A Calgary mother accused in the death of her developmentally disabled daughter has been ordered to undergo a 60-day psychiatric evaluation to see if she should be found not criminally responsible (NCR).
Patricia Couture testified in her own defence Friday, saying she did the best she could to care for her daughter.
Couture, 70, is accused of criminal negligence causing death.
READ MORE: Young disabled woman would have been in pain and discomfort prior to death, court hears
Her 38-year-old daughter, Melissa, was found dead in their southwest home on April 26, 2016. She weighed just 23 kg (50 lbs) when she died and had multiple deep bedsores that exposed her bones.
Couture testified she was aware of “some of them.”
“When I saw the pictures there, I was quite overwhelmed, because they certainly did not look like what Melissa had.”
Earlier in the trial, graphic photos of the pressure ulcers were shown in court.
An expert testified the sores were avoidable and likely made worse by a number of treatable conditions including malnutrition, dehydration, immobility and poor skin care.
Watch below: The trial for a Calgary woman accused in the death of her developmentally disabled daughter began Tuesday. Nancy Hixt has the details from court on Sept. 5.
Couture described blending up food for Melissa and spoon-feeding her.
She said she didn’t realize how bad her daughter’s condition was.
“When you are around somebody 24/7, somebody else can come in from the outside and they’ll see stuff…and pick up on stuff a lot more than you,” she said.
“I did know that she had lost some weight.”
Her lawyer, Andre Ouellette, questioned her about the severe weight loss.
“I knew she lost weight, but I always assumed she was about 80 pounds,” she said, explaining she used to lift Melissa.
“This weight loss, did it not concern you? Bother you?” Ouellette asked.
“I don’t know,” she replied. “I myself had lost a tremendous amount of weight at that time. And we both ate well.”
According to an agreed statement of facts, Calgary police were unable to find any record of Melissa receiving medical attention after July 2012.
“Did you take her to a doctor or hospital?” Ouellette asked Couture Friday.
“No,” she replied, and went on to say she wasn’t sure why.
But under cross examination, Chief Crown Prosecutor Sue Kendall suggested Couture didn’t take Melissa to see a doctor because she didn’t want to be found an unfit mother — a claim Couture adamantly denied.
Kendall referred to several diary entries written by Couture.
One dated March 3, 2015 — a month before Melissa died — said in part:
“Flesh-eating disease strong…open wound of Mel.”
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One dated March 31, 2016 reads: “The Dr. will take Pat to task about being an unfit mother…”
Couture claimed the diary entries were not referring to Melissa’s deteriorating condition, but rather they were about spirits and spiritual “strongholds” she was praying against.
Couture spoke freely of her faith and frequently quoted scripture from the Bible.
“I believe the word of God and I take it very seriously,” she said.
Couture spoke of needing to “bind” evil forces and said “strongholds” would affect both her and Melissa.
“I could go into a room and I knew something was the matter…through the spirit, there was something in the room,” she said. “So I would pray further.”
“They affected me as much as they did her…but I think the difference was…after you have been born again, for a period of time, you carry an anointing,” she said. “Anointing is the Holy Spirit…your anointing increases…strengthens.”
She said everyone needs to be careful about what we keep in our homes, as “stuff” can leave an open door for the spirits to enter.
“I’ve got many books on it. Even with Melissa’s toys, I used to be careful of what I allowed her to play with. That’s in the church or at least a lot of evangelical churches.”
“I would ask the lord: is there something here that needs to be thrown out? Is there something here that’s not right?”
Melissa’s father, Bryan Couture, finished his testimony Friday morning.
He said his ex-wife always spoke of demons.
Bryan said in the months leading up to Melissa’s death, he noticed the smell of excrement in the home.
He said when he confronted Patricia about the odour, she told him “it was demons living in the walls; that’s what they smelled like.”
Ouellette questioned Bryan about his decision to have a lawyer present in court while he testifies.
“Were you yourself afraid you could be charged?” he asked.
“It didn’t really enter my mind until I was interviewed by police,” Bryan said.
Defence lawyer Ian Mackay said he wished to put on the record his client’s protection under section 13 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which reads:
“A witness who testifies in any proceedings has the right not to have any incriminating evidence so given used to incriminate that witness in any other proceedings, except in a prosecution for perjury or for the giving of contradictory evidence.”
Bryan testified he was surprised by details of Melissa’s condition in media reports.
“I’m shocked that she died. I feel terrible,” he said. “I believe it said there was exposed bone and I couldn’t believe that.”
Under cross-examination, he said that information changed his feelings towards Patricia.
“I always thought that Pat was an excellent mother for Melissa.”
“You believed that right up until yesterday?” Ouellette asked.
“That’s correct,” he said.
Patricia testified she regularly cared for Melissa’s sores, groomed her and fed her.
“You weren’t, in fact, properly caring for her,” Kendall suggested.
“That’s not true,” Couture testified.
The prosecution ended questioning Patricia by suggesting, “all you did was pray for her.”
“No, I took care of her like any other child,” she responded.
That is when Provincial Court Judge John Bascom suggested Couture be sent for a psychiatric evaluation, to see if she suffered from a mental disorder.
Both defence and the Crown agreed to the 60-day assessment.
“Here, I think the evidence is quite clear that my client — for a period of time — had been labouring under what I think of as a layman as delusions or very intense religious fervor,” Ouellette said outside of court.
“I assume there’s some religious devotion in Calgary — fervor and all that—but when it takes you to a point where you are unable to observe or act on what you see, your perceptions are so out of skew, then I think the code provides for situation where a person cannot be found criminally responsible for their actions,” he explained.
The case will be back before the courts Nov. 6 to decide the next step or hear an application for the psych assessment to be extended.
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