The lawyer defending a boy charged with killing his family on Sam Donaldson's Lincoln County ranch continued presenting witnesses on Monday. All supported the boy's abuse allegations.

The trial in Children's Court has lasted five days.

Senior Trial Prosecutor and Children's Court Attorney Sandra Grisham maintains that Posey's acts were premeditated. Testimony showed he used the sole unsecured handgun on the property, kept in a saddlebag to defend against snakes. Grisham said "all the rifles were locked up" because of threats Posey had made.

Ranch hand Slim Britton, 55, said the family treated Posey like "the outside wheel."

"Cody carried a lot of weight for a kid. He was called on to do a man's work," Britton said.

He also said the family was constantly "ragging on him."

"They talked down to him pretty hard," Britton said. "(Tryone) would belittle him."

Britton described Delbert Posey jabbing a hay hook into Posey's hand, throwing rocks at his son and viciously slapping a lariat across the boy's back. He said Posey was repeatedly denied sufficient food and water even on hot days -- but so was Marilea, to the point she nearly suffered heat stroke.

"We'd slide him a burrito. It was not very well taken by his dad but we'd slide him anyway," Britton said. "I told (Delbert) he needed to back off him."

Grisham attacked Britton's credibility, alluding he never told investigators of such incidences, nor did he inform authorities of the abuse.

"The reason you didn't want to say anything to authorities is because you'd lose your job," Grisham said.

"That's part to do with it," Britton said.

Emily Nutt taught Sunday school at a Mayhill Baptist church the Poseys attended when the family worked on an Otero County ranch. According to Nutt, the parents were actively involved in a program where students dress as clowns. She said Tryone dressed up and Delbert helped backstage, but that their presence dampened Posey's demeanor.

"(His father) didn't have to say anything to Cody, all he had to do was look at him. Whatever (Cody) was doing he would just instantly stop," Nutt said, pointing out the boy would then walk off by himself and "stand with his head down."

Although she testified the boy was "more relaxed" when Tryone was at the church without her husband, Tryone was still "extremely strict with Cody."

Conversely, she said, the couple's interaction with Marilea was "very markedly" different.

"They were always loving on her, touching her ... telling her how beautiful she was," Nutt said. "If Cody made a mistake during Bible drills there would be comments, 'Well, if you had studied harder....' They never said anything kind to him, where Marilea constantly received good comments."

Cody and Marilea participated in a memorization contest where winners would advance to state.

"He did exceptional during the competition," said Nutt, who described Posey's score as "near perfect."

The Poseys pulled Cody out because, according to co-defense counsel Tim Rose, Posey was being punished for changing into a T-shirt at school, then putting his long-sleeved shirt back on before going home.

"Nowhere in the law is that an excuse for killing someone," Grisham said.

Nutt said she appealed to Delbert to let his son participate.

"'He's too good at it. He's worked too hard. He's worked seven months at it,"' Nutt said she told Delbert, whom she said responded, "'How does allowing a bad boy to compete in a state competition glorify God?'"

Nutt said she reported her suspicions to the Cloudcroft school psychologist, but admitted under Grisham's cross examination she did not tell authorities.

Others who testified included Victoria Harrington, whose son was a classmate of Cody's in Roswell, from kindergarten through third grade, when Delbert Posey was married to his second wife. Harrington said the boy was "subdued" around his father and "kept his eyes down."

Her son, Brandon Harrington, 17, testified Posey "acted like he was petrified" of his father.

Senior Trial Prosecutor Janice Schryer questioned Brandon Harrington's recollections.

"You seem to have an amazing memory for some details. Do you have a good memory?" Schryer asked.

"I guess so," he said.

Schryer drilled him on questions such as who was at Posey's birth mother's funeral, what he and they'd worn, and how long the service lasted.

"I don't recall," he said, repeatedly.

Hondo schools' Superintendent John MacCallum testified to similar impressions of the parent-son relationship, as well as to Posey's and Marilea's attendance. In his opening statement, Mitchell said he intended to show that while the children were at school Delbert and Tryone were accessing Internet porn -- including sites about mother-son and father-daughter incest. That, Mitchell said, bolstered Posey's testimony that on July 4, 2004, his father attempted to force him into sex with Tryone.

But MacCallum said on cross examination that while he thought the parents "were overly strict," he never saw physical evidence of abuse.

"You never had one thought whatsoever that (Cody or Marilea) were being abused?" Grisham said during a short verbal tug of war between herself and Mitchell.

"No ma'am," MacCallum said.

"Sir, do you think you might have noticed something if Cody was being beaten two to three times a week ... sometimes two to three times a day (as Posey claims)," Grisham said.

"Probably," MacCallum said.

"I guess that would depend on where the bruises were, wouldn't it?" Mitchell said.

MacCallum concurred.

Additionally, MacCallum testified, the Poseys withdrew the children from the Hondo district because the father "was upset because Cody had a girlfriend."

Other students testified Posey came to school with a black eye and bruises, that his demeanor would turn sour the closer it came time to go home, and that Posey always wore a long sleeved western shirt and Wrangler jeans. Mitchell has alleged the clothing covered bruises, but Grisham pointed out to more than one of the students they themselves were wearing such apparel.

Students also testified that Posey, at his mother's funeral, was adamant he wasn't going to go home with his father. His cousin said he begged her to not "let (his father) take me (because) he beats me."

Parents of some of those students described the verbal abuse they witnessed at school, one calling Tryone's attitude "very ugly." They said they reported their concerns to the principal.