GUILTY CA - Justice Rees, 2 wks, Woodland, 24 Feb 2015

[Hoosgirl]

I wonder why they dropped the felony child endangerment and are only going for murder?

I'm worried a jury might hesitate to find for murder, but would have no problem with child endangerment. JMO.

 

[MsMarple]

The father of Justice Rees, the Woodland newborn found dead along a Knights Landing-area slough in February, has a warrant out for his arrest after twice failing to appear in court in an unrelated ammunition and drug-possession case.
...
Rees was to appear Nov. 16 in Yolo Superior Court to show proof he had enrolled in a drug-treatment program as a condition of the plea. When he failed to show, a second date was set for Monday with the admonition that a $10,000 bench warrant would be issued if he did not appear. Rees also missed that appearance, according to Yolo County district attorney’s officials.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article47431055.html

Frank was let off easy on his drug and traffic charges but he couldn't be bothered to fulfill his part of the agreement. SMH. I feel sorry for his surviving kids.

Samantha's trial begins on April 25.

 

[cvaldez1975]

in CA they can add the charge later. they don't have to be charged with everything at first.

I wonder why they dropped the felony child endangerment and are only going for murder?

I'm worried a jury might hesitate to find for murder, but would have no problem with child endangerment. JMO.

 

[cvaldez1975]

well he was too busy off screwing some other chick and left his partner high and alone to cause the death of a newborn, so this isn't shocking to me. scummy ppl.

The father of Justice Rees, the Woodland newborn found dead along a Knights Landing-area slough in February, has a warrant out for his arrest after twice failing to appear in court in an unrelated ammunition and drug-possession case.
...
Rees was to appear Nov. 16 in Yolo Superior Court to show proof he had enrolled in a drug-treatment program as a condition of the plea. When he failed to show, a second date was set for Monday with the admonition that a $10,000 bench warrant would be issued if he did not appear. Rees also missed that appearance, according to Yolo County district attorney’s officials.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article47431055.html

Frank was let off easy on his drug and traffic charges but he couldn't be bothered to fulfill his part of the agreement. SMH. I feel sorry for his surviving kids.

Samantha's trial begins on April 25.

 

[roesmom]

Passing this along - not sure if it was posted here yet...

http://www.davisenterprise.com/loca...-cant-have-murder-defendants-medical-records/

 

[kimi_SFC]

Interesting turn of events.
:sigh:

I wonder if this is SOP in other cases.

Thanks for the update roesmom...




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ontheclock]

Interesting turn of events.
:sigh:

I wonder if this is SOP in other cases.

Thanks for the update roesmom...




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Indeed.

So, I'm guessing she can't pass the "I'm insane" defense, and she's gonna go with the"he drugged me and I was delusional" one.

 

[MsMarple]

With less than a month to go before trial, the attorneys for a Woodland woman accused of causing the death of her infant son want the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office barred from prosecuting the murder case.

Public Defender Tracie Olson and Deputy Public Defender David Muller, who represent Samantha Lee Green, say prosecutors retained “personal and privileged information” regarding their client — namely, jailhouse psychological records — despite a judge’s order to destroy it or turn it over to the court.
...
An evidentiary hearing on the issue is set for April 11, two weeks before the scheduled start of Green’s trial. Prosecutors declined to comment on the motion Tuesday, citing a gag order imposed in the case, but are preparing a written response.
...
“My guess is the public defender’s office’s odds are not good in disqualifying the whole (DA’s) office, unless they can prove there was widespread, deliberate malfeasance,” said John E.B. Myers, a criminal law professor at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.
...
Olson has said in court that she is not contemplating an insanity or other diminished-capacity defense for Green, but Rosenberg gave her until April 6 to change that decision. He also set a deadline for Wednesday for Green’s attorneys to submit their anticipated witness list so that prosecutors could prepare for any possible defense experts on mental state or substance abuse.

http://www.davisenterprise.com/loca...ks-yolo-das-recusal-from-samantha-green-case/

Hopefully this will get settled without any delays in the start of the trial.

