SALEM — A Salem Superior Court judge has rejected a motion to suppress statements made to state child welfare investigators by a Salem mother accused of failing to give her son chemotherapy.
Judge Timothy Feeley ruled that not only did Kristen LaBrie and her lawyer, Kevin James, fail to show him any evidence that LaBrie had a client-social worker relationship with the Department of Children and Families staff members who investigated the matter, but that even if they had, the statements would be admissible because the state child protection law creates an exception to the usual privilege between a social worker and client.
LaBrie, 38, of Salem, is charged with attempted murder, child endangerment, and two assault and battery counts, stemming from the illness of her autistic son, Jeremy Fraser, who suffered from lymphoma that later became an aggressive form of leukemia after, prosecutors allege, she stopped giving him his chemotherapy medications.
Jeremy died a year after his cancer came out of remission, at the age of 9.
After doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital discovered that the cancer had come out of remission in the winter of 2008, they filed a report of suspected abuse or neglect with what was then known as the Department of Social Services.
During the agency's investigation, LaBrie made a number of statements to social workers assigned to investigate the report, including insisting that pharmacy records showing that prescriptions went unfilled must be some sort of mistake.
Prosecutor Kate MacDougall may want to use that information at trial, something James was trying to preclude with his motion.
The defense lawyer even insisted on hearing testimony from the social workers — a hearing that the judge cut short after concluding that the issue was one of law, not facts.
In his ruling, dated Aug. 3, Feeley concluded that there was no need to hear any further evidence.
"As a matter of law to be decided by the court, the challenged statements by LaBrie to three social workers employed by and engaged in their duties with the Department of Children and Families do not fall within the social worker-client privilege," Feeley wrote. "Accordingly, LaBrie's motion to suppress statements is denied."
The judge said in his ruling that LaBrie and James failed even in LaBrie's affidavit to offer anything other than a series of declarative statements, with no supporting facts, that LaBrie had a social worker-client relationship with each of the DCF workers — then, during the hearing, almost immediately backed down from that claim regarding one of the social workers.
"The mere unsupported assertion of a relationship is not enough to warrant a hearing," Feeley wrote, later adding that he has "at least some doubt" that such a relationship even existed.
Beyond that, "LaBrie's challenge to the statements she made to the DCF social workers fails as a matter of law" because the law states that information gathered by DCF social workers in an investigation into child abuse or neglect is not confidential.
LaBrie is due back in court Aug. 17 for a status hearing in her case. It's unclear whether James intends to file any further evidentiary motions before a trial is scheduled.
Raw Video: Hail Storm Batters Oklahoma City
California's Foie Gras Ban About to Begin
6-Year-Old Going to National Spelling Bee
Video Essay: Funky Winkerbean Comic Turns 40
On Thailand Trip, Suu Kyi Visits Migrants
Raw Video: Pink Diamond Auctioned for $17.4M
Hurricane Andrew Remembered, 20 Years Later
Sister Says She Reported Brother in Patz Killing
Patz Suspect's Sister: I Went to Police in 1980s
Diplomatic Expulsions Follow Fresh Syria Report
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
