Tot's mom plagued by regrets, persecution
Sunday June 20, 1999 written by Bert Dalmer
Rockford--- Illinois law kept Sherri immune from prosecution in the death of her baby daughter, but it has never kept her immune from criticism. Since news of Carrie Lynn Gaines' death came out in 1995, her mother has been forced to live in virtual seclusion, away from persecution that family members say still rains down on her.
"Before they turn around and say the family's dysfunctional, they should know what the family's been through," said Gaines' aunt, Judy. "It doesn't make any more sense to us than it does to anybody else."
Sherri and Richard Howard, her boyfriend, severed all family ties in 1990 and disapeared from Rockford before anyone knew anything about Carrie Lynn's death. Judy said Sherri had become so terror-stricken during her life with Howard that she had fallen under his direct control.
"If we had known any of this was going on, we would have gotten Rick out of there," Judy said. "Somehow, he twisted things around to make Sherri think she couldn't come to her family."
Gaines has declined frequent requeats for an interview. After Carrie Lynn's remains were found buried in a cardboard box in 1995, authorities charged Howard with first-degree murder. Prosecutors considered filing criminal charges against Gaines as well, but a three year statute of limitations on concealment of a homicidal death prevented them from doing so.
Throughout the ordeal, Judy said, Gaines has felt "mostly responsible" for Carrie Lynn's death.
"She feels a lot of guilt, " Judy said. "You'll see her to this day sitting down and crying. She says, "If I took her to the hospital maybe she would have lived.' Part of her kept telling herself that staying with him was her punishment."
Gaines continues to live with Judy and other family members in northeast Rockford. She works full time at a dry cleaner's and has been dating a man she met through Alcoholics Anonymous.
Still wrapped up in a custody battle for her other two children, aged 13 and 9, Gaines is allowed unsupervised visits with them one day a week. Judy said Gaines has completed parenting classes and continues to attend counseling sessions with and without her children.
Last week, Connell said, Gaines quietly celebrated her two year anniversary of being clean and sober. News of Howard's reversed conviction has unexpectedly thrown Gaines and her family into fear.
"All of us feel like we have to hide," Judy said. "Rick always threatened, if she testified, to find somebody on the outside to get to Sherri, even if he was in prison. We really don't expect him to get out, but if he does, the whole family will have a nervous breakdown."

Carrie Lynn's killer may get new trial
Monday, Oct. 4, 1999
The Illinois Supreme Court could decide this week whether Richard Lee Howard was denied a fair trial.
Family members of the late Carrie Lynn Gaines hope that an Illinois Supreme Court ruling this week will spare them from having to relive the Rockford girl's horrific death.
Carrie Lynn died before her second birthday in 1990. It was five years before the world knew she was gone. Buried in a cardboard box in a shallow grave, she was forgotten until a tipster in 1995 led police to her remains. Then, her mother's ex-boyfriend, Richard Lee "Rick" Howard, was convicted of first degree murder for allegedly beating the toddler to death.
But like other murder cases in Winnebago County recently, this one didn't end with the verdict.
An appeals court has ruled that Howard was denied a fair trial because a psychologist testified that mother Sherri suffered battered woman syndrome. Sherri was a key witness for the prosecution.
Without the psychologist's testimony, Sherri's credibility could be called into question. After all, she helped conceal Carrie Lynn's death for five years.
The Supreme Court is expected to announce this week if it will review the issue or allow Howard a new trial.

Tot's death back in court
Monday, Oct. 4, 1999 written by Bert Dalmer
An Illinois Supreme Court decision on a retrial in the Carrie Lynn Gaines case is expected this week.
Rockford---- In the latest Winnebago County murder case refusing to go away, the family of the late Carrie Lynn Gaines could learn this week whether the Illinois Supreme Court will consider a new trial for the man convicted of killing her. Richard Lee "Rick" Howard was sentenced to natural life in prison in November 1997, two months after a Winnebago County jury found him guilty of beating the baby girl to death and burying her in a cardboard box.
In June, three Illinois Appellate Court justices unanimously ruled that the jury had been prejudiced by a prosecution witness. The appeals court ordered a new trial, despite acknowledging that a jury would have convicted Howard even without the prejudicial testimony."Now tell me why, this child killer should even have the chance of getting a new trial !!!! Without the prejudicial evidence (battered woman syndrome) ...He still would have been convicted of murder!!!!!
So why are they allowing this to take place? Is this what our justice system is all about? We the family needs time for healing and the system won't let us.....Carrie needs justice, and she can't get it. Why should Rick get justice, is it because he is the criminal? If so, then like I said before justice is for the criminals not the victims! Carrie took a beating from this man 9 years ago, as I am writing this, and she died from the beating. Why can't justice be done for her?.....I will tell you why, it is because she is the victim!
People!!!!!! ...wake up, you have the power to improve our justice system for the better...(do it for the victims)
"If they can find him guilty without the evidence, I don't understand why he just doesn't go down as guilty," said Carrie's great aunt. "There's no reason for everbody to have to relive this."
Revisited and prolonged murder cases are nothing new in the Rockford area. The Appellate Court recently granted new trials to both Frederick "Ricky" Lambert and Robert Stremmel, each twice convicted of murder. Lambert has since been found guilty a third time; Stremmel's third trial is on the horizon.
In the Howard case, the Winnebago County state's attorney's office has asked the Illinois Supreme Court to intervene, calling the Appellate Court's decision "aberrent" and "inexplicable." But there is no guarantee the Supreme Court will even consider the stat's appeal. In fact, it's a long shot.

