Mental status in limbo for mother accused in death of baby
A Madison mother accused of abusing and
killing her 6-week-old daughter last year will undergo further
testing before a court decides whether she is mentally competent to
proceed in the legal system.
Dane County Circuit Court Judge Dan Moeser ordered Thursday that Ee
Lee, 24, be taken to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in
Oshkosh for a continued examination of her mental status after Dr.
Brad Smith said in a report that he was unable to reach a
conclusion as to Lee's mental status in examinations conducted at
the Dane County Jail.
Lee did not speak at Thursday's brief hearing, in which Moeser
noted that Smith said in his report that an examination in the
institute rather than in the jail might produce a more concrete
result on the question of her mental competency.
Assistant State Public Defender Ellen Berz, who represents Lee,
suggested that Moeser find her incompetent, then send her to the
hospital for treatment, but the judge declined to do that.
Berz said it was "abundantly clear to the defense counsel that she
is not competent to proceed," and said since Smith was unable to
say Lee is competent, Lee should be ruled incompetent.
But Moeser said the last ruling in the case found Lee competent, so
he opted to send her to Winnebago, saying that stay may allow
doctors to make a definitive finding.
Lee is accused of killing her daughter, Anastasia Vang, on
July 11, 2007. The criminal complaint filed against her says she
abused the child repeatedly, starting almost immediately after
bringing her home from the hospital. At one point the county
intervened, and a plan was established where Lee would always be in
the presence of another adult in the home she resided in with her
husband, in-laws and two children. But the complaint says Lee
abused the baby by repeatedly pinching her body and head, beating
her with the wire end of a flyswatter, biting her and hitting her
head against a table, causing a skull fracture.
Lee was at the Winnebago Mental Health Center in Oshkosh after
having been found incompetent in the case last November, but was
then ruled competent on June 6 and returned to the Dane County Jail
to face the criminal charges against her.
But after being in the jail, she showed signs of mental
deterioration, and Berz sent a letter to Moeser asking for another
competency examination and hearing. Smith, as have other doctors
who have examined Lee before, said she showed elements of
malingering but that could be better assessed in a hospital
setting.
Moeser asked for the latest report by doctors from Winnebago to be
submitted to the court in 15 days, but said he would be willing to
extend that for another 15 days if doctors need the additional
time.
In Wisconsin, the issue of mental competency deals with a
defendant's current mental state, and the test is whether the
person can understand the proceedings against her and assist her
attorney in preparing a defense. In her letter to the judge, Berz
said she has difficulty communicating with Lee about such basic
matters as an insanity defense, and that Lee will seem to
understand the concepts at one point, but then have no
understanding later.
The issue of mental competency differs from an insanity defense. In
an insanity defense the focus is on the defendant's mental
condition at the time of the crime, and the defense must show the
defendant had a mental illness at the time of the crime, did not
understand the wrongfulness of her actions and could not conform
her actions to the law.
The criminal case against Lee will remain on hold until she is
ruled competent.
File photo
Ee Lee, shown here at her June 17, 2007, arraignment in the murder of her 6-week-old daughter, will undergo more testing to determine if she is competent to stand trial.
