Group hits DSS lawyer in girl's case

An advocacy group for foster children has filed a complaint with the state Board of Bar Overseers against the chief lawyer for the Department of Social Services, accusing her of improper conduct in the end-of-life case involving Haleigh Poutre.

Susan Molina, executive director of the Yellow Ribbon Kids Club, said yesterday that she filed a complaint against DSS lawyer Virginia Peel, saying Peel had not told the Supreme Judicial Court that Haleigh, 11, was starting to breathe on her own and was showing increased responsiveness.

That lack of communication, Molina said, caused the judges to issue a ruling on Jan. 17 backing the agency's desire to pull the child's ventilator and feeding tube.

''The courts are deliberating the life or death of a child, and they didn't know her condition had changed," said Molina, who asked last month for the resignation of the DSS commissioner, Harry Spence.

A DSS spokeswoman, Denise Monteiro, described the complaint against Peel as frivolous.

Daniel Crane, bar counsel of the Board of Bar Overseers, said he is prohibited from confirming any complaints.

Molina, whose group is based in Whitman, said she does not have proof of when Peel knew that the girl's condition had changed. DSS officials have said that only on Jan. 18, a day after the SJC ruling, did they get notice from doctors about the improved condition.

Wendy Murphy, a lawyer for Allison Avrett, the girl's biological mother, who gave up custody of the girl about four years ago, has scheduled a press conference for this afternoon in Brockton to announce Avrett's efforts to secure a legal voice in the girl's care.

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