Judge dismisses murder charges against woman who gave birth to a stillborn baby

A court ruled Thursday to dismiss murder charges against a Central Valley woman who gave birth to a baby died after allegedly using methamphetamine . The court court ruled that the prosecution had not presented adequate evidence to support the accusation.

Chelsea Becker, of 26 Hanford years, had already been released in March, when she was transferred to a treatment center while awaiting trial. Prior to that, he was ordered on a $ 5 million bond, which was later lowered to $ 2 million. Becker spent more than a year in jail after his arrest in November 2019, according Los Angeles Times .

UPDATE: A judge has thrown out the murder case filed against Chelsea Becker.

She lost her unborn child and prosecutors said it was because of meth use.

A Kings County judge decided today the evidence wasn’t good enough to take to trial.

Prior @ ABC 30 story: https : //t.co/EO8rkTO 96 V pic .twi tter.com/90 KUKCwjf8

– Corin Hoggard (@corinhoggard) May 20, 2021

Kings County Superior Court Judge Robert Burns accepted a motion by Becker’s attorneys to vacate the charge entirely and found that prosecutors were unable to prove that he acted with implied malice . They defended that the woman knew the risk for the unborn child supposedly having taken methamphetamine during pregnancy, but that she ignored it.

“We are very happy that it was finally dismissed the charge, but the case should never have been filed in the first place, “read a statement from Becker’s attorney, Dan Arshack, an advisor to National Advocates for Pregnant Women. “ No one should spend a day in jail for giving birth to a stillborn fetus “, he added.

The prosecution can appeal the court ruling or seek a second opportunity to present their case at a new preliminary hearing .

Becker gave birth to her stillborn baby, whom she had named Zachariah, at the Hanford Adventist Health hospital on 10 September 2019. The medical staff of the place suspected at that time that the woman may have used drugs during pregnancy and called the Kings County Coroner’s Office.

Police arrested Becker nearly two months later , on November 6. Kings County District Attorney Keith Fagundes charged her with murder and cited a report from the autopsy that the unborn had toxins methamphetamine in your body.

Civil rights groups harshly criticized the accusation and a legal team backed by National Defenders of Pregnant Women took charge of the women’s defense.

Becker’s attorneys alleged that the prosecution failed to present evidence that the woman was aware that using methamphetamine during pregnancy could lead to the death of the fetus . In fact, the woman had already given birth three other times while battling addiction and none of her older children suffered significant injuries from that reason.