LilMtnCbn
03-17-2004, 07:35 AM
http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2004/03/16/news/news17.txt
Mother pleads innocent to murder charge
By Alexandria Sage, Associated Press Writer
SALT LAKE CITY - The mother accused of homicide for not getting a Caesarean
section that could have saved her unborn twin's life also faces a
child-endangerment charge for the twin that survived.
Melissa Ann Rowland, 28, looking bedraggled in a jail jumpsuit, appeared in
court via a video teleconference from jail Monday to plead innocent to criminal
homicide.
She faced a new hearing today on a child-endangerment charge relating to the
surviving twin, who prosecutors said had cocaine and alcohol in her system. The
baby girl has since been adopted.
Prosecutors claim Rowland refused medical advise to undergo a C-section for
delivery of her twins and as a result one was stillborn. They said she did not
want a scar from the surgery.
Rowland denied that she refused a C-section. She said she was told during
repeated hospital visits that her babies were fine and was never told she
needed emergency surgery.
Rowland has been in jail since shortly after the Jan. 13 deliveries, and
authorities are investigating allegations that from jail she tried to arrange
adoption of the baby boy - even though he was stillborn - to raise bail.
Rowland has a previous child endangerment conviction, stemming from a 2000
incident in which she punched another daughter in the face for eating a candy
bar in a supermarket without paying for it.
Some see the latest prosecution as a political ploy or somehow connected with
the debate over abortion.
Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, said Utah
prosecutors were making the political decision to promote the rights of a fetus
over the rights of its mother.
Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom and his deputy, Kent Morgan, who
is handling the case, deny that either political or abortion considerations
entered into their decision to pursue the case.
"None of our decisions are political," said Yocom. "We take the case as the
police give it to us. It's not about any groups. We don't make political
decisions," he told The Salt Lake Tribune.
-------------------------
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
Mother pleads innocent to murder charge
By Alexandria Sage, Associated Press Writer
SALT LAKE CITY - The mother accused of homicide for not getting a Caesarean
section that could have saved her unborn twin's life also faces a
child-endangerment charge for the twin that survived.
Melissa Ann Rowland, 28, looking bedraggled in a jail jumpsuit, appeared in
court via a video teleconference from jail Monday to plead innocent to criminal
homicide.
She faced a new hearing today on a child-endangerment charge relating to the
surviving twin, who prosecutors said had cocaine and alcohol in her system. The
baby girl has since been adopted.
Prosecutors claim Rowland refused medical advise to undergo a C-section for
delivery of her twins and as a result one was stillborn. They said she did not
want a scar from the surgery.
Rowland denied that she refused a C-section. She said she was told during
repeated hospital visits that her babies were fine and was never told she
needed emergency surgery.
Rowland has been in jail since shortly after the Jan. 13 deliveries, and
authorities are investigating allegations that from jail she tried to arrange
adoption of the baby boy - even though he was stillborn - to raise bail.
Rowland has a previous child endangerment conviction, stemming from a 2000
incident in which she punched another daughter in the face for eating a candy
bar in a supermarket without paying for it.
Some see the latest prosecution as a political ploy or somehow connected with
the debate over abortion.
Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, said Utah
prosecutors were making the political decision to promote the rights of a fetus
over the rights of its mother.
Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom and his deputy, Kent Morgan, who
is handling the case, deny that either political or abortion considerations
entered into their decision to pursue the case.
"None of our decisions are political," said Yocom. "We take the case as the
police give it to us. It's not about any groups. We don't make political
decisions," he told The Salt Lake Tribune.
-------------------------
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
