Abused girl shouldn't testify, state now says

A Superior Court judge is set to preside today over a hearing on whether 14-year-old Haleigh Poutre is mentally competent to serve as a witness - though it remains unclear if anyone still wants testimony from her.

In a surprise 11th-hour move, Hampden County prosecutor Laurel Brandt yesterday reversed her previous position that she wanted the brain-injured girl to serve as a witness in the trial of Poutre's stepfather, who is accused of contributing to her injuries.

Brandt filed a motion saying that after further review of medical and psychological records, as well as "meeting on several occasions with the child herself," she decided that it was against Haleigh's best interests to testify in a public forum.

The prosecution's abrupt announcement stunned nearly everyone in the case. Many had anticipated a powerful confrontation between the severely injured victim and the accused, Jason Strickland.

It is still possible that Alan Black, Strickland's defense lawyer, could call Poutre as a witness. He has the option of asking that her competency hearing in Superior Court in Springfield, set for 9 a.m. today, continue as planned. Black could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Until now, the defense team's only public action on the prospect of Poutre testifying has been to demand an equal opportunity to interview her to assess her competency. The lawyers have yet to say whether they think her testimony would help or hurt the stepfather's criminal case, which is scheduled for trial Oct. 29.

Since Poutre emerged from a coma in the fall of 2005 - just before her life support was to be removed - she has been a patient in a pediatric rehabilitation facility in Brighton. She can now communicate simple sentences.

The girl's adoptive mother, Holli Strickland, was charged with assault, along with the stepfather. She died in an apparent murder-suicide with her grandmother.

Some lawyers who have closely followed Haleigh's case said the government's sudden announcement makes them question whether the prosecutor ever meant to call the Westfield girl as a witness. They said the child's potential testimony could have been a pressure tactic to encourage the stepfather to plead guilty.

The prosecutor did not return phone calls yesterday seeking comment.