WI - Anastasia Vang, 6 wks, beaten to death, Madison, 11 July 2007

sherri79 said:

let me see if i understand this load the dcf is trying to sell. hospital call dcf and says we have a tiny 4week old that is being abused. case worker shows up and talk to the mother and grandmother. case worker now knows the doctors think it is the mom because fresh injuries happened when the mom was alone with the baby in the hospital. the case worker knows the first injuries happened when the child was with the mom in a house full of people.

now the case worker thinks it is safe to send the 4week old right back into the house with the mother because the same people who didnt protect the child the first time are still living there?

2 weeks later we have a 6week old beat to death. perhaps this case worker made a error.

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But even though police officials said Lee confessed to the abuse, Lee may file a lawsuit against Dane County over what happened. Lee's attorney, Richard Auerbach told 27 News if a lawsuit is filed, the actions of Dane County Human Service workers could be put on trial...

"We concluded the child would be safe at home because there were several additional family members living in the home, the family agreed to the terms of the safety plan and assured us that two adults would always attend to the baby," Dane County Human Services Director Lynn Green told reporters in July.

In the notice of claim, Auerbach stated the child's safety plan was never written down; was created with minimal knowledge of the Lee family; and involved woefully inadequate follow up.

Auerbach stated Lee's behaviors had become "erratic and bizarre," were consistent with postpartum psychosis and would have been discovered if social workers had done more extensive family interviews. Lee also has a two year old son. Authorities alleged Lee explained her fatally abusive actions as part of an inability to love more than one child.

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A 24-year-old mother charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the death of her infant daughter was ordered Thursday to undergo yet another mental evaluation after a psychiatrist with the Wisconsin Forensic Unit was unable to determine if she is competent to stand trial...

She was found incompetent to stand trial in November and was ordered to undergo treatment at Winnebago Mental Health Institute. On June 6, [Judge] Moeser ruled Lee was competent to stand trial, but a month later he ordered another evaluation after Assistant Public Defender Ellen Berz said Lee was unable to understand her plea options and was incapable of assisting in her own defense.

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A first-degree murder case against a woman alleged to have killed her infant daughter last year will likely never be prosecuted, after psychologists determined that the woman is mentally retarded.

Ee Lee, 24, of Madison, whose suspected abuse of her daughter, Anastasia, is alleged to have caused the girl's death on July 11, 2007, was treated successfully for psychosis, but psychologists at Winnebago Mental Health Institute determined that underneath that illness lay mental retardation and the intellect of an 8-year-old, Lee's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Ellen Berz, said after a hearing Oct. 6.

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"She functions at the level of an 8 year old," says her attorney, Ellen Berz.

In June of 2007, Ee Lee was charged with killing her six week-old daughter by slamming her head against a table.

Berz says mental competency evaluation needed to break through a language barrier to discover multiple problems. "We already know that they found her to have a mental disease, but that's been treated. She also has a mental disability-retardation. Which as we all know cannot be treated."

Ee Lee will not be tried for the murder of her daughter. She is in the process of being committed to the custody of Dane County Human Services "She could end up in a hospital, in a home, with a family member," says Berz.

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In October, the case against Lee was put on what appeared to be permanent hold after a report by Dr. Tracy Luchetta disclosed that Lee has profound mental deficits and functions at the intellectual level of an 8-year-old child.

Last month, prosecutors were back in court with another report, this one by Dr. Gary Maier. It stated that Lee, who is Hmong, speaks English, could follow a schedule of programs and exhibited future-oriented thinking, and is competent to assist in her defense.

Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser ordered another competency evaluation for Lee. It was completed and received by the court on Friday but is being kept sealed.

Hurley is asking that Moeser reconsider his decision ordering that evaluation.

In court papers filed Friday, Hurley wrote that prosecutors had improperly obtained treatment documents from the director of the Mendota Mental Health Institute, Dr. Gregory Van Rybroek, in violation of Lee's right to privacy.

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Dane County prosecutors must surrender medical records that won them another competency evaluation for Ee Lee, who is charged with the child abuse death of her infant daughter, because of a defective subpoena, a judge ruled Tuesday.

But the ruling by Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser won't stop the new evaluation for Lee, 25, who is charged with first-degree intentional homicide for the July 2007 death of her 6-week-old daughter, Anastasia Vang.

The decision is the latest twist in Lee's case, which has seen one reversal after another on the issue of Lee's competency - her ability to assist in her defense.

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A woman charged with killing her 6-week-old daughter in 2007 was again found to be incompetent to stand trial on a first-degree intentional homicide charge.

The case against Ee Lee, 26, whose alleged abuse caused the death of Anastasia Vang, will remain suspended indefinitely, Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser said.

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Court finds the def is presently not competent to proceed in this case and she is not likely to become competent within the statutory commitment period. Ct ordered def shall be released from custody; the DA's office shall inform the court of the def's legal and mental status every 12 mos.; This court reserves jurisdiction to impose reasonable nonmonetary conditions which will protect the public and enable the court and the DA to discover whether the def subsequently becomes competent (def's custody conds shall remain as they existed on 1-20-10 until further order of the court).

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