ATLANTA -- The widow of murdered Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes told the jury Thursday of feeling helpless and the "unbelievable devastation" she has experienced since the shootings in the Fulton County courthouse in March 2005.

"Some days I have no energy and I have to force myself to go through the motions of work and play," said Claudia Barnes during a victim impact statement. "Going home to the void is sometimes overwhelming and I feel helpless."

Barnes is one of 13 family members and friends of Brian Nichols’ four victims who are giving the statements during the sentencing phase of Nichols’ murder trial.

VIDEO: Claudia Barnes' Victim Impact Statement
VIDEO: Kiley Barnes' Victim Impact Statement

Claudia Barnes kept her composure during her statement, but her daughter Kiley Barnes was so overcome with emotion while recounting memories of her father she had to stop several times to collect herself.

"I feel as heartbroken and lonely as I did on March 11, 2005, and I just feel sick," said Kiley Barnes referring to the day of the shootings.

Earlier in the day the judge hearing the case against Nichols chided prosecutors for introducing evidence of a threatening phone call, but he refused a request by defense attorneys to declare a mistrial.

Superior Court Judge James Bodiford said prosecutors violated a court order by playing a tape of Nichols apparently threatening to kill Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard without first providing defense attorneys a transcript of the call.

But after taking a 20-minute recess to consider the defense motion for a mistrial, he said the mistake was a "technical violation" that did not merit a mistrial. He did, however, concede that the evidence would likely come up in an appeal of whatever sentence Nichols receives.

Nichols was found guilty Nov. 7 of murdering a judge, a court reporter, a sheriff's deputy and a federal agent when he escaped from a 2005 rape trial in Atlanta. The jury is now hearing testimony about whether Nichols should receive a death sentence.

Prosecutors this week played a June 2006 phone call from Nichols in which he said if he could have done something different, he would have "stopped on the third floor and shot your a--." Howard works on the third floor of the Fulton County Courthouse.

Nichols' attorneys filed a motion seeking a mistrial Thursday, saying they were not provided a transcript of the call before the evidence was introduced. The motion contends the "content of the call was highly prejudicial to Mr. Nichols and his right to a fair trial."

Nichols' attorneys, who have repeatedly asked the judge to declare a mistrial throughout the case, said the phone call caught the defense team by surprise and did irreparable damage to their case.

"It's a bell that simply can't be unrung," defense attorney Robert McGlasson said. "It's so clear this is prejudicial."

Prosecutors said that they only discovered the evidence on Wednesday and they did not mean to mislead the defense team.

"We're just asking now that the court make a ruling finding the appropriate remedy," prosecutor Kellie Hill said. "And we would ask it not be a mistrial. There are ways to deal with this without ordering a mistrial."