MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A preliminary hearing will resume for the Madison couple accused of starving and torturing the man’s 15-year-old daughter.

The hearing is scheduled for Friday afternoon. It began Tuesday but was postponed because the prosecution’s lead witness had a sick child.

The witness is the doctor who examined the girl last month after the teen ran away from home wearing thin pajamas. The doctor diagnosed the 70-pound girl as a victim of “serial child torture with prolonged exposure to definite starvation.”

Defense attorney William Hayes represents the father. He has hinted that he questions the girl’s mental health. He said he reviewed her story “and the word ‘rubbish’ came to mind.”

A preliminary hearing gives the judge an opportunity to decide whether there’s enough evidence to warrant a trial.

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