Mass. parents accused of giving overdose to 4-year-old daughter to be tried separately

Mass. parents in OD case to be tried separately

BROCKTON, Mass. — A jury was chosen Wednesday for the trial of a mother accused — along with her husband — of killing their 4-year-old daughter by overmedicating her with powerful prescription drugs.

A jury of nine women and seven men was selected for Carolyn Riley’s first-degree murder trial. Testimony was to begin Tuesday.

Prosecutors announced earlier in the day that they would try Riley separately from her husband, Michael Riley. No date was immediately set for his trial.

Prosecutors say the Rileys gave their daughter, Rebecca, too much of the drugs she was prescribed for attention-deficit hyperactivity and bipolar disorders and didn’t take her to a doctor when she became gravely ill in 2006.

The Rileys’ lawyers say they were only following directions from the girl’s psychiatrist and that she died of the rapid-onset form of pneumonia, not a drug overdose.

Assistant District Attorney Frank Middleton announced the decision to hold separate trials for the Rileys shortly before jury selection was scheduled to begin for a joint trial.

The move came after Judge Charles Hely found that certain statements made by Carolyn and Michael Riley might incriminate the other and would not be allowed at a joint trial. Those statements, however, can be used in separate trials.

Middleton would not comment on the decision or say which statements prompted him to call for separate trials. Both Carolyn, 35, and Michael Riley, 37, spoke to police. Carolyn Riley also was interviewed by the CBS program “60 Minutes.”

Both parents told similar stories to investigators, saying they followed the orders of their daughter’s psychiatrist in doling out medication.

Dr. Kayoko Kifuji had diagnosed Rebecca with the disorders by the time she turned 3. She was found dead on the floor of her parents’ bedroom in Hull on Dec. 13, 2006.

The case restarted debate in the psychiatric community about whether young children can be accurately diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and if so, whether they should be treated with powerful drugs meant for adults.

A state medical examiner found that Rebecca died of a combination of Clonidine, a blood pressure medication the girl had been prescribed for ADHD; Depakote, an anti-seizure and mood-stabilizing drug prescribed for bipolar disorder; and two over-the-counter drugs, a cough suppressant and an antihistamine. The amount of Clonidine alone in Rebecca’s system was enough to be fatal, the medical examiner said.

Michael Riley’s lawyer, John Darrell, said he was not worried about his client being tried separately from his wife, but had hoped prosecutors would put Michael Riley on trial first.

“I’m very comfortable with what the evidence is and with the theories of the crime and what will come up at trial,” Darrell said.

Michael Riley is set to finish a jail sentence in an unrelated case next week. Darrell asked that he be released on personal recognizance once he completes his 2 1/2-year sentence on a charge of providing pornography to a minor, but the judge denied the request. Michael Riley will remain in jail while awaiting trial.