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Mom accused of killing baby ruled incompetent to stand trial

Mike Miller  —  10/07/2008 11:11 am

A Madison mother accused of first-degree intentional homicide, whose mental competency has been the subject of several hearings, was committed to the Mendota Mental Health Institute Monday under an emergency order.

Ee Lee, 24, will become the subject of involuntary mental commitment proceedings rather than criminal proceedings on the murder charge. She was charged with first-degree intentional homicide and related child abuse counts after her 6-week-old daughter, Anastasia Vang, died in July of 2007.

Since that time there has been a constant issue of whether Lee is mentally competent to stand trial, an issue that focuses on Lee's current mental status and whether she is able to understand the proceedings against her and whether she can assist her attorneys in planning a defense.

The latest report not only says Lee is incompetent, but also says she suffers from mental retardation and has a mental capacity of that of an 8-year-old. Because mental retardation is an unchanging condition, Lee is unlikely to regain competency, according to a report to the court by psychologist Tracy Luchetta.

The report caused lawyers to basically give up on any hope of taking the charges against Lee to trial. Assistant District Attorneys Robert Kaiser and Mary Ellen Karst, who are prosecuting the case, and Assistant State Public Defenders Arnold Cohen and Ellen Berz, who are defending Lee, agreed today that Lee will be committed to Mendota under an involuntary commitment.

Lee will be held at the mental health facility until she is deemed no longer a harm to herself and others. Since she suffers from mental retardation from which she won't recover, the mental commitment could be changed to a guardianship if she overcomes her other mental health issues. In the meantime, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Dan Moeser ordered that Lee be periodically tested to determine if she has reached mental competency to proceed, and if she does, prosecutors can then bring that to the attention of the court for a further review of the issue.

But in her lengthy report to the court, Luchetta said it is unlikely that Lee will ever be considered mentally competent. "Ms. Lee's incompetency is primarily the result of mental retardation," Luchetta wrote, adding that retardation is "an unchanging condition."

Luchetta also diagnosed Lee as suffering from "Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified," which includes both visual and auditory hallucinations, Major Depressive Disorder In Partial Remission, and a Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Those disorders are treatable and Lee may overcome them in the future, Luchetta said.

Lee is Hmong and was born in Thailand and came to the United States at age 10, settling with her parents and family of four sisters and two brothers in California.

She moved to Madison after meeting Chue Vang, whom she married in a traditional Hmong ceremony. Part of the problems with attempting to diagnose Lee had been her struggle with English, but Luchetta used a Hmong interpreter through her diagnoses of Lee, and there have been Hmong interpreters in court for proceedings in the murder case.

On June 26, 2007, Lee and Vang brought baby Anastasia to Meriter Hospital's emergency room and she was transferred that day to University Hospital where doctors said the infant had multiple facial bruises that were clear signs of child abuse. The baby later was discovered to have a skull fracture as well.

After Lee spent a night alone with her daughter at the hospital, the next morning the baby appeared to have new bruises. After the child died, Lee was charged with murder.

The child had numerous injuries, and eventually Lee was charging with mistreating the baby in a variety of ways, including beating her repeatedly and finally slamming her head on a table and stuffing a blanket into her mouth.

Monday's court action means the state will not have to prove murder or child abuse charges against Lee, but how long she remains at Mendota cannot be predicted at this time. Had Lee been convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, she would have faced a mandatory life sentence, with Moeser having the power to determine when, if ever, she could apply for extended supervision.

Kaiser told the judge that after reading Luchetta's report and consulting with the doctor's superiors, the prosecution decided to agree to seek involuntary commitment for Lee.

Lee and Vang also have a son, born before Anastasia, but Lee did not abuse that child, according to court records.

In her report, Luchetta noted that Lee's mental health deteriorated after the births of her children.

Mike Miller  —  10/07/2008 11:11 am