Baby sitter describes seeing Poutre abused

Defense cites shift in her statements

Alicia Weiss, a friend of Haleigh Poutre's adoptive mother, broke down crying several times in her four hours of testimony. (Jessica Hill/ Pool)

SPRINGFIELD - A young Westfield woman was portrayed by prosecutors yesterday as a courageous witness who finally, after previous false statements to police, told the truth about the violence that she saw Jason and Holli Strickland inflict on the oldest child in their home, Haleigh Poutre.

However, a defense lawyer cast Alicia Weiss, 26, the former next-door neighbor of the Stricklands and a longtime baby sitter, as a person with no credibility because she gave conflicting stories to police and has acknowledged witnessing repeated, horrendous abuse on Haleigh but doing nothing to stop it.

In the seventh day of testimony in the trial of Haleigh's stepfather, Jason Strickland, on child-abuse charges, Weiss said that she initially kept secret from police the abuse she had witnessed because of loyalty to Holli, whom she regarded as her best friend.

"I told them the truth, but not the whole truth," said Weiss, now an aide in a day-care center.

In four hours of testimony, Weiss broke down crying several times when describing her relationship with Holli Strickland, which she said extended over six years. Holli Strickland gave Weiss one of her first jobs, as an assistant in a day-care center run by Holli Strickland's family.

Holli Strickland, Haleigh's adoptive mother, died in an apparent murder-suicide with her grandmother shortly after police charged her and her husband with abusing Haleigh.

Weiss is considered a critical witness, because of her close ties to the family. On the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2005, while the rest of the family went to Haleigh's sister's soccer game, Weiss watched Haleigh, who she had thought was sleeping while suffering from a flulike illness. Weiss said she checked on the 11-year-old girl three times that afternoon, and saw nothing particularly wrong, except that Haleigh had some foam at the side of her mouth and a scab near her chin.

She described the frantic scene that erupted shortly after the Stricklands returned from the game and tried to rouse Haleigh, saying, "Haleigh! Haleigh! Please wake up!"

When Haleigh didn't respond, she was taken, bruised and in a coma, to Noble Hospital in Westfield. Over the next several days, Weiss said she answered two rounds of police officers' questions, describing Jason and Holli as devoted parents.

But in a third round, after seeing pictures of Haleigh's battered body attached to life-support systems, Weiss said, she decided to disclose some of what she witnessed over the summer of 2005, including times when Holli struck Haleigh with a bat or kicked her in the legs, all while Jason was present. Weiss has also acknowledged at least once hitting Haleigh herself.

Weiss portrayed Holli as the chief abuser, at least once kicking Haleigh down the stairs three times in a row when the girl allegedly did not answer a question. Weiss portrayed the stepfather as doing nothing to stop his wife's cruelty or inflicting his own, though milder, form of punishment. She said that she twice saw Jason Strickland hit Haleigh with an open hand, slapping her on the head when she didn't answer him.

When asked by defense attorney Richard Rubin if she ever questioned Holli about her actions, Weiss replied no.

"Did you ever criticize her?" he asked. Replied Weiss: "No."

Haleigh became the center of an end-of-life controversy when the state sought to remove her life support in the fall of 2005. The girl, now 14, has recovered to the point where she can speak some simple sentences and attends a special needs day school.

Patricia Wen can be reached at wen@globe.com.