Anfinson relative: ‘This has been a long road’

An Iowa Supreme Court decision released Friday has a very personal significance for Iowa resident Bob Krause. He is a brother-in-law of Heidi Anfinson, a Des Moines woman convicted of second-degree murder in the drowning death of her infant son who received court approval for a new trial. Because of Heidi and the loss of his nephew Jacob, Krause has been doing his part to educate the public on the dangers of postpartum depression.

“This has been a very long road for Heidi, her family and friends,” Krause said in e-mail correspondence with Iowa Independent hours after the court granted Anfinson a new trial. “Finally someone appears to be listening in the legal system. The Iowa Supreme Court spent 10 months on this opinion. They clearly researched it and thought about it thoroughly. They wrote a unanimous decision that says there is more to Heidi’s story than what the system has allowed so far.”

Krause, like many members of the family, have stated repeatedly that postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis played a significant role in the death of 15-day-old Jacob.

“Post partum illnesses are starting to get the attention they deserve,” Krause said. “One site I follow is Postpartum Progress, [where] many women contribute with their stories. They report a remarkably consistent experience of symptoms and shame. Almost every one of them could have been in Heidi’s situation if they had been a little sicker or a bit less lucky.”

He also has strong words about how the current judicial system works with and deals with people believed to be suffering with a mental illness.

“If people will put aside their preconceived notions, they would get a great civics lesson from Heidi’s case,” he said. “They would learn how begrudgingly we deal with the mentally ill. They would see how quick we are to assume people lie. They would see how unwilling we are to believe people who say they are sick, unless it’s an illness that society has approved.

“But mostly, they would see how inflexible the legislature, courts and police can be when mental illness is involved.  It has taken ten years to get to the point we should have been from day one: Allowed to tell our story.”

Under Iowa law, a defendant must prove a complete lack of understanding for the crime and any subsequent legal ramifications to use an insanity defense. Further, an insanity defense is only available in first-degree murder cases. While Anfinson was originally charged with first-degree murder, the first trial ended in a hung jury. When the state began the process for a new trail, she faced second-degree murder charges.

Because of the difficulty in establishing an insanity defense and because he felt a diminished capacity defense would only lead to the second-degree charge she already faced, Bill Kutmus, who served as Anfinson’s defense attorney, waved away any defense that included discussion of postpartum depression or other childbirth-related mental illness. Instead he attempted to portray the incident as a tragic and negligent accident.

The court, in its decision, argued that while the basics of what Kutmus did fell within his obligation as a defense attorney, and that the depression could not have filled the whole of a defense, he was negligent for not offering information relating to the mental illness and his client’s past history as an explanation of Anfinson’s unusual behavior. For instance, it may explain why police described Anfinson as emotionless during questioning.

Krause has placed many of the family’s writings on a web site — everypurpose.org — that outlines the incident and, he hopes, helps others who may be suffering from postpartum depression.