Case against mother drags on

Nearly a year after a 6-year-old boy was found dead, no trial date is set for the Land O'Lakes woman accused in his death.

By CHASE SQUIRES

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 9, 2000

DADE CITY -- One year ago this Wednesday, Kathleen McDuffie discovered her grandson dead in his mother's minivan in the garage of their Clubside Loop home in Land O'Lakes.

Since then, the mother, Kristina Gaime, has been arrested and charged with 6-year-old Mathew's death and the attempted murder of her other son, Adam.

There have been two funerals for Mathew: one for Gaime's family, the other for relatives of Mathew's father, Stephen Rotell.

There has been a succession of hearings in criminal court over Gaime, and in family court over the custody of the surviving son.

There have been mysteries, complaints, allegations and depositions. But, so far, no resolution.

Not yet. Maybe not this year. Maybe not in the foreseeable future.

There are a lot of maybes.

In the days after the discovery of her son's body, Kristina Gaime was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. She has been in a Pasco County jail since.

The prosecution asserts that Gaime drugged Mathew and her other son, Adam, then loaded them into the family minivan and directed the exhaust into the passenger cabin. When her mother arrived at the home the morning of April 12, she found Gaime on a couch in the home, woozy, incoherent and suffering from what appeared to be burns on her left ankle and buttocks and a head injury.

Gaime was taken to University Community Hospital where she was arrested May 4 after a Pasco County grand jury indicted her.

Since then, no trial date has been set. And when a date might be set is anyone's guess.

Her father, Gary McDuffie, said last week that the wait has been difficult, but he won't push for a speedy resolution. Instead, he said, he wants the right resolution.

Gaime is adjusting to life in jail, McDuffie said. She isn't happy, but she is doing better than she was in the early stages.

"She's in a position nobody wants to be in," he said.

Gaime's attorney, Bob Nutter, said no one is to blame for the delays. They are part of the system.

"It's a matter of doing what has to be done," he said.

What has to be done is determine whether Gaime, 35, is competent to stand trial.

Gaime's mental state has been part of the case since before she was charged with the crime.

While the investigation was still under way, Stephen Rotell's Jim Kramer, suggested in court documents that she suffered from a rare disorder that causes parents to hurt their children.

By the end of May, Gaime's attorneys were telling the court she suffered such severe blows to the head the mysterious night her son died that she suffered from post-concussion syndrome and amnesia.

Nutter said last week that Gaime still hasn't regained her memory of the night in question. Until she does, she can't assist in her defense, he said.

Her injuries never have been explained.

The defense team's doctors examined her last summer. The state hasn't finished questioning them, but Nutter says he expects to have her re-examined, due to the long time lapse. The state, too, plans to have her examined, with a possible hearing date sometime in June.

Only then, if she's found competent, will they attempt to set a trial date.

If she isn't competent, Nutter said, the defense will ask that she be transferred to a hospital, where she can receive treatment, and maybe someday she might regain her memory and stand trial.

The only testimony from a doctor to be made public indicates that she may have some impairment. But the doctor, Irving B. Weiner, couldn't decide whether she could stand trial, only that she had a significant memory disability and apparently suffered damage from a blow to the head that was "quite severe."

Gaime's mental state hasn't been the only twist in the tale.

Last summer, defense attorneys Nutter and Angelo Ferlita accused the Sheriff's Office of bugging the jail meeting room where they discuss the case.

"I know they are," Nutter said. "I can't go into that jail and feel I am free to talk about this case."

The Sheriff's Office declined to discuss jail security and said it was up to Nutter to prove their allegations.

There also is the family court angle. Since April 12, 1999, Gaime's ex-husband, Rotell, has sought permanent custody of his surviving son.

Rotell has been quiet, declining to speak to reporters. He attends each hearing with a yellow Tweety Bird pin on his lapel in memory of his dead son. Each time, he sits in the back of the courtroom, then leaves silently.

Rotell's attorney, Kramer, also has been reluctant to speak publicly since a judge slapped him with a fine for breaking a gag order on the case.

Through Kramer, Rotell tried to freeze his ex-wife's assets so she couldn't spend what money she had on her defense instead of her son. His attorney complained that the McDuffies' priority was their own daughter, and he had Tampa Family Court Judge Vivian C. Maye block their visitation.

The state stepped in last October with a bid to strip Gaime of all parental rights, even before her case went to trial.

The civil court battle is the culmination of five years of legal wrangling following the couple's divorce. The discord between Gaime's family and Rotell's was so bad that a judge ordered two funerals for Mathew.

"I have never been involved in a situation that is so bizarre," Maye told the families.

She referred to Gaime and Rotell as "a poster family for dysfunction."

So, with one year behind them, the parties find themselves not much further along than they were at the beginning.

Adam remains in his father's custody. Gaime remains in the Pasco County jail in Land O'Lakes without bail.

A trial date has not been set.

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