July 31

2002

Candace's Law Signed As Accused Therapist Takes Stand:
Watkins Says Ponder Was In Charge, Checking On Candace's Welfare

Jurors on Tuesday watched a videotape of a fatal "rebirthing" therapy session for the second time as a defendant gave a step-by-step description of the events.

Some jurors cried, looked away or covered their faces as they watched the final moments of Candace Newmaker's life, 7NEWS reported.

Psychotherapist Connell Watkins, 54, however, showed no emotion as she defended her actions, or lack of them, during the fatal rebirthing session.

Watkins said that she had no idea that the 10-year-old girl was in trouble until another therapist, Julie Ponder, uncovered a sheet in which she was wrapped and discovered that she wasn't breathing.

Watkins and Ponder, 40, are charged with reckless child abuse resulting in Candace's death. The girl died of asphyxiation after the session last April.

Candace was wrapped in a sheet to simulate a womb as adults pushed against her with pillows for 70 minutes. They urged her to emerge reborn and bond with her adoptive mother, Jeane Newmaker of Durham, N.C.

About halfway into the session, the tape shows, Candace was asked if she wanted to be reborn.

"She says very clearly, 'No,' which tells us she's fine," Watkins (pictured, right) said. "We had no reason right then to be concerned."

Watkins said that she never intended or believed that any of her treatments would cause physical harm to Candace. Watkins told the jury that there were air pockets in the blanket which allowed Candace to breathe, 7NEWS reported.

When Candace said, "I can't breathe. Please, please, please help me, " Watkins said that she didn't react because Candace "wanted us to believe that she was in jeopardy, and we were real clear she was not."

When Candace said on the videotape that she felt that was going to die, the therapists responded, "Go ahead and die," 7NEWS reported.

"She was moving around. I could hear her breathing. We had no reason to be concerned," Watkins said.

As the rebirthing session passed the hour mark without a response from Candace, Watkins said that she still wasn't concerned.

"Stubborn defiance. I think then, as I still do, Candace was going to wait us out," Watkins said.

But prosecutors said that Candace was not defiant and not waiting out anybody. Authorities claim that Candace had stopped breathing for more than 20 minutes before Watkins and Ponder unwrapped her and found her lifeless body.

During Watkin's cross-examination, prosecutors pointed out that there was no outside evidence to prove that Candace had the kind of extreme problems that the therapists described.

Watkins said that Ponder was in charge of the rebirthing session and was the one checking on Candace's welfare.

When her lawyer, Craig Truman, asked her about a gesture that she makes on the tape, Watkins said, "I wanted Julie to unwrap her and check on her. I thought (Candace) fell asleep. Julie said, 'Oh, she's fine. She's a little sweaty, but she's fine."'

Ponder's lawyer, Jean Heller, said that she would decide whether to have Ponder testify after Truman finishes his presentation.

The defense has raised questions about Candace's medical condition at the time of the therapy, pointing out she was on medications for attention deficit disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and attachment disorder.

Watkins was treating Candace for attachment disorder, which makes children resist loving relationships and can make them violent and unmanageable.

The day before the rebirthing session, Watkins said, Candace had a minor breakthrough. When Jeane Newmaker left the room at Watkins' request, Candace cried.

"She said, 'I'm crying because my mother left me,"' Watkins said.

"It was like a hole through her armor," she said. "She has the armor of a Roman soldier going to war."

Watkins decided to follow up the next day with the rebirthing session. "I wanted to build on that with the rebirthing technique," she said.

Watkins said that she learned the rebirthing technique in the fall of 1999 and had participated in four other sessions. She said she believed that it was safe and had never seen problems with it.

Candace's biological grandmother, Mary Davis, and her husband, David Davis, left the courtroom when they learned that the videotape would be shown again Tuesday. They have not seen the tape and said that they do not plan to watch it.

The Davises were present when Gov. Bill Owens signed a bill Tuesday banning rebirthing therapy in Colorado.

The new law makes the controversial therapy a misdemeanor, punishable by time in jail or a fine, 7NEWS reported. The Davises were at the state capitol Tuesday to present a plaque with Candace's picture to Owens and several other lawmakers who made the law possible.

"She paid the price for this, and in her name, this abuse, this total control by extremist therapists, can stop," David Davis said.