Lytle attorneys file request with judge

Wed., June 25, 2008

By Karen Dorn Steele karend@spokesman.com

Attorneys for Jonathan Lytle, accused of homicide by abuse in the death of 4-year-old Summer Phelps, want a judge to bar any mention of sexual abuse in the high-profile case.

There is no evidence that Lytle sexually assaulted his daughter despite “oblique” media references to such abuse, Lytle’s court-appointed attorneys say in a motion filed with the court. The child died last year after being repeatedly beaten, bitten and tortured.

Attached to the motion filed Friday is a June 6 Spokesman-Review article that cited police reports noting that Lytle may have used a mop handle “as a weapon” against Summer. The unconscious girl had a distended rectum when doctors examined her at the hospital, according to the police reports.

The newspaper article did not say that the child had been sexually abused.

The new motion cites an autopsy report by Spokane County Medical Examiner Sally Aiken and tests conducted by the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory that found no physical evidence of sexual assault.

The motion by attorneys Edward Carroll and Dennis J. Dressler of the Counsel for Defense also says Summer’s biological mother, Elizabeth Phelps, made three complaints to authorities in 2003, 2004 and 2005 accusing Lytle of molesting Summer – but still agreed to let the child live with him. Authorities concluded there was “no basis for the molestation allegations,” the motion says.

Lytle’s next court appearance is on July 17, when Spokane County Superior Court Judge Michael P. Price will preside over a mental competency hearing to determine whether he will stand trial.

His wife, Adriana Lytle, is scheduled to enter a plea to homicide by abuse charges on July 21.

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