''Right now, things just don't make sense." - John Gamelli, January 19, 2006

THAT OBSERVATION came from a family friend of Haleigh Poutre, the 11 year old Massachusetts girl who was beaten into a coma this past September, allegedly by her adoptive parents. Gamelli's comment is an apt description of Haleigh's struggle to live once she entered the Massachusetts legal system.

Born in 1994 to a sixteen year old mother who wasn't married to her biological father, Haleigh was four when she went to live with her aunt because she was being sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend. Prior to relocating to her aunt's, Haleigh became a ward of Massachusetts's Department of Social Services (DSS). A few years later, Haleigh's aunt got married to one Jason Strickland, and, a short while after that, she officially adopted Haleigh.

But DSS' role in Haleigh's life was far from over. After the adoption, DSS made no fewer than 15 investigations into possible abuse of Haleigh. The injuries Haleigh suffered varied in severity and nature, but many were alarming. One time Haleigh's adoptive mother allegedly left her alone at a softball game. The result: Haleigh suffered serious head injuries when she was struck by a bat. Another time, the child allegedly burnt herself with hot water.

DSS concluded from its investigations that Haleigh had a propensity to injure herself. They left her in the care of her adoptive mother and Strickland. Then, on September 11, 2005, Haleigh entered a vegetative state, the result, police alleged, of a vicious beating at the hands of her adoptive mother and Strickland.

While the two awaited trial, the courts awarded DSS temporary custody of Haleigh. After being released on bail less than two weeks later, Haleigh's adoptive mother was found dead in an apparent suicide. Strickland alone would face charges for the possibly fatal beating of Haleigh.

ONCE THE MATTER ENTERED the Massachusetts legal system, things took a bizarre and disturbing turn. A mere nine days after Haleigh's beating, DSS pressed to remove Haleigh's life support and feeding tube.

The swiftness with which DSS acted in this instance stands in stark contrast to the dawdling that characterized its efforts during Haleigh's healthier days. What's more, DSS's efforts ran contrary to the prevailing medical opinion: the end result of a vegetative state is difficult to predict, especially so in the earliest days and weeks of such a condition. What's more, children who come to this condition through a trauma, as Haleigh did, are far more likely to recover because of their still growing brains.

The DSS was present at the trial court level, expressing its view that Haleigh's life should be terminated. Also there was a government-appointed attorney who was putatively representing Haleigh; she, too, argued for the removal of Haleigh's life support and feeding tube. Jason Strickland, who would have argued for the extension of Haleigh's life if for no other than reason than to avoid murder charges, was denied any role in the hearing that would determine Haleigh's fate. Shockingly, no one other than government employees or appointees was involved in the hearings that were to decide Haleigh's fate. All the parties with legal standing, including the judge, agreed--Haleigh's life should end.

At the hearings, the DSS offered the testimony of two medical experts. One testified that both Haleigh's life support and feeding tube should be removed; the other advocated leaving in the feeding tube. On October 5, a mere 24 days after the assault on Haleigh, the judge issued a written opinion stating that Haleigh's "dignity and quality of life would be most respected by withdrawing both the ventilator and the feeding tube along with the issuance of a [DNR] order, with great sadness I so issue this day."

Because the judge issued a ruling at the start of the proceeding that all court records be impounded due to Haleigh's status as a minor, the public has little idea of what happened in his courtroom. How he reconciled the differing medical opinions remains a mystery.

THE NEXT DEVELOPMENT WAS AN APPEAL to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) by Strickland insisting that he had certain rights as Haleigh's de facto father. Three attorneys from Springfield, Massachusetts--John J. Egan, John M. Thompson and Edward J. McDonough, Jr.--took Strickland's appeal on a pro bono basis.