“Right to die” case of battered girl
A man facing a possible murder charge for beating his stepdaughter so badly she is in a permanent vegetative state asked Massachusetts’ top court on Tuesday to keep her alive in a case that highlights the divisive “right to die” issue in America.
Jason Strickland, a 31-year-old auto mechanic, is accused of battering 11-year-old Haleigh Poutre, whose brain was found partly sheared when she was hospitalized on September 11. Her body was covered with burns, cuts and bruises and her teeth were broken.
Strickland’s wife — the child’s maternal aunt and sole legal guardian — was found shot dead on September 22 with her grandmother in an apparent murder-suicide a day after police accused her of hitting Haleigh with a baseball bat.
Strickland’s lawyers asked the Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday to overturn a juvenile court judge’s decision that the man has no legal rights over the girl. The court’s seven justices are expected to rule within 130 days.
Strickland, who never adopted the child, wants to be legally recognized as her de-facto father because he lived with Haleigh for four years. If the court grants his wish, it would allow Stickland to decide whether to take Haleigh off life support and could also allow him to avoid a charge of murder.
Justice John Greaney questioned the wisdom of putting the girl’s fate in the hands of her alleged abuser.
Source: Reuters
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