JUVENILE COURT JUDGE TO RULE IN DEATH OF INFANT

Author: BYLINE: Bill Gardner, Staff Writer

A lengthy murder trial in Dakota County has been avoided through an unusual agreement that allows a juvenile court judge, who has already heard all the evidence in a related case, to decide whether a Lakeville woman killed her adopted baby girl.

Judge Leslie Metzen is expected to rule within 10 days on whether Julie McClure is guilty of killing Jessica Li McClure, who was 10 months old when she died Aug. 17, 1993, of a skull fracture.

After learning Jessica McClure had suffered 14 other broken bones over a two-month period in addition to the skull fracture, Dakota County prosecutors believed they had found a pattern of child abuse and charged Julie McClure with murder and manslaughter.

McClure's lawyer contended Jessica McClure, who was brought to this country from China, suffered from osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare bone disease that made her as brittle as a porcelain doll.

In a juvenile court proceeding that began in February 1994 and continued through last month, Metzen heard 20 prosecution witnesses and nine defense witnesses, including nine prosecution medical experts and three defense medical experts.

The murder trial, which was to have begun Monday, would have involved the same issues, according to Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom.

``We saw no reason to present the exact same testimony to another judge,'' Backstrom said.

Backstrom said he could not comment on the nature of the juvenile proceeding or the outcome.

Julie McClure called Lakeville police on Aug. 15, 1993, and said Jessica had fallen while standing at a kitchen chair. The child had no heartbeat when police arrived, but emergency first aid restored a heartbeat. The child died two days later at Minneapolis Children's Hospital.

X-rays showed the numerous other broken bones, and doctors indicated that the child's injuries were inconsistent with the fall described by Julie McClure.