State of Indiana v. MIKEL AN KRUEGER

N/A

OUTCOME:

From WFIE: A landmark case ends in a guilty verdict in Vanderburgh County. Mikel-Ann Krueger was found guilty last week of child neglect resulting in serious bodily injury. That was the first Munc ... hausen case ever successfully tried in our area. Munchausen by-proxy happens when a caregiver makes up or exaggerates a child's illness to draw attention to themselves. And that's what the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's office says made the case against Mikel-Ann Krueger so difficult. Attorney Ryan Hatfield argued that Krueger deliberately caused harm to her young child multiple times. The child suffers from pulmonary hypertension - but kept having blue spells -- or lack of oxygen -- when in Krueger's care. Court documents show Krueger intentionally suffocated her child - to reap the attention from medical professionals. Attorney Ryan Hatfield says proving this case was difficult, but getting a guilty verdict marks a first for Vanderburgh County. "This is a difficult case because there's a lot of dispute about whether Munchausen exists at all,” Hatfield told us. “The reason the state felt comfortable taking this to trial is the dependency upon Munchausen by-proxy- had nothing to do with whether the defendant was guilty or not." Attorneys at the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's office say this is one of only a handful successfully tried Munchausen cases ever in Indiana. ------------------ From Indiana Lawyer: The Indiana Court of Appeals, acknowledging differing expert testimony in a mother’s neglect of a dependent case, declined to reweigh the evidence and upheld her Class B felony conviction. Mikel An Krueger had a son, A.G., in 2011 with Kenneth Galloway. Galloway and several of his family members have primary pulmonary hypertension, which can cause someone to have difficulty breathing and may look “blue” at times. Sometimes a person can faint or have cardiac arrest as the disease progresses. A.G. began suffering from episodes where he would turn blue, become stiff, and lose consciousness when he was just two-months old. Tests show he had mild pulmonary hypertension and given medication to treat it. But Krueger stopped the medication because it gave him acid reflux. Episodes continued, so a pacemaker was placed. Eventually, he was seen by Louisville doctor Chris Johnsrude who concluded the pacemaker was unnecessary and that A.G.’s current diagnosis shouldn’t be causing his serious health issues. Most of A.G.’s episodes occurred when he was alone with Krueger. Krueger’s mother eventually approached Dr. Johnsrude that she believed her daughter may be causing the boy’s episodes. Johnsrude said it is possible to trigger an attack by pressing on certain locations of the boy’s body for a few seconds. The Department of Child Services intervened, removing A.G. from the home. Krueger was evaluated and believed to have factitious disorder by proxy, in which a caretaker exaggerates or causes medical symptoms to gain attention or some benefit. Krueger was charged by the state with three Class B felonies, but she was only convicted at trial of Class B felony neglect of a dependent. She was sentenced to 10 years with eight years in the Department of Correction, one year on work release, and one year on probation. Krueger appealed, claiming insufficient evidence to sustain her conviction. She noted that testimony was presented that A.G. has the disease and episodes happened outside of her care. But her argument is an invitation to reweigh the evidence, despite her claim that the conviction is based on “sheer conjecture and surmise.” We acknowledge that there were differing expert opinions presented here and that some witness testimony conflicted with other witness testimony. However, resolving those conflicts was the jury’s responsibility. On appeal, we cannot reweigh the evidence or judge the credibility of the witnesses,” Judge L. Mark Bailey wrote in Mikel An Krueger v. State of Indiana, 82A01-1509-CR-1392.