By BUFFY SPENCER
bspencer@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - Sentencing of Jason D. Strickland will be postponed until Dec. 18 at 2 p.m. in Hampden Superior Court.
Judge Judd J. Carhart agreed to delay the sentencing in the child abuse case - originally set for Thursday - at the request of defense lawyer Alan J. Black. Black, in a motion filed with the court, said he needs more time to gather material "in support of mitigation" to provide to the Probation Department. At sentencing hearings, prosecution and defense lawyers can argue for what they think is a just sentence, and the defense can present letters or other documents attesting to the character of the defendant.
A jury on Nov. 26 found Strickland guilty of permitting a serious brain injury to be caused to his stepdaughter, Haleigh Poutre, in September 2005 in Westfield. Poutre, now 14, is in the Franciscan Children's Hospital in Boston. She is in the custody of the state Department of Children and Families.
Following 10 days of testimony about blood samples, beatings and cigarette burns, and three days of deliberations, the jurors reached their decision. They did not find that Strickland caused Haleigh's injury, but simply that he permitted it to occur.
The crime carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in state prison. Had Strickland been convicted of causing the brain injury, the maximum sentence would have been 15 years. In all, the jury found Strickland guilty of five of the six charges against him.
The case reflects a series of stunning developments, including Haleigh's hospitalization in 2005 at age 11 with an injury described as a sheared brain stem, the murder of a codefendant, and an attempt by the state Department of Social Services to remove the girl from life support in a right-to-die case that garnered national attention. State efforts ended when the girl showed signs of improvement.
Following the jury's verdict, Carhart revoked Strickland's bail, and the 34-year-old man was handcuffed and led from the courtroom by court officers.
Haleigh is the daughter of Allison Averett of Agawam. She was adopted by Averett's sister, Holli Strickland, before Holli Strickland married Jason Strickland.
The state alleged that the serious brain injury happened on Sept. 10, 2005, the day before Haleigh was brought to Noble Hospital in Westfield.
The charge relating to the brain injury for which Strickland was found guilty is called "assault and battery on a child with serious bodily injury," and the jury found him guilty under the theory of permitting another person to inflict the injury.
Holli Strickland was dead soon after the arrest of her and her husband on abuse charges. Police said it was a murder-suicide at the hands of her grandmother.
Assistant District Attorney Laurel H. Brandt had told jurors that Jason and Holli Strickland were responsible for the injuries to Haleigh.
Black had argued that Strickland believed his wife when she said Haleigh was self-abusive. The state Department of Social Services had been involved in the girl's case, and was overhauled following its failure to protect her and its efforts to remove her from life support. Agency officials argued that they had been told by doctors that the girl was self-abusive. When she was hospitalized medical professionals described a litany of cuts, bruises, burns and chipped teeth. Plus, the girl was emaciated.
Before reaching a verdict, jurors asked the judge whether they had to believe Jason Strickland was present at the time of the injury in order to convict him. Carhart had told them the simple answer was "no," but they would have to believe the prosecution proved an "ordinary person" would know that leaving Haleigh alone with Holli Strickland on Sept. 10, 2005, presented the risk of serious bodily injury to the girl.
That was the theory that the jury chose to convict Strickland.
Jurors rejected the testimony of Samantha Poutre, now 12, the only person who testified that she saw Jason Strickland push Haleigh down basement stairs on Sept. 10, 2005. Samantha, Haleigh's sister, did not come forward with that statement until March, having said nothing about a stair push or fall in her statements right after the events. She also pointed to another person in court when asked to point to Jason Strickland.
A second charge for which Strickland was convicted is assault and battery on a child with bodily injury, also on the theory that he permitted another to commit the act. The maximum sentence is 2.5 years to a county correctional facility.
That charge was for injuries committed "on or before Sept. 11, 2005," but did not specify what kind of injuries.
Strickland was convicted of two counts of assault and battery on a child with a dangerous weapon, with one count specifying a bat and one a "wand, stick or tube." In the first instance the state claimed that Holli Strickland hit Haleigh on the leg with a bat sometime in the summer of 2005, and that Jason Strickland was present, making him a "joint venturer."
The evidence presented by the prosecution on the other count was that Jason Strickland hit Haleigh's hand with a tube of some sort sometime in summer 2005.
Each of those convictions has a maximum 10-year state prison sentence, or the judge may choose a House of Corrections sentence.
The fifth charge for which he was convicted was assault and battery, sometime in spring or summer 2005. The prosecution said he hit Haleigh on the head with his hand.
The charge for which Strickland was found innocent was assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, alleging that he was present when Holli Strickland kicked Haleigh sometime in summer 2005.