Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara's defense counsel April 23 quizzed a doctor who gave medical treatment to a woman seriously injured in the March 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
Dr. Yoshifumi Makino of the Tokyo Medical College, a witness for the prosecution, testified that he treated the woman -- who was then 31 -- at the college's medical center between March and August 1995.
In a previous court appearance in December 1997, Makino said the gassing victim, who was once in critical condition, could hold a spoon but needed help to eat.
During Thursday's session he said the gas had damaged her brain as well.
"She can understand simple phrases, such as 'Good morning,'" Makino said. "If I ask, 'Where do you want to go today?' she says, 'I want to go for a walk.' But she can't understand phrases more complicated than that."
Makino has treated about 16 victims of the subway gassing, in which 12 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured.