LilMtnCbn
04-08-2004, 06:19 AM
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Apr/04082004/utah/155254.asp
Prosecutors drop murder charge in C-section case
By Matt Canham
The Salt Lake Tribune
Acknowledging they have reservations about Melissa Ann Rowland's mental
health, prosecutors agreed to drop a murder charge against the woman for
allegedly refusing a Caesarean section that may have saved her unborn twin boy.
Instead, Rowland, 28, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of
third-degree felony child endangerment in a deal that could end her three-month
stay in jail. The agreement, though, did little to appease women's rights
activists who say prosecutors, by charging Rowland with murder, dehumanized all
women.
The plea bargain allows Rowland to leave the state, although the Salt Lake
County District Attorney's Office will ask 3rd District Judge Dennis Fuchs to
order drug and mental health treatment and 18 months of unsupervised probation.
Prosecutors promised to recommend no jail time when Fuchs hands down his
sentence on April 29.
Rowland's case garnered international attention and sparked the anger of a
variety of activist groups, but District Attorney David Yocom said Wednesday's
agreement was not precipitated by political pressure. He called it justice.
"We don't think a conviction on two felony offenses is a slap on the
hands," he told a gathering of news reporters after the court hearing. "We did
what we felt was in the best interest of the community."
Additional information about Rowland's mental condition provided by defense
attorney Michael Sikora and the news media led prosecutors to reconsider the
original murder charge, filed on March 11, Yocom said.
He refused to specify what new information changed his mind until after
sentencing.
He also defended his office from criticism that it should have reviewed
Rowland's mental health before filing the charges, saying his investigators
don't have the time to do background checks on every possible defendant.
"We don't do treatment [investigations] before we charge," Yocom said. "We
charge and then do treatment."
Sikora said Rowland agreed to accept the plea bargain after he outlined her
legal options.
"She decided it was in her best interest to resolve the case as quickly as
possible, and I agree with that decision," he said.
As part of the guilty plea, Rowland admitted to using cocaine between Dec.
1 and Jan. 13, while pregnant with twins. After repeatedly refusing the medical
recommendations of doctors across the Wasatch Front -- and threatening the
lives of hospital employees, according to police records -- Rowland gave birth
by C-section on Jan. 13 at West Valley City's Pioneer Valley Hospital.
The boy was delivered stillborn and had no drugs in his system. The girl,
later named Hannah and adopted by an out-of-state family, survived, but she
tested positive for cocaine and alcohol.
Rowland was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail the day after the
delivery, and has remained there on $250,007 bail.
Prosecutors first filed charges of child endangerment based on the drugs
found in Hannah's system and then murder charges based on the "depraved
indifference" she showed her unborn boy.
The original child endangerment charge was later dropped, and prosecutors
planned to use the information to bolster the murder case.
Wednesday's guilty plea focused on Rowland's drug use and not her delayed
C-section.
The district attorney's office also promised not to file new charges,
specifically in relation to Rowland's alleged attempts to sell a fictitious
baby to an adoption agency if it would help her post bail.
If accepted by the judge, the plea bargain will save Rowland from months,
if not years, in jail or prison, which she likened to torture.
Rowland has repeatedly complained about jail conditions, telling The Salt
Lake Tribune in a previous interview: "It is killing me that I can't get out."
She has told reporters she was attempting to raise bail money with promises
of donating it to a children's hospital and that she would agree to be
sterilized if the court would release her.
In court Wednesday, Rowland fidgeted with her shackles and quickly answered
yes and no when Fuchs asked her if she understood the plea agreement or was
coerced.
Rowland's latest conviction violates her probation in Pennsylvania on a
child abuse charge from 2000, and if picked up in her home state she could
spend a year in jail, according to Kent Morgan, the district attorney's
spokesman.
"Determination of whether she will be called to account for that violation
of probation will be determined by the state of Pennsylvania," he said.
When released, Rowland plans to leave Utah, according to her estranged
husband, Robert A. Rowland Jr., whom she called after the hearing.
"She wants to go to Florida and get away from everything," Robert Rowland
said from his home in Norfolk, Va. "She asked if she could stop by here and see
my new child and everything. I told her I don't mind as long as she kept the
peace."
She told Robert Rowland that Roger Brown, the father of the twins, is now
in Ohio and she also plans to reunite with him.
Robert Rowland believes Melissa knew her actions would harm her children
and that the plea bargain lets her off easy.
Melissa Rowland is originally from Pittsburgh and lived with Robert Rowland
in Norfolk, Va., until they split. She traveled throughout many of the Southern
states starting in late 2000 before settling in St. George for a time. She
moved back to Florida, where her father lives, and then was transplanted to
Provo by an adoption agency last November.
These children were not her first. She had twins when she was a teenager
and gave them up for adoption. She also had two children with Robert Rowland.
Both were taken away by the states of Pennsylvania and Virginia, one after she
was convicted of child abuse. The oldest is now living with Rowland's parents
in Norfolk, the other was adopted by another family.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
Prosecutors drop murder charge in C-section case
By Matt Canham
The Salt Lake Tribune
Acknowledging they have reservations about Melissa Ann Rowland's mental
health, prosecutors agreed to drop a murder charge against the woman for
allegedly refusing a Caesarean section that may have saved her unborn twin boy.
Instead, Rowland, 28, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of
third-degree felony child endangerment in a deal that could end her three-month
stay in jail. The agreement, though, did little to appease women's rights
activists who say prosecutors, by charging Rowland with murder, dehumanized all
women.
The plea bargain allows Rowland to leave the state, although the Salt Lake
County District Attorney's Office will ask 3rd District Judge Dennis Fuchs to
order drug and mental health treatment and 18 months of unsupervised probation.
Prosecutors promised to recommend no jail time when Fuchs hands down his
sentence on April 29.
Rowland's case garnered international attention and sparked the anger of a
variety of activist groups, but District Attorney David Yocom said Wednesday's
agreement was not precipitated by political pressure. He called it justice.
"We don't think a conviction on two felony offenses is a slap on the
hands," he told a gathering of news reporters after the court hearing. "We did
what we felt was in the best interest of the community."
Additional information about Rowland's mental condition provided by defense
attorney Michael Sikora and the news media led prosecutors to reconsider the
original murder charge, filed on March 11, Yocom said.
He refused to specify what new information changed his mind until after
sentencing.
He also defended his office from criticism that it should have reviewed
Rowland's mental health before filing the charges, saying his investigators
don't have the time to do background checks on every possible defendant.
"We don't do treatment [investigations] before we charge," Yocom said. "We
charge and then do treatment."
Sikora said Rowland agreed to accept the plea bargain after he outlined her
legal options.
"She decided it was in her best interest to resolve the case as quickly as
possible, and I agree with that decision," he said.
As part of the guilty plea, Rowland admitted to using cocaine between Dec.
1 and Jan. 13, while pregnant with twins. After repeatedly refusing the medical
recommendations of doctors across the Wasatch Front -- and threatening the
lives of hospital employees, according to police records -- Rowland gave birth
by C-section on Jan. 13 at West Valley City's Pioneer Valley Hospital.
The boy was delivered stillborn and had no drugs in his system. The girl,
later named Hannah and adopted by an out-of-state family, survived, but she
tested positive for cocaine and alcohol.
Rowland was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail the day after the
delivery, and has remained there on $250,007 bail.
Prosecutors first filed charges of child endangerment based on the drugs
found in Hannah's system and then murder charges based on the "depraved
indifference" she showed her unborn boy.
The original child endangerment charge was later dropped, and prosecutors
planned to use the information to bolster the murder case.
Wednesday's guilty plea focused on Rowland's drug use and not her delayed
C-section.
The district attorney's office also promised not to file new charges,
specifically in relation to Rowland's alleged attempts to sell a fictitious
baby to an adoption agency if it would help her post bail.
If accepted by the judge, the plea bargain will save Rowland from months,
if not years, in jail or prison, which she likened to torture.
Rowland has repeatedly complained about jail conditions, telling The Salt
Lake Tribune in a previous interview: "It is killing me that I can't get out."
She has told reporters she was attempting to raise bail money with promises
of donating it to a children's hospital and that she would agree to be
sterilized if the court would release her.
In court Wednesday, Rowland fidgeted with her shackles and quickly answered
yes and no when Fuchs asked her if she understood the plea agreement or was
coerced.
Rowland's latest conviction violates her probation in Pennsylvania on a
child abuse charge from 2000, and if picked up in her home state she could
spend a year in jail, according to Kent Morgan, the district attorney's
spokesman.
"Determination of whether she will be called to account for that violation
of probation will be determined by the state of Pennsylvania," he said.
When released, Rowland plans to leave Utah, according to her estranged
husband, Robert A. Rowland Jr., whom she called after the hearing.
"She wants to go to Florida and get away from everything," Robert Rowland
said from his home in Norfolk, Va. "She asked if she could stop by here and see
my new child and everything. I told her I don't mind as long as she kept the
peace."
She told Robert Rowland that Roger Brown, the father of the twins, is now
in Ohio and she also plans to reunite with him.
Robert Rowland believes Melissa knew her actions would harm her children
and that the plea bargain lets her off easy.
Melissa Rowland is originally from Pittsburgh and lived with Robert Rowland
in Norfolk, Va., until they split. She traveled throughout many of the Southern
states starting in late 2000 before settling in St. George for a time. She
moved back to Florida, where her father lives, and then was transplanted to
Provo by an adoption agency last November.
These children were not her first. She had twins when she was a teenager
and gave them up for adoption. She also had two children with Robert Rowland.
Both were taken away by the states of Pennsylvania and Virginia, one after she
was convicted of child abuse. The oldest is now living with Rowland's parents
in Norfolk, the other was adopted by another family.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
