Vale Lee Della not substantially impaired when she shot husband, psychiatrist Kerri Eagle tells jury trial

Dale Lee Vella, aged in her 50s, faced the NSW Supreme Court on Monday charged with murdering her husband of 23 years, Mark Vella, while he slept in their home on August 9, 2021.

Vella had previously pleaded not guilty to murder, claiming she was mentally impaired and indicating she would have pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter if it was laid.

The jury heard evidence late last week Vella had held the double-barrel shotgun within 30cm of her husband's right eye when she fatally shot him.

Entering the trial's second week on Monday, the prosecution's final day of evidence, the jury heard from forensic psychiatrist Kerri Eagle.

After interviewing Vella and reviewing audio and video footage of the alleged offender on the morning of and following the shooting, Dr Eagle said the woman was affected by an "adjusted disorder with a depressed mood".

It was likely caused, Dr Eagle said, by stressors like the family's indebted air conditioning business, the death of her young child in 2006, a 2019 breast cancer diagnosis and what Vella claimed was a marriage involving coercive control.

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A phrase previously used by the alleged offender's daughter to describe her mother on the night of the shooting was: "The lights were on but no one was home."

However, the court heard the mental health impairment was not substantial enough to satisfy the criteria for a substantial impairment legal defence.

"Not from a psychiatric perspective," Dr Eagle said.

The forensic psychiatrist said Vella "was capable of understanding events as they transpired from a "cognitive context".

"Immediately after she allegedly shot the deceased, she was able to recognise what she'd done and recognise that an ambulance needed to be called," Dr Eagle said.

"She answered questions in a logical manner."

Dr Eagle also said Vella had "the capacity" to recognise whether the action of shooting her husband, which she has never denied, was right or wrong.

The alleged offender was recorded apologising to her daughter following the incident.

"He can't hurt us anymore," police bodycam footage previously played to the jury recorded Vella saying.

Finally, the forensic psychiatrist told the court Vella had the capacity to control herself and there was nothing to suggest the woman had acted impulsively or reactively.

"She certainly seemed to be in control," Dr Eagle said.

Alleged evidence of that claim heard on Monday included Vella laying out the loaded gun prior to using it, putting spare bullets in her sock, seeking help for an ambulance to be called immediately after and calmly waiting for police to arrive.

The trial continues on Tuesday.

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