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Calgary woman not criminally responsible for her disabled daughter’s death

Jan 9, 2018 | 3:30 PM

CALGARY — A judge has a found a Calgary woman not criminally responsible for the death of her disabled daughter.

Patricia Couture, who is 70, was charged with criminal negligence causing death.

Her daughter Melissa had cerebral palsy, had not received medical treatment for the last four years of her life and weighed just over 50 pounds when she died in April 2016.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Melissa lived with severe mental and physical disabilities, including hearing loss, visual impairment and stiffness in her extremities.

Melissa, who was 38, had the mind of a three or four-year-old and was completely immobile.

Patricia Couture was Melissa’s primary care giver and told the court that she didn’t realize how much her daughter’s health had deteriorated.

She testified in her own defence and cited religious scripture, saying her belief in God protected her daughter.

Physicians who testified in the case said Patricia Couture had a long-standing delusional disorder.

One psychiatrist said that Couture’s judgement was impaired and that she believed an external force or energy was making her daughter sick.

Patricia Couture was originally charged with failure to provide the necessaries of life, but that charge was later upgraded. (CTV Calgary)

 

The Canadian Press