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Judge tosses cocaine baby case

June 23, 2006|TODD KLEFFMAN

LIBERTY - Casey Circuit Judge James G. Weddle on Thursday threw out a case against a woman charged with endangering her unborn baby by snorting cocaine just before the baby was born, but then said he hoped his ruling would be challenged.

"I hope the Attorney General's office would appeal this and take it to the Supreme Court, which is where I think it ought to go," Weddle said from the bench after dismissing a charge of first-degree wanton endangerment against Ina Cochran.

Cochran, 37, of Creston Water Tower Road, gave birth to a daughter, Cheyenne, on Dec. 29. Both mother and child tested positive for cocaine in their urine the next day, which led to Cochran's indictment, said Commonwealth's Attorney Brian Wright.

Cochran's attorney, public defender Shelby Horn of Columbia, requested Thursday's hearing and asked Weddle to dismiss the case based on a 1993 ruling by the state Supreme Court.

In that case, Commonwealth v. Welch from Boyd County, a woman was convicted of abusing her unborn child by injecting herself with OxyContin three weeks before the child was born. The high court overturned the conviction, however, ruling that the woman's conduct was not meant to intentionally harm the fetus and that the unborn child was "not a person yet," Horn said.

The Supreme Court reasoned that any pregnant woman who engaged in any sort of risky behavior, such as using drugs, downhill skiing or speeding, could be charged with child abuse under the law, Horn explained, so it overturned the conviction. Pregnant women who used drugs would not seek pre-natal care for fear of being charged with abuse, he continued, citing the ruling.

Cochran said that while society might say the conduct of his client, using cocaine within two days of Cheyenne's birth, is "reprehensible," the case should be dismissed because of the Supreme Court ruling.

The judge agreed, saying he was bound to follow the law even though he might not agree with it. "Until the Supreme Court of Kentucky decides to overturn the Welch case, I am bound by their decision," Weddle said.

Wright said afterward that much has changed, politically, socially and legally, since that 1993 decision, including debates about when an unborn child becomes a person. Since that ruling, Kentucky as passed fetal homicide laws that allow someone to be charged when unborn children die as a result of criminal conduct, he said.

He planned to contact the Attorney General's office about pursuing an appeal. "I really hope they want to take a look at it," Wright said.

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