 

[MsMarple]

The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office remains assigned to the Samantha Green murder case, after a judge rejected defense claims that prosecutors violated the Woodland woman’s right to a fair trial.

“In many respects this may be much ado about nothing,” Yolo Superior Court Judge David Rosenberg said Monday of defense lawyers’ contention that the entire DA’s office was “infected” by knowledge of Green’s psychological records from the Yolo County Jail.
...
The ruling clears the way for Green’s trial to begin April 25 as scheduled, barring any further legal maneuvers. Green, 24, has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.
...
Green’s psychological records and mental state are not even an issue in the case absent an insanity or other diminished-capacity defense, which her attorneys have said they don’t plan to pursue, Rosenberg added.

http://www.davisenterprise.com/loca...wont-recuse-yolo-da-from-samantha-green-case/

So Green's attorneys aren't going to go with some sort of diminished capacity defense? I wonder then what the defense will be. I suspect Justice's heart problem will play a big part.

 

[roesmom]

Initially this video was created at a Feb. 25, 2015 press conference. The Sacramento Bee recently posted it in the crime portion of their website.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article71471712.html

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.davisenterprise.com/?p=645998&preview_id=645998

Next week’s trial for murder defendant Samantha Green was postponed Wednesday following a contentious Yolo Superior Court hearing that saw prosecutors accusing Green’s defense attorneys of “last-minute shenanigans.”

The dispute stemmed from the defense’s recent disclosure on April 14 that it plans to summon an expert witness, UC Davis Medical Center psychiatrist Dr. Matthew Soulier, to testify that Green was suffering from a drug-induced psychosis when she allegedly took her infant son Justice Rees into a Knights Landing slough last year and left him out all night, resulting in his death...

Green’s trial is now scheduled to begin Aug. 15 and last anywhere from three to four weeks.

 

[MzOpinion8d]

http://www.davisenterprise.com/?p=645998&preview_id=645998

I don't care if she was suffering from psychosis or not. She's the one who chose to take the drugs, therefore she's responsible for her actions afterwards. Drunk people don't get away with their crimes because they "black out", so why should a drug induced psychosis be an excuse?

 

[MsMarple]

http://www.davisenterprise.com/?p=645998&preview_id=645998

From your link:

Prosecutors, meanwhile, are seeking a second-degree murder conviction against Green under the implied malice theory — that Green, having abused methamphetamine during and after her pregnancy, acted so recklessly on the night of Feb. 23, 2015, that Justice’s death was a likely and foreseeable outcome.

Rosenberg noted that voluntary intoxication is not a defense to implied malice, and said he’d reject the defense’s attempt to raise it at trial.

However, “involuntary manslaughter could be raised as a defense to implied malice,” Rosenberg said. “The defense would have to show that Ms. Green was effectively ‘slipped a mickey,’ that someone intoxicated her” and rendered her unconscious of her own actions.

Should the prosecution’s theory of the case change — that is, they argue that Green willfully and intentionally caused her baby’s death — “then certainly the testimony of Dr. Soulier may be relevant,” Rosenberg added.

As of Wednesday, Green’s attorneys wouldn’t confirm whether they plan to argue voluntary or involuntary intoxication. Gorman’s co-counsel Ryan Couzens said the implied malice theory still stands, “but at the same time we do want to keep our options open” should new evidence arise.

JMO but I smell a plea deal approaching.

 

[roesmom]

My apologies, this was already posted.

Most recent update:

http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/crime-fire-courts/samantha-green-murder-trial-postponed-2/

http://www.dailydemocrat.com/general-news/20160420/baby-justice-trial-postponed

 

[MsMarple]

All this fighting between prosecution and defense is really ticking me off. IMO it all started when the prosecution decided at the last minute not to accept a guilty plea from Green to involuntary manslaughter, which would have carried a max sentence of 4 years. Instead, the prosecution changed to a charge of second degree murder, which has a sentence of a minimum of 15 years to life. Defense got really mad over that and accused the prosecution of being underhanded.

