Judge finds Schofield guilty

By TESS NACELEWICZ, Portland Press Herald Writer

Copyright © 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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	Staff photo by Faith Cathcart Judy Reposa, left, consoles Christy Reposa, Logan Marr's mother, outside the Lincoln County Courthouse on Tuesday after Sally Ann Schofield was found guilty of causing Logan's death. "Logan's voice was finally heard," Christy Reposa said. Her husband, Scott Reposa, stands at right.
	Staff photo by Faith Cathcart Sally Ann Schofield and her attorney, Jed Davis, listen as Superior Court Justice Thomas Delahanty pronounces Schofield guilty Tuesday at the Lincoln County Courthouse in Wiscasset.
	BACKGROUND On Tuesday, June 25, Superior Court Justice Thomas Delahanty found Sally Schofield guilty of manslaughter in the death of 5-year-old Logan Marr. Logan was a foster child in Schofield's care. Here are some stories about the case: Full text of the judges ruling Lawmakers vow vigilance on DHS Judge finds Schofield guilty Schofield waives trial by jury Girl's foster mother faces murder charge Foster mom charged in girl's death Police: Child's death suspicious To top of story

WISCASSET — During Sally Ann Schofield's trial, her friends and relatives helped shield her face from the cameras of the media. On Tuesday - after she was found guilty of manslaughter in the binding and gagging death of her 5-year-old foster daughter, Logan Marr - Schofield's face again was hidden as she left the courthouse, the back of her navy blue sweater pulled over her head.

But this time her hands were shackled in front of her, and she was escorted by sheriff's deputies, not family members, because she was on her way to jail.

"Justice has been served," said Logan's mother, Christy Reposa, standing outside the Lincoln County Courthouse, her face still tear-stained from her silent sobs in court as a judge rendered the guilty verdict. "Logan's voice was finally heard."

Schofield, 41, of Chelsea, had chosen a judge instead of a jury to decide the emotional case, which has turned a spotlight on Maine's foster-care system.

Schofield, a former Department of Human Services caseworker, was accused of binding and gagging the spirited Logan in a high chair with 42 feet of duct tape and leaving her alone in the basement, where she suffocated.

"The court is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the state has proven all elements of the crime of manslaughter," Superior Court Justice Thomas Delahanty said Tuesday afternoon.

A doctor hired by Schofield's attorney had suggested Logan's death last year was caused by a previously undiagnosed seizure disorder. But Delahanty - rendering his verdict a week after Schofield's trial began - found that there was no credible evidence of such a disorder and that the state had shown Logan died of asphyxiation.

Schofield now faces up to 40 years in prison, although most manslaughter sentences are much shorter. A sentencing date remains to be set, pending reports - such as a psychiatric evaluation - ordered by the judge. Prosecutors said they don't know yet what sentence they will seek.

Schofield had been free on bail, but Delahanty revoked that Tuesday despite a request from her attorney, Jed Davis, that it continue until sentencing. Delahanty said Davis could submit another, written motion for bail. In the meantime, Schofield is being held at the Kennebec County Jail in Augusta.

Schofield remained impassive, as she had through much of the trial, while Delahanty read his findings and delivered his verdict. She then stood and hugged Davis and began quietly to cry as deputies led her out of the courtroom.

Davis said outside the courthouse that he will examine trial records to see if there are grounds for an appeal, but said he had prepared Schofield for the possibility that the judge might find her guilty. In fact, Deputy Attorney General William Stokes revealed that Davis previously had tried to negotiate with the state, offering to have Schofield plead guilty to manslaughter in exchange for the state dropping a charge of depraved indifference murder against her.

Stokes, lead prosecutor in the case, said he and Attorney General Steven Rowe repeatedly turned down that offer before the trial because they believed Schofield's conduct amounted to murder. "It was pretty outrageous behavior to do to a 5-year-old child," Stokes said.

However, Delahanty last week threw out the murder charge, which carried a sentence of 25 years to life in prison, saying Schofield's actions did not reach the level of heinous conduct necessary for a murder conviction. Only the manslaughter charge remained.

The judge said Tuesday that in order to convict Schofield of manslaughter, he had to find that she caused Logan's death and that her conduct was either reckless or criminally negligent.

The judge called Schofield's conduct toward Logan "unquestionably reckless." He said that as an experienced caseworker, Schofield knew the state forbids foster parents from physically disciplining, restraining, confining or isolating children in their care.

Delahanty said Schofield could be patient and caring with her own children and even Logan and her younger sister, Bailey, when DHS placed them in Schofield's home in September 2000. But he said the "strong-willed caseworker" had another side.

He said evidence showed she would "get frustrated" and "dig in" when things didn't go her way. Schofield's persona clashed with Logan's, who was troubled by trauma in her short life, the judge said. Delahanty said Schofield considered the willful child "a demon prone to fits of rage."

On Jan. 31, 2001, the judge said, "Logan's defiance infuriated Sally Schofield to the point that she secured Logan to the high chair by wrapping layers of duct tape around Logan's torso and behind the back of the chair to prevent her getting out."

"To silence her screams, she wrapped more duct tape under her chin, over her head and across her mouth," the judge continued. "Having already violated the rules of discipline by physical confinement, Ms. Schofield then left Logan to struggle against her bonds in isolation."

Schofield, who didn't testify during the trial, had told police that Logan had bound herself. But the judge called that "as preposterous as it is incredible."

Delahanty determined that while Logan's mouth was taped shut, the tape did not totally block her nose. But he said the evidence showed that she suffocated and it was due to Schofield's "reckless conduct."

Michael Ferenc, the state's deputy chief medical examiner, concluded that Logan suffocated. He said it could have happened in several ways - perhaps because the tape binding her torso was so tight she couldn't breathe, or because of how she landed when her high chair tipped over. The state also suggested the nose of the panicked, crying child was clogged with mucus.

Davis said afterward that Schofield, whose own children have been removed from her care and who is separated from her husband, has expressed remorse.

"She's devastated. She's been deeply depressed," he said. "She can't believe that she did it."

However, Davis blamed Logan's mother, Reposa, for the fact that the girl was in foster care to begin with.

Stokes angrily countered: "Christy Marr (Reposa's former name) had nothing to do with duct-taping that child in the basement." The state has now returned Logan's sister, Bailey, 3, to Reposa's care.

Stokes scoffed at Davis' statement that Schofield is remorseful. "I haven't seen one iota of acceptance or responsibility on the part of that woman," he said.

Staff Writer Tess Nacelewicz can be contacted at 791- 6367 or at: tnacelewicz@pressherald.com

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