Infirmity

health issues for which she has received treatment from numerous mental health treatment providers since she was 13 or 14 years old,” defense lawyer James R. Freeman wrote in court papers.

Freeman said “the nature and extent of such treatment and the need for same” is set forth in a report completed by a psychologist who evaluated House-Hay in preparation for trial. That report has not been made public but has been provided to prosecutors, court papers indicate.

In addition to the psychologist, the defense team plans to call several of House-Hay’s relatives as witnesses to support the “claim to mental infirmity,” Freeman revealed in court papers.

House-Hay faces charges of first- and third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and possession of a weapon in connection with the alleged July 21, 2017, stabbing death of her mother, 54-year-old Annette E. House, inside the Abbey Lane home they shared.

A conviction of first-degree murder, an intentional killing, carries an automatic life prison sentence. A conviction of third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice or recklessness, carries a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.

Voluntary manslaughter, punishable of 10 to 20 years in prison, is a killing without lawful justification while under sudden and intense passion.

However, a person found guilty but mentally ill is sentenced to jail but is initially incarcerated in a mental institution. When that offender is deemed “cured,” the person must serve the balance of any sentence in jail.

A person determined to be guilty but mentally ill, according to state law, lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the seriousness of their conduct or to conform their conduct to the law as a result of a mental disease.

Meanwhile, the judge has denied a defense request for a 60-day trial postponement.

“Jury trial shall commence on January 29, 2018, promptly at 9 a.m. as previously scheduled,” Carpenter wrote in an order issued last week. “Attorneys are directed to appear for trial and to remain available until the conclusion of the case unless excused by the court.”

Jury selection is to begin Jan. 29, and the trial is expected to last several days.

House-Hay remains in the county jail without bail pending trial.

Assistant District Attorney Benjamin McKenna is prosecuting the case.

Court records indicate the judge previously granted a request for House-Hay to receive counseling services by psychiatrists or psychologists while confined at the jail.

An investigation began about 3:18 a.m. July 21 when House-Hay called 911 to report her mother had been stabbed in the chest, according to a criminal complaint. House-Hay made the call from a nearby residence on Tanglewood Drive in Limerick.

Police discovered Annette House unresponsive in a bed on the second-floor of the home with a wooden-handled kitchen knife inserted in her chest that state troopers said “appeared to be consistent with knives located inside a knife block in the kitchen,” according to the criminal complaint filed by state police Trooper Jerrold R. Hatfield and county Detective Lt. James McGowan.

An autopsy determined Annette House died as a result of multiple stab wounds and officials noted the presence of defensive wounds on her arms, according to the arrest affidavit.

House-Hay initially told police she was asleep when she heard her mother scream. House-Hay claimed she saw a male in a gray hoodie leaving the house but could not provide further details, according to the criminal complaint.

State troopers located a bloodstained, gardeningstyle glove attached to the side glass panel of the front door, blood smears on the surrounding window panel and a black flashlight on a table inside the entrance foyer of the house, according to court papers.

“Investigation revealed no signs of a struggle, theft or burglary within the residence,” Hatfield and McGowan wrote in the criminal complaint.

During the investigation, House-Hay gave conflicting accounts to various police officers about what occurred prior to her mother being stabbed, according to court documents. One of the state troopers who interviewed her observed what appeared to be blood on House-Hay’s clothing in the areas of her left chest, left thigh, arms and hands, court papers state.

The trooper also stated he observed a laceration on House-Hay’s left hand, which was wrapped in a blood-soaked bandage.

When a trooper asked her what happened to her hand, House-Hay responded, “I tried to help her, she tried to grab me,” according to the arrest affidavit.

But as troopers continued to interview her, House-Hay admitted she had a fight with her mother earlier in the night regarding House-Hay’s treatment for bipolar disorder, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

House-Hay subsequently told authorities she obtained a right hand glove while downstairs and a knife from the kitchen prior to entering her mother’s bedroom. House-Hay told state troopers that her blood would be present on the blade portion of the knife that she took into her mother’s room.

House-Hay also said that prior to leaving the residence she obtained a large flashlight and attempted to break the front door window of the home, according to the criminal complaint.