Slim odds
In 1998, the high court heard only 83 appeals out of 1,831 requests--less than 5 percent. Further hampering prosecutors' chances is the fact that the Supreme Court in September received the second highest number of appeals of any term during the past decade.
"It's actually very difficult to get a case heard by the Illinois Supreme Court," said Martin Moltz, and appellate prosecutor in Elgin. "Obviously, it was a very surprising decision, and we all think our cases are the most important," Moltz said. "But sometimes the court doesn't agree."
Carrie Lynn's mother, has stayed out of the public eye since Howard's conviction, in part because she fears retribution for testifying against him. She continues to fight for custody of her other two children with whom she is allowed weekly unsupervised visits.
Howard, 44, has been held at the maximum security Menard Correctional Center since November 1997. He stands a remote chance of being released on bond while he awaits word on Winnebago County's appeal. "That's a possibility, but it's very unlikely," said Richard London, the appellate prosecutor appealing the ruling for the Winnebago County state's attorney.
In his appeal, London asserts that the Appellate Court "rejected the clear trend in Illinois" when it ruled that a psychologist should not have been allowed to testify that Sherri suffered from battered woman syndrome. In his appeal, London states: "The testimony was both relevant and necessary to explain to the jury why Sherri did not seek treatment for her mortally wounded daughter, why she helped to conceal Carrie's subsequent death and why she continued to live with the defendant for five years after he brutally murdered her daughter."
From suspect to witness
The Winnebago County states's attorney's office originally wanted to prosecute Sherri for concealment of a homicidal death. But Illinois law kept proseutors from doing so, they said, because the statute of limitations on concealing a homicide had run out.
Police discovered Carrie Lynn's skeletal remains buried in a cardboard box in October 1995, five and a half years after authorities believe she was killed. Prosecutors eventually called Sherri as their star witness and later asked a psychologist to explain to the jury why Sherri stood by as Howard allegedly hurled the 22 month old girl against a wall. The Appellate Court later found that Circuit Judge Rosemary Collins should not have allowed psychologist to testify.
"While (the psychologist's) testimony explained why sherri did not report the victim's death, such evidence was not relevant to the issue of whether the defendant murdered the victim," the Appellate Court opinion read. "The trial court's error in admitting the expert testimony caused substantial prejudice to the defendant and denied him a fair trial." But London said case law in Illinois already has authorized such testimony if a defendant's attorneys attack the credibility of a prosecution witness.
"The court failed to address the fact that the testimony...was presented...to rehabilitate Sherri only after the defense had launched an attack of epic proportions on Sherri's character, morals and credibility," the appeal reads. In fact, Winnebago County Assistant Public Defender David Doll had called Sherri a "fraud" and a "liar" at trial, accusing her of collecting government welfare checks for Carrie Lynn months after the girl was dead. Doll, who is still representing Howard, could not be reached for comment on the current appeal.
Uncharted waters
There is one area of London's appeal that appears unsupported by Illinois case law. In the past, battered woman syndrome has been allowed at trial to explain the behavior of a victim or a defendant. Sherri was neither. The Appellate Court pointed out the inconsistency when it overturned Howard's murder conviction. London argues simply that a third party should be viewed no differently. Officials guessed the apparent conflict might persuade the Supreme Court to hear the appeal.
Supreme Court spokesman Joe Tybor declined to address the Howard case specifically, but he said the high court is usually more likely to take an appeal in instances where the law is shady or unchallenged. "If the Appellate Court has handed down conflicting opinions, the (Supreme) Court might be more likely to take a look at it," Tybor said. He added that the Supreme Court appears ready to announce its decision this week. If the Supreme Court agrees to hear Winebago County's appeal, a ruling on upholding or overturning the appeals court is not expected until spring. If the Illinois Supreme Court refuses to hear the appeal, prosecutors could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to step in. But that is improbable because there is no apparent federal issue involved.
A new trial, on the other hand would be risky for prosecutors. One juror who served in the first trial told the Rockford Register Star in June that he might not have believed Sherri's testimony without an explanation from the psychologist. And without Sherri's credible testimony, the state's case against Howard could crumble. "It would be wonderful if we could call the pope to testify to what happened. But we have to take witnesses as we find then," London said. "The only person who knew for sure that the child was killed was Sherri."

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