Child-abuse expert: Photos of Haleigh Poutre show repeated abuse

By Patricia Wen, Globe Staff

SPRINGFIELD - Displaying hospital photos of Haleigh Poutre's battered body shortly after she fell into a coma in 2005, a child-abuse expert today depicted the girl as the victim of systematic abuse that included cigarette burns and physical restraints, not a troubled child engaging in self-injurious behavior as defense attorneys have suggested.

One photo, shown by Dr. Christine Barron during the child abuse trial of Haleigh's stepfather, revealed the girl's bare back, with nearly a dozen bruises and cuts on all sides and near the spine. Barron said the shape of many of the wounds suggested that the 11-year-old Westfield girl was struck multiple times by a "hard solid object."

"Is that an area a child could reach herself?" asked prosecutor Laurel Brandt, pointing to an image of a circular wound on the child's back.

"It would be difficult to reach," Barron replied.

After her testimony, the prosecution rested its case against Jason Strickland, leaving the defense to begin its case tomorrow. They are expected to call about a dozen witnesses, including the 34-year-old stepfather, who is expected to testify that he never abused Haleigh and that he believed his wife, Haleigh's adoptive mother, who said the girl had a psychological disorder causing her to hurt herself. He is expected to say that Holli Strickland's explanation seemed plausible given that Haleigh's former doctors and therapists had diagnosed the girl for at least several years with disturbing, self-injurious behavior.

These clinicians, who are expected to be called as defense witnesses, have records showing that they saw many pronounced injuries over the years that were similar to the ones seen in the hospital photos shown to jurors.

It is unclear whether the defense will argue that Haleigh's near-fatal head injury was also self-inflicted. Barron, as well as a Baystate Medical Center radiologist, testified that only an injury as severe as a high-speed car accident could produce the type of deep brain trauma that Haleigh suffered.

Looking at the hospital images of Haleigh, defense attorney Alan Black questioned Barron on her interpretation of some of them, including a large burn mark on her chest. He asked whether it was possible that Haleigh held a hot object near her chest.

"It is possible, yes," replied Barron, a forensic pediatrician from Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, R.I.

Strickland faces a maximum 15-year imprisonment if convicted of the most serious assault charge against him, and faces additional years if convicted on other counts as well.

His wife is not on trial because she died in an apparent murder-suicide with her grandmother, shortly after the Stricklands were arrested.

Haleigh almost died in the fall of 2005 when the state sought to remove her from life support, triggering a national end-of-life controversy. The girl, now 14, has recovered to the point that she can feed herself, speak simple sentences, and attend a day school in a rehabilitaiton hospital in Brighton.

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

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