In rare move, judge to decide murder case without trial

Author: Jim Adams; Staff Writer

In a highly unusual legal maneuver, state and defense attorneys agreed Monday that a woman charged with the unintentional murder of her 10-month-old adoptive daughter in Lakeville will not stand trial.

Julie McClure, 34, agreed to let Dakota County District Judge Leslie Metzen decide the case on the basis of the evidence and testimony that Metzen has heard already in the Juvenile Court proceedings after Jessica Li McClure died from a skull fracture Aug. 17, 1993.

Those hearings considered state petitions to remove the McClures' other three children, two born since Jessica's death. The hearings were closed and the outcome is confidential, but the three children continue to live with both parents, said their father, Robert McClure. His wife, who maintains her innocence, has been free on $50,000 bail after being charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter.

"The judge in Juvenile Court conducted a full and complete trial on the exact same issues that are involved in the criminal prosecution," said County Attorney James Backstrom. "The state has no right to demand a jury trial, and given these circumstances, we could see no reason to present the evidence again in criminal court."

During the earlier proceedings, the attorneys presented 60 exhibits and 30 witnesses, including McClure, who were cross-examined.

Among the exhibits is a piece of wall from the McClures' Lakeville house containing a dent the size of an infant's head. Police said hairs embedded in the dent are similar to those found in Jessica's crib. Defense attorney Mark McDonough has said the dent was caused by a neighbor boy who hit the wall with a baseball bat.

McDonough brought in three medical experts, including one from Scotland, who testified that Jessica's injuries, including 14 other broken bones found during her autopsy, were caused by a brittle-bone ailment called osteogenesis imperfecta. She was born in China and at the age of 4 months was placed with the McClures. The adoption process was not complete before she died.

The state presented nine medical experts, including a bone expert from Montreal who disagreed with the defense experts.

Defense cocounsel Charles Gegen said it is rare to let a judge try a criminal case on evidence presented in a juvenile proceeding. But, he said, "It didn't make much sense to repeat what we had already done. We were looking at a monthlong trial."

Hamline University Law School professor Richard Oaks agreed that letting a judge make a decision based on evidence from a prior trial is rare. He noted that Metzen will have to apply a tougher standard of proof, "beyond a reasonable doubt," than that used in juvenile hearings, which is "clear and convincing evidence."

Metzen is expected to reach a verdict within 10 days.