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Haleigh Poutre May Testify In Abuse Trial

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Jul 2, 2008 9:49 am US/Eastern

Haleigh Poutre May Testify In Abuse Trial

BOSTON (WBZ) ― Prosecutors hope a brain-injured girl who recovered after the state decided to take her off life support will testify against her alleged abuser.

Haleigh Poutre's adoptive stepfather Jason Strickland, of Westfield, is charged with beating the girl into a coma in 2005. Strickland's wife, Haleigh's biological aunt, was also charged, but died days after her arrest in a murder-suicide with her grandmother.

Poutre's case became famous after the state, heeding doctors who said she wouldn't recover, decided to remove her feeding tube. But she began to improve before the tube could be taken out.

Since then Poutre has reportedly regained the ability to communicate, speaking some words, and pointing to letters to spell out others.

At a pre-trial hearing for Strickland on Tuesday, prosecutor Laurel Brandt told a judge she was hopeful Poutre would testify in the October trial.

Strickland's attorney, Alan Black, said he will question Poutre's competency. He said experts must determine if the girl can remember what happened.

Poutre, now 14, lives at Franciscan Hospital for Children in Boston.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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