Indiana court hears woman's appeal of feticide conviction
Source: Associated Press
Indiana court hears woman's appeal of feticide conviction
Rick Callahan, Associated Press
Updated 5:00 pm, Monday, May 23, 2016
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A judge on Indiana's Court of Appeals pointedly questioned an attorney for the state Monday on whether there was evidence a woman found guilty of neglect and feticide in a self-induced abortion knew she had given birth to a live child.
Judge Nancy Vaidik noted during the hearing on Purvi Patel's bid to have the charges thrown out that no evidence was presented at trial that the 35-year-old northern Indiana woman knew she had delivered a live child. Such evidence would help support her conviction on a charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in death.
"You can't endanger a dead baby, can you?" Vaidik asked deputy attorney general Ellen Meilaender, who presented the state's arguments.
One of Patel's attorneys, Stanford University law professor Lawrence C. Marshall, told the court that the charges aren't supported by the evidence in the 2013 death of her premature child after Patel ingested abortion-inducing drugs.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Indiana-court-to-hear-woman-s-appeal-of-feticide-7939599.php