Then there was the boondoggle over Green's medical records. Defense didn't want the prosecution to have access to them as they said they weren't planning to use mental deficiency or diminished capacity. The judge agreed. Then defense got mad and said the prosecution held on to them instead of destroying their copies so the whole prosecution team should be recused from the trial. The judge struck down that motion.

Now the defense wants to call a psychiatrist to testify about a drug induced psychosis that caused Green to leave baby Justice out in the cold all night. They announced the addition less than a week before the trial was to begin. This makes me think that the defense is considering claiming that the butt shot Frank gave to Green could be considered some kind of "involuntary intoxication" that resulted in a psychotic reaction. Remember, Green said she had an unusual reaction to the meth, unlike what she had experienced in the past.

Anyway, there's more to it all but my point is that the prosecution and the defense are trying to "get" each other and I feel like both sides are losing focus on baby Justice and just want to one up each other. This case is about a baby who died because his mom loved meth too much and him not enough - I wish the attorneys would take their political fighting to some other place.

 

[roesmom]

Latest info in local paper ...

http://www.dailydemocrat.com/general-news/20160711/psych-records-released-in-baby-justice-case

 

[MsMarple]

Yolo Superior Court Judge David Rosenberg ruled back in April that prosecutors were entitled to the documents after defense attorneys disclosed they may seek a psychiatrist’s testimony that Green was in drug-induced psychosis when she carried her 19-day-old son Justice Rees into the Knights Landing slough, where he died of exposure in February 2015.

Previously, public defenders Tracie Olson and David Muller had said they had no plans to raise a diminished-capacity defense at Green’s trial.

“It now appears that the mental state of Ms. Green is in issue, and when you put part of mental state in issue, you put all of it in issue,” Rosenberg said at the time, reversing his earlier opinion that prosecutors’ access to the medical records would violate Green’s privacy rights.

http://www.davisenterprise.com/loca...a-gets-woodland-mothers-jail-medical-records/

 

[MzOpinion8d]

Yolo Superior Court Judge David Rosenberg ruled back in April that prosecutors were entitled to the documents after defense attorneys disclosed they may seek a psychiatrist’s testimony that Green was in drug-induced psychosis when she carried her 19-day-old son Justice Rees into the Knights Landing slough, where he died of exposure in February 2015.

Previously, public defenders Tracie Olson and David Muller had said they had no plans to raise a diminished-capacity defense at Green’s trial.

“It now appears that the mental state of Ms. Green is in issue, and when you put part of mental state in issue, you put all of it in issue,” Rosenberg said at the time, reversing his earlier opinion that prosecutors’ access to the medical records would violate Green’s privacy rights.

http://www.davisenterprise.com/loca...a-gets-woodland-mothers-jail-medical-records/

Drug induced psychosis should not be a defense. She took the drugs knowing they'd alter her state of consciousness. No one forced her to take them.

 

[MsMarple]

Drug induced psychosis should not be a defense. She took the drugs knowing they'd alter her state of consciousness. No one forced her to take them.

Judge Rosenberg said the same thing - voluntary intoxication is not a defense. I suspect the defense wants to spin it more like Samantha's psychosis was "involuntary" and resulted from Frank dosing her with a stronger meth than she was expecting or something along those lines. I think the goal is to knock the murder charge back to involuntary manslaughter or else just to get her off completely under diminished capacity. I hope prosecutors hold steady and if any deals are made that Samantha doesn't get off easy.

Meth and babies don't mix and "safety plans" don't work too well if no one makes sure they're being followed.

 

[MsMarple]

There was a hearing this morning to confirm Samantha Green's trial date of August 15 - this coming Monday.

http://yoloda.org/media/high-profile-cases/