Mother charged in death says DA misled grand jury

A Hull woman accused of killing her 4-year-old daughter with prescription drugs is asking a judge to dismiss her indictment, saying that prosecutors misled the grand jury by withholding important information, including a photograph showing the girl in good health 36 hours before she died.

Carolyn Riley and her husband, Michael, are facing first- degree murder charges in the death of their daughter, Rebecca, on Dec. 13. Prosecutors contend the couple falsely claimed their daughter was mentally unstable so she would qualify for Social Security disability benefits, then overdosed her with her medicine.

In papers filed in Plymouth County Superior Court, Carolyn Riley's defense lawyer, Michael C. Bourbeau, said prosecutors ignored their legal responsibility to give grand jurors a detailed picture of the case.

He also alleged that prosecutors were biased against his clients because they were poor.

"Throughout these investigations, there exists an elitist undertone that these individuals, who are poor, disabled, and not well educated, are nothing but 'poor white trash,' " Bourbeau wrote.

Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz said yesterday that his office has not yet scrutinized Bourbeau's filing.

"Anybody can reduce information to writing and make an accusation, but we will deal with it in court," he said.

In a photograph accompanying the filing, Rebecca Riley appears healthy and in good spirits.

Bourbeau said that the girl's grandmother took the photograph 36 hours before Rebecca died and that it contrasts with prosecutors' contention that in her final days she had become physically sick from the overdosing by her parents.

The girl's death has drawn national interest because it raises questions about the use of prescription drugs "off label," as well as whether doctors can accurately diagnose serious mental illnesses in young children.

Rebecca Riley's psychologist, Dr. Kayoko Kifuji, diagnosed Rebecca as bipolar when the girl was 2 years old. She prescribed several drugs, including clonidine, one of the drugs found in Rebecca's body after her death. Kifuji has voluntarily surrendered her license while inquiries into the case continue.

Kifuji, testifying in custody proceedings held after Rebecca's death for her two siblings, acknowledged authorizing the Rileys to sometimes give Rebecca extra doses, Bourbeau said in the court filing.

He also wrote that two roommates of the Riley family, Kelly Williams and James McGonnell, have admitted dipping into the Rileys' supply of clonidine. Prosecutors have said that too many pills were missing from the bottle, calling it evidence that Rebecca was overdosed.

Bourbeau also pointed out that Rebecca's siblings, who are now in Department of Social Services custody, remain on the same drug regimen they were on when they lived with their parents.

Michael Riley is expected to join in the motion for dismissal , Bourbeau said. No date for a hearing has been set.

(Correction: Because of a reporting error, a story in yesterday's City & Region section about a motion seeking dismissal of charges in the Rebecca Riley case misidentified Dr. Kayoko Kifuji's profession. Kifuji is a psychiatrist.)