WOODLAND — A fall trial is scheduled for Frank Talliesen Rees, the Woodland man facing involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment charges in connection with the 2015 death of his infant son.
Yolo Superior Court Judge Paul Richardson set aside three weeks for the proceedings, which begin Oct. 16.
Justice Rees was 19 days old when his mother, Samantha Lee Green, swam with him across a frigid Knights Landing slough while under the influence of methamphetamine on Feb. 23, 2015, causing the newborn to die of exposure as Green kept him there overnight.
Green was convicted last year of second-degree murder.
Yolo County prosecutors theorized that Green went to Knights Landing, where Rees had gone to meet a female friend, in a jealous rage over his repeated infidelities.
Earlier, the couple had gone on a three-day methamphetamine binge despite a social worker’s order for them to seek drug treatment to maintain custody of their baby, with Rees giving Green a large rectal dose of the drug during the early hours of Feb. 23.
It was that alleged act that made Rees liable for Justice’s death, prosecutors say, by putting in motion a series of events that led to his demise in the slough, and failing to intervene on his child’s behalf.
Richardson said as much after presiding over Rees’ three-day preliminary hearing, saying that “though the precise consequence could not be foreseen, the court is of the view that it was reasonably foreseeable that there would be harm to this child.”
Defense attorney Rod Beede, meanwhile, has portrayed Rees as an uninvolved father who had no way of anticipating Green’s “conscious decision” to take the baby into the slough following her willful drug use.
Rees, 31, also faces charges of administering methamphetamine — both to Green and to the woman he met in Knights Landing — and eavesdropping for allegedly filming a distraught Green in his garage shortly before Justice’s death.
He has pleaded not guilty to all counts. Green, who may be called to testify during his trial, is serving a state prison sentence of 15 years to life.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene
Read more:
Manslaughter charge upheld for Baby Justice’s father: http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/manslaughter-cha…-justices-father/
Liable or uninvolved? Attorneys debate father’s role in Baby Justice death: http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/liable-or-uninvolved-attorneys-debate-fathers-role-in-baby-justice-death/
Father of Baby Justice lashes out from jail: http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/crime-fire-courts/dead-babys-father-lashes-out-from-jail/