Bay Area Briefs

Records show Teresa Nelson, 24, sought psychological counseling twice while pregnant, and after she gave birth was prescribed birth control pills that may have worsened her depression, according to one doctor.

"The hormones in the pill effectively make the body think it is pregnant to prevent conception," wrote Walnut Creek psychologist Samuel Benson, who was retained as a defense expert.

"In Teresa's case, these hormones had the effect of continuing her postpartum psychosis. Teresa suffers from two very treatable illnesses that caused her to commit a crime for which she is now suffering tormenting remorse."

Two court-appointed doctors have concluded that Nelson's mental state was so impaired at the time of the killing that it satisfies the legal requirement of insanity.

Nelson has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the stabbing of her 23-month-old daughter, Saliyah, on Feb. 26, 1999. Nelson stabbed her toddler six times with a carving knife and later tried to commit suicide.

Jurors will first decide if Nelson is guilty, before deliberating on the question of her insanity. She has been in custody at Napa State Hospital.

Judge seals plea agreement

BERKELEY -- A federal judge agreed Monday to keep under seal an expected plea in a case involving a landlord charged with smuggling teen-age girls from India.

Federal prosecutors and attorneys for Lakireddy Bali Reddy had asked U.S. District Judge Saundra Armstrong to close the plea hearing and to seal court records at least until the judge approves a plea deal given the publicity surrounding the case.

Prosecutors wanted to proceed right away with the plea hearing, but defense attorney Ted Cassman requested more time and the judge ordered a Feb. 6 hearing. The judge also ordered a probationary report be written before the plea agreement is completed.

Reddy, 63, was arrested in January and originally charged with illegally bringing in at least three teen-age girls from India so he could have sex with them.

The landlord's son, Vijay Kumar Lakireddy, also was indicted earler this year on charges of conspiring with his father to bring in the immigrants.

Both pleaded not guilty to the charges in February. Reddy was freed on $10 million bail, while his son's bail was set at $500,000.

Updated charges were filed last Wednesday alleging that Reddy, his son and three other relatives conspired between October 1986 and January 2000 to bring about 30 Indian nationals into the United States by misrepresenting them as relatives or dependents of U.S. citizens, or as skilled workers.

Some workers went through sham marriages. Many went to work in the Reddy-owned Pasand Restaurant in Berkeley and other businesses. Prosecutors alleged they were given false identities and weren't paid legal minimum wages.

Authorities started investigating Reddy after two of the girls were found unconscious in their one-bedroom apartment owned by Lakireddy. Reddy owns about 1,100 apartment units in the East Bay.

One of the girls, a 17-year-old, died of carbon monoxide poisoning. She was found to be pregnant at the time.

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