News / International
Mother's outburst at plans to let 6yr old son testify against her
09 Mar 2012 at 17:33hrs | Views
Prosecutors' plans to put her son on the stand in her high-profile trial next month, led to an outburst from a Brooklyn mother accused of killing her 4-year-old daughter.
"He needs to be left alone, just leave him alone," Carlotta Brett Pierce blurted out as lawyers and the judge discussed whether the 6-year-old should testify on closed circuit TV or in open court.
Assistant district attorney Jacqueline Kagan made it clear that the boy, who previously told authorities that his mother forced pills down his sister's throat and beat her with a belt, will be a key witness
"This child offers information that no one else can offer," she said. "This is the witness that shows the depravity and the reckless conduct in this indictment."
His sister, Marchella Brett Pierce, weighed only 19 pounds when she died September 2010, with large amounts of allergy medication in her system and signs of abuse on her body.
Her mother is charged with murder and her grandmother, Loretta Brett, with manslaughter. Two city caseworkers who supervised the family were separately charged with not preventing the death.
A social worker who has been treating the boy testified in a preliminary hearing that seeing his mom in court for the first time since his sister died might stunt his psychological progress.
"It will be traumatic," said Maria Rivera. "He could freeze."
Defense lawyers argued that in-camera testimony is typically allowed only when the child witness was the victim of a sex crime.
But Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Patricia DiMango, who will issue a decision in the coming days, indicated the law allows for other circumstances.
"How will the right of confrontation be impaired if this little 6-year-old appears on TV?" she asked the lawyers, prompting the mother's outburst.
"This is my life and they're saying I did things that I didn't do," Brett Pierce yelled out. "That's ridiculous."
The judge said she could throw the defendant out of the courtroom, but allowed her to carry on instead because "it's important that the record reflects who you really are."
"He needs to be left alone, just leave him alone," Carlotta Brett Pierce blurted out as lawyers and the judge discussed whether the 6-year-old should testify on closed circuit TV or in open court.
Assistant district attorney Jacqueline Kagan made it clear that the boy, who previously told authorities that his mother forced pills down his sister's throat and beat her with a belt, will be a key witness
"This child offers information that no one else can offer," she said. "This is the witness that shows the depravity and the reckless conduct in this indictment."
His sister, Marchella Brett Pierce, weighed only 19 pounds when she died September 2010, with large amounts of allergy medication in her system and signs of abuse on her body.
Her mother is charged with murder and her grandmother, Loretta Brett, with manslaughter. Two city caseworkers who supervised the family were separately charged with not preventing the death.
A social worker who has been treating the boy testified in a preliminary hearing that seeing his mom in court for the first time since his sister died might stunt his psychological progress.
Defense lawyers argued that in-camera testimony is typically allowed only when the child witness was the victim of a sex crime.
But Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Patricia DiMango, who will issue a decision in the coming days, indicated the law allows for other circumstances.
"How will the right of confrontation be impaired if this little 6-year-old appears on TV?" she asked the lawyers, prompting the mother's outburst.
"This is my life and they're saying I did things that I didn't do," Brett Pierce yelled out. "That's ridiculous."
The judge said she could throw the defendant out of the courtroom, but allowed her to carry on instead because "it's important that the record reflects who you really are."
Source - NY Daily
