Mass. woman wants new trial in stepson slaying

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (AP) - An Easthampton woman serving a life sentence for smothering her 5-year-old stepson to death in 1994 is asking for a new trial because she alleges her former lawyer disclosed confidential information to a reporter.

The new lawyer for 43-year-old Sandra Dostie said in documents filed Wednesday in Hampshire Superior Court she is entitled to a new trial due to "flagrant violations" of her rights to effective counsel.

The new lawyer tells The Daily Hampshire Gazette a recently discovered letter from a journalist to former defense attorney Janice Healy is proof Healy violated attorney-client confidentiality.

Healy, now a deputy district attorney, declined comment.

Dostie was convicted in 1995 of smothering Eric Dostie with a pillow. She said at trial masked intruders killed the boy. She later said she was mentally ill.