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Court allows first-degree murder charges against parents in death of Rebecca Riley

The state appeals court has restored first-degree murder charges against Michael and Carolyn Riley, who are charged with killing their 4-year-old daughter Rebecca with prescription drug overdoses.

In a ruling issued today, the Appeals Court of Massachusetts threw out a decision by Plymouth Superior Court Judge John P. O'Connor to limit the charges to second-degree murder. The three-judge panel said prosecutors had presented enough evidence for "probable cause," and that Judge John P. Connor was in error when he denied prosecutors the chance to prove first-degree malice.

Prosecutors argued during the appeals hearing last December that a verdict of first- or second-degree murder should be left to the jury, and not limited in advance.

Defense attorneys countered that there was no evidence the Rileys intentionally killed Rebecca with clonidine, a sedative that can be used to treat hyperactivity.

The Rileys' trial hasn't been scheduled. Carolyn Riley was freed without bail last November, after spending 20 months in jail without bail. Michael Riley is serving a 2-1/2-year sentence in the Norfolk County jail for an unrelated 2007 conviction for giving pornography to a minor.

The Patriot Ledger