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Doc: Perry has anger problem By JIM DAVIS A Wimer man accused of murdering a boyhood acquaintance suffers from a mental disorder marked by brief displays of extreme anger, a psychologist testified Thursday in Jackson County court. Cameron Blaine Perry, 22, is afflicted by "intermittent explosive disorder," said Michael Knapp, an Ashland clinical psychologist testifying for the defense. The condition is rare, Knapp said. People who suffer from it bottle up emotions and release them when provoked by even minimal situations, Knapp said. "He wasn't crazy," Knapp said. "He was an emotionally disturbed individual." Perry is accused of shooting Paul "Bern" Miller over a dispute about a marijuana plant on Oct. 26, 1997, Miller's 21st birthday. The trial is being held in the courtroom of Judge Ray White before a jury of eight men and four women. Public defender Justin Smith has raised insanity as a defense. Prosecutor Judi Harper has brought witnesses who have said Perry threatened to kill Miller before the shooting. Both sides were expected to present closing arguments today. On Thursday, Perry was dressed in a light-blue shirt buttoned to the collar and blue jeans with the hems rolled up as he sat with his lawyers. Smith brought six witnesses to the stand on Thursday -- including Perry's mother, father and his two sisters as well as Knapp. Shawna Perry, Perry's sister, testified on Thursday that the men in her family do not show emotion. "My brother, if he would cry, my father would give him something to cry about," said Shawna Perry. She also testified she didn't think she had heard her brother say "I love you" for five years. Knapp said he evaluated Perry three times after the shooting. He said he diagnosed Perry's "explosive disorder." During cross-examination, Harper asked Knapp when Perry snapped out the disorder. "When he dragged the victim's body over the cliff?" Harper asked. "Perhaps," Knapp replied. To rebut Knapp's testimony, Harper called Jeannie Burrows, a Jackson County sheriff's deputy and custodian of records at the Jackson County Jail; Burrows testified that Perry has not been in a fight for the 14 months he has been in jail. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA