Table 1

Cases of Women Charged With Child Abuse–Related Crimes for Substance Use During Pregnancy

Year	Case	Defendant	State	Court Level	Charge	Substance Related to Charge	Neonatal Outcome	Procedural History	Legal Outcome
1977	Reyes v. Superior²⁵	Margaret Velasquez Reyes	California	State court of appeals	Child endangerment	Heroin	Heroin withdrawal	Trial court denied a motion to dismiss the charge. The appellate court reversed the denial.	Pretrial dismissal
1991	State v. Gethers²⁶	Cassandra Gethers	Florida	State court of appeals	Child abuse	Cocaine	Neonatal death	The appellate court affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the charge.	Pretrial dismissal
1991	People v. Hardy²⁷	Kimberly Hardy	Michigan	State court of appeals	Child abuse; delivery of a controlled substance	Cocaine	Small for gestational age and premature	The circuit court dismissed the child abuse charge, but denied a motion to dismiss the delivery charge. The appellate court reversed the denial to dismiss the delivery charge.	Pretrial dismissal
1992	State v. Luster²⁸	Darla Michelle Luster	Georgia	State court of appeals	Delivery of a controlled substance	Cocaine	No adverse effects reported	The appellate court affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the charge.	Pretrial dismissal
1992	Johnson v. State²⁹	Jennifer Clarise Johnson	Florida	State supreme court	Delivery of a controlled substance to a minor	Cocaine	No adverse effects reported	Johnson was convicted at trial. The appellate court certified a question to the state supreme court as to whether the relevant statute applied to a drug that was transmitted via the umbilical cord in the time after delivery before the cord was clamped. The state supreme court found that the statute did not apply, and the conviction was overturned.	Conviction overturned
1992	State v. Gray³⁰	Tammy Gray	Ohio	State supreme court	Child endangerment	Cocaine	Hospitalized several days after birth for cocaine withdrawal symptoms	The state supreme court affirmed the denial of prosecution issued by the lower appellate court.	Pretrial dismissal
1993	Commonwealth v. Welch³¹	Connie Welch	Kentucky	State supreme court	Child abuse	Oxycodone	Drug withdrawal symptoms	Welch was convicted at trial. She was sentenced to five years for abuse and two years for drug possession to run consecutively. The appellate court affirmed the possession conviction and vacated the abuse conviction. The state supreme court affirmed the appellate court's decision.	Conviction overturned
1994	Sheriff, Washoe County, Nevada v. Encoe³²	Cathy Encoe	Nevada	State supreme court	Child endangerment	Methamphetamine	No adverse effects reported	The district court granted Encoe's pretrial writ of habeas corpus. The state supreme court affirmed the order.	Pretrial dismissal
1994	Collins v. State³³	Debra Ann Collins	Texas	State court of appeals	Reckless injury to a child	Cocaine	Cocaine withdrawal	Collins was convicted on a plea of nolo contendere and sentenced to one year. The appellate court overturned the conviction.	Conviction overturned
1995	Reinesto v. Superior Court³⁴	Teresa Lopez Reinesto	Arizona	State court of appeals	Child abuse	Heroin	Hospitalized for one month for heroin withdrawal	Trial court denied a motion to dismiss the charge. The appellate court reversed the denial.	Pretrial dismissal
1996	Dunn v. State³⁵	Selena Dunn	Washington	State court of appeals	Criminal mistreatment	Cocaine	Premature birth, small size (4 pounds, 9 ounces at birth), placenta abruptio, and blindness	The trial court dismissed the charge. The appellate court affirmed.	Pretrial dismissal
1997	Whitner v. State¹⁶	Cornelia Whitner	South Carolina	State supreme court	Criminal child neglect	Cocaine	No adverse effects reported	Defendant pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years. She filed a petition for postconviction relief, which was granted on the basis of ineffective counsel and lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The state supreme court reversed. The U.S. Supreme Court denied her writ of certiorari.	Conviction upheld
2003	McKnight v. State¹⁷	Regina Denise McKnight	South Carolina	State supreme court	Homicide	Cocaine	Stillbirth	The first trial resulted in a mistrial. Defendant was convicted at the second trial and sentenced to 20 years, suspended to 12 years. The state supreme court affirmed the trial court's ruling. The U.S. Supreme Court denied her writ of certiorari. Later defendant won postconviction relief at the state supreme court for ineffective assistance of counsel after the court found that her lawyer failed to introduce expert testimony about placental infection as a potential cause of fetal death. She agreed to plead guilty in exchange for an agreement that she would be sentenced to time served (8 years) rather than face a new trial.⁴⁶	Conviction upheld on appeal, though defendant later received relief.
2005	State v. Aiwohi³⁶	Tayshea Aiwohi	Hawaii	State supreme court	Manslaughter	Methamphetamine	Neonatal death	After her motions to dismiss the charges were denied by the trial court, defendant was convicted on a nolo contendere plea. The state supreme court reversed the trial court's denial of the motion to dismiss.	Conviction overturned
2005	Richards v. State³⁷	Jessica Renee Richards	Tennessee	State court of appeals	Attempted aggravated child abuse	Methamphetamine	No adverse effects reported	Richards pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years. Her motion for postconviction relief for ineffective counsel based on failure to inform her that her conduct fell outside the scope of the law was denied. The appellate court reversed the denial.	Conviction overturned
2005	Richards v. Tennessