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Local Coverage Photo Photo by file Defying all odds, the brain-damaged Westfield girl who was days away from a state order to remove her from life support in 2006 is now communicating information about the horrific abuse that nearly killed her, according to new court documents. Although once thought to be brain-dead, Haleigh Poutre, who turned 14 on Sunday, is now making statements alleging abuse" by her stepfather Jason Strickland, according to a motion filed in Hampden Superior Court last month by Strickland's attorney, Alan Black of Springfield. Haleigh is recovering at a Brighton rehabilitation hospital, where her condition has reportedly vastly improved since the legal battle over her life captured national headlines in 2006. Black's motion indicates that a 51A concerning Haleigh has been forwarded to him by Hampden County District Attorney William Bennett. A 51A is a report of abuse or neglect that can be filed with the Department of Social Services. "This creates issues concerning competency and (Haleigh's) ability to testify and recall events in light of her severe head trauma," Black wrote in the motion that requests a new trial schedule be set so he has time to review the information and hire experts. Bennett is not commenting on the case against Strickland. Eight days after Haleigh's near-fatal beating, DSS sought a court order allowing Haleigh to be removed from life support. Jason Strickland objected, but in January 2006, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that DSS could remove Haleigh from life support. The next day, DSS announced that Haleigh was breathing on her own, and it had halted plans to remove her feeding tube. News reports last year indicated that Haleigh could eat, write her name and flex muscles - all activities that doctors once said would never be possible. Her biological mother, Allison Avrett of Agawam, is waging a legal battle to have more access to Haleigh. Jason Strickland is charged with assault and battery on a child with substantial bodily injury, assault and battery on a child with bodily injury, three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and one count of assault and battery. Holli Strickland, who was also charged with Haleigh's beating, died about a month after her arrest in a murder-suicide with her grandmother.
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