Judge Dismisses Murder Charge Against California Mother After Stillbirth
The woman, Chelsea Becker, had consumed methamphetamine beforehand, the authorities said.
A California judge has dismissed a murder case against Chelsea Becker, who, the authorities said, delivered a stillborn child after consuming methamphetamine while pregnant.Credit.Hanford Police Department, via Associated Press
Published May 20, 2021Updated May 21, 2021, 12:11 a.m. ET
A California judge on Thursday dismissed a murder charge against a woman who delivered a stillborn child in 2019 after consuming methamphetamine.
Judge Robert Shane Burns of Kings County Superior Court dismissed the charge because prosecutors had failed to present sufficient evidence that the woman, Chelsea Becker, had ingested drugs with the knowledge and intent that doing so could cause a stillbirth, according to Jacqueline Goodman, a lawyer for Ms. Becker.
Judge Drops Murder Charge Against Mother Accused of Using Meth Before Stillbirth of Her Son Alberto Luperon
Chelsea Becker
As far as California courts are concerned, 26-year-old
Chelsea Becker is a free woman. A judge on Thursday dismissed the murder charge that was brought against Becker for allegedly using meth before the stillbirth of her son, but Becker’s defense had mixed feelings about the result, saying the ruling left the door open for the state to make similar prosecutions in the future. The prosecution, on the other hand, announced that it is examining options to keep the case moving forward.
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March 3, 2021
Over the past 40-plus years, state and federal lawmakers have doubled down on efforts to not only restrict abortion, but to scrutinize pregnancy zeroing in on low-income women, women of color and drug-using women, allegedly to protect the “right to life of unborn babies.”
Already, 18 states have laws equating drug or alcohol use while pregnant with civil child abuse. Two states, Minnesota and South Dakota, allow civil commitment mandatory institutionalization when someone who is pregnant poses a danger to her embryo or fetus. At the initial hearing, the fetus is entitled to counsel but the pregnant woman is not.