WOODLAND — A three-day hearing is scheduled in Yolo Superior Court next month to determine whether a Woodland man should stand trial in connection with his infant son’s death.
Frank Rees, 31, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment and administering drugs in connection with the February 2015 death of 19-day-old Justice Rees. The baby died of exposure after his mother Samantha Green, Rees’ fiancée, swam with him across a Knights Landing slough while high on methamphetamine.
Prosecutors allege that Rees acted recklessly by administering large doses of the drug to Green despite their prior addictions, and it was that conduct that contributed to Justice’s death.
Green was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison.
Rees’ preliminary hearing is set for the afternoons of June 7-9. It has been postponed several times since his February arrest after Green’s public defenders raised objections over the release of her jailhouse medical records to Rees’ defense attorney as part of the evidence disclosure process.
Deputy Public Defender Dave Muller, who continues to represent Green as a real party of interest in Rees’ case, argued that the records’ disclosure would violate her privacy rights.
Judge Paul Richardson disagreed, ruling in court Wednesday that some of the documents contain “potential material evidence that would be important to the defense that needs to be disclosed,” he said.
Richardson said defense attorney Rod Beede also should receive a video that prosecutors say Rees secretly recorded of Green in the garage of their home on Feb. 23, 2015, the day before Justice’s death.
That video has resulted in a fifth charge being added to Rees’ case, a misdemeanor count of eavesdropping, which prosecutors filed this week. Rees pleaded not guilty to the new allegation during Wednesday’s court hearing.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene