa said it didn't, acknowledging that the boy "had no internal controls."
"And lots of time when a parent has a child that has no internal controls, they do try to put external controls around the child," Rapa said. "This, of course, was beyond the pale. But those external controls are not something that is an unusual thing for a parent to do if they feel like the child is a danger to themselves, others or is doing something so impulsively and they need to, you know, keep an eye on them."
Rapa went on to testify about effective treatments for reactive attachment disorder and said she believes the Ferriters' son has post-traumatic stress disorder.
Murad asked Rapa if she believed the Ferriters "did, in fact, engage in malicious punishment."
WATCH: Psychologist on Ferriters: 'I don't believe that they were malicious'
"I don't believe that they were malicious in so far as they were deliberately trying to abuse and hurt their child," Rapa testified. "I think that they were responding to behaviors that they were very concerned about. … Did they do something appropriate? No. Did they handle it appropriately? No. But I don't think it was just an arbitrary, 'I'm going to abuse this child, be cruel to this child, for no reason.' I think in their mind they were trying to contain some behaviors and keep everybody safe in the process."
The testimony served as a sort of rebuttal to state witness Dr. Wade Myers, who told jurors last week that the actions of the boy's parents were "malicious" and "cruel" and caused severe psychological trauma.
During cross-examination, Rapa admitted there were no records she saw that showed the Ferriters had sought a neuropsychological evaluation until after the Ferriters were arrested.
Rapa also spoke about another doctor's clinical evaluation of the boy.
"There's no indication of whether or not in making his diagnosis that he was aware that during this time frame the victim is being confined in a structure that his parents built in the garage, correct?" Assistant State Attorney Brianna Coakley said.
"Right, that is not in his notes," Rapa said.
"There is no indication that he was aware of that, correct?" Coakley asked.
"Correct," Rapa answered.
WATCH: Psychologist cross-examined about reactive attachment disorder
"And that would be important information for a psychiatrist to have in making a differential diagnosis," Coakley said.
"I think so," Rapa testified. "I would have liked to have that information."
Coakley also asked Rapa if another doctor who evaluated the boy ever recommended confinement?
"Never," Rapa said.
The Ferriters were arrested by Jupiter police in February 2022, shortly after the family moved back to South Florida. They had previously lived in Jupiter before moving to Arizona for a few years.
Before the jury returned from lunch, Coakley raised an issue about the presentation of several more hours of video that the defense planned to show jurors.
"I do think that there is an objection about the needless presentation of cumulative evidence when we're talking about hours and hours," Coakley said. "I understand that the state put in substantial evidence. That was direct evidence of the offense charge. This is all collateral evidence and, although I would agree that some of it is admissible and relevant, to have the jury sit for hours, some of them they're, like, watching a football game, and so we're going to watch the football game with the defendant sitting there."
WATCH: Prosecutor objects to jury watching hours of 'collateral evidence'
Coates said there was "both a potential benefit to that and also a potential risk."
"So, I'm not going to comment on how the pendulum will swing on that," he said.
Coates allowed the defense to play the videos, but prosecutors would be able to object at any point and raise their issues at that time.
By the time the trial concluded for the day, defense attorneys still hadn't determined whether their client would take the stand. A decision is likely forthcoming by Wednesday afternoon.
Should Tim Ferriter testify, the trial — initially projected to last just a week — would likely spill into Thursday.
If not, the defense will rest and closing statements will follow.
