Judge hears closing arguments in trial of mother accused in baby’s morphine death

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This article was published 20/06/2016 (3395 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s the first case of its kind in Manitoba. And now a judge needs more time to decide the fate of a Winnipeg mother allegedly responsible for her baby’s deadly morphine overdose.

The 33-year-old accused returned to court Monday for closing arguments following the start of a trial earlier this year. She has pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide the necessities of life. She can’t be named under a court order that protects her baby’s identity.

Provincial court Judge Margaret Wiebe has reserved her verdict.

Court has heard how the mother was described as “hysterical” upon finding her 10-month-old daughter not breathing. One of her longtime friends and occasional roommates described how he was in a bar at a downtown hotel when he got a text message from the woman.

“Come home, something’s wrong with the baby,” the mother of six wrote. He immediately phoned her.

“She’s not breathing,” the accused said. He told her to put a mirror up to the baby’s mouth and nose to see if she could be mistaken.

“She was hysterical and really scared. I told her, ‘As soon as you hang up the phone, call the ambulance,’ ” he told court.

The man rushed to the accused’s home, arriving about 15 minutes later. Paramedics were not yet on scene, but he believes the woman had already called by that point. He became emotional at describing what he saw upon his arrival.

“(The child) was motionless. She was purple a little bit,” he said. The man said he attempted CPR on the baby as the distraught mother paced back and forth.

Doctors were unable to save the girl, and the cause of death was initially a mystery. A Philadelphia laboratory eventually uncovered the truth, noting high levels of morphine in her system.

Crown attorney Daniel Chaput told court it’s not clear how the morphine got into the baby’s system. He said the key issue is how the mother reacted when it would have been obvious her daughter was in distress.

“It’s what happened thereafter, or didn’t happen thereafter, that will be the central legal focus,” Chaput said.

Lawyers for the accused told court they take the position this was a tragic accident and she should not be held responsible.

But Dr. Charles Littman, who performed the autopsy, told court there would have been noticeable signs the child was suffering from morphine ingestion, including laboured breathing and chest heaving.

“Morphine should not be found in a child,” Littman said.

Sources have told the Free Press Child and Family Services had extensive contact with the family before and after the girl’s death and several other children in the home were removed. Records show there are two ongoing family-court files involving the accused.

Criminal negligence is a complicated charge. The Crown must prove there was a “marked departure” from the normal standard of care expected from a parent.

www.mikeoncrime.com