Monday, May 9, 2005 | 9:06 a.m.
Brittney Bergeron, the 12-year-old girl who was paralyzed in a stabbing two years ago in a Mesquite RV park, is expected to testify this week at a trial in Family Court that seeks to terminate her mother's parenting rights.
Brittney has been living with a foster family since shortly after the attack, and authorities told Family Court Judge Gerald Hardcastle on Friday that the girl wants to stay there.
"It's ironic that this tragic incident led, for the first time in her life, to Brittney feeling safe," Clark County Deputy District Attorney Ron Cordes said.
At the start of the trial Friday, state authorities portrayed Brittney's mother, Tamara Schmidt, as being "chronically unfit."
She has a history of drug abuse and frequently left Brittney and her 3-year-old half sister, Kristyanna Cowan, home alone, authorities said.
Although Schmidt's recent drug tests have turned up clean, Deputy Attorney General Brigid Duffy said there are concerns about whether she would stay drug-free if not for the state testing her on a regular basis.
Tamara and Robert Schmidt were allegedly gambling while the girls were stabbed in their trailer at the Casablanca RV Park on Jan. 22, 2003. Krystyanna died in the attack.
The alleged attackers were enraged that Robert Schmidt had sold them table salt instead of methamphetamine, police said.
Siblings Beau and Monique Maestas, who were 19 and 16, respectively, when the stabbings occurred, are to stand trial June 6 for the attack.
Schmidt's attorney, Steve Caruso, told the court Friday that Schmidt was an informant for the Mesquite Police Department. Asked on the stand by the prosecutor if she was acting as an informant the day her daughters were stabbed, she took the Fifth Amendment against possibly incriminating herself. Caruso said he could not speculate whether Schmidt's status may have led to the attack.
District Attorney David Roger said he had no direct knowledge that Schmidt was a police informant. And even if she was, Roger said, the information does not change the criminal case.
"The charges speak for themselves," he said.
The Schmidts, charged with child abuse and neglect in connection with the attack, are scheduled to stand trial within the next few months. They have pleaded not guilty.
The pending criminal charges led Tamara Schmidt to invoke the Fifth Amendment nearly 100 times in a row in response to Cordes' questions while testifying at the trial Friday.
The bulk of Cordes' questions regarded prior drug use, a past drug arrest, parenting skills, counseling and whether she has been involved in violent relationships in the past.
But Schmidt invoked her right against self-incrimination even to questions regarding her plans in caring for Brittney, whether she understands Brittney's special needs and whether she is married or has a job.
Steve Hiltz of the Clark County Legal Services Program, appearing on Brittney's behalf, made a motion to the judge to declare a mistrial or postpone it until Schmidt's criminal case is wrapped up.
"It's clear Brittney's mother has made a choice here," he said.
However, Hardcastle denied it, then scolded state authorities for taking this approach, saying it "offends the basic sensibility about fairness."
"By putting her on the stand, of course she's going to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights," he said. "If you have a case to prove, prove it through witnesses and not through this display."
Robert Schmidt, when called to testify, invoked his Fifth Amendment right 40 consecutive times.
Vivian Dunipace, a therapist from California who saw Brittney for five sessions in 2002, testified that the girl needed continued, intensive treatment but her mother stopped bringing her to the appointments.
Under questioning by Duffy, Dunipace said she called a child abuse hotline after it became clear Schmdt was not going to continue with her daughter's treatment.
"I was concerned about her not receiving treatment, and for her safety," she said.
Kisha Earhart, senior investigator for Child Protective Services, handled Brittney's case from May 2003 until earlier this year.
She said during supervised visits with Brittney, Schmidt appeared uninterested in her daughter's life and schooling and behaved inappropriately, such as promising her things such as a puppy and bragging about trips.
Earhart said Brittney was "parentified" -- meaning she comforted her mother during the visits and worried about her instead of the other way around.
She also said she was concerned that Schmidt wasn't being age-appropriate with her daughter -- kissing her all over her face like she would a baby and failing to speak to her about wearing a bra.
But by the end of the day Friday, Hardcastle said he was still waiting for substantial evidence that Schmidt was an unfit parent.
"I don't take children away from their parents because of this type of behavior," he said.
Duffy responded: "It's about her parenting skills and her lack of them and her continued lack of them."
Testimony was scheduled to continue today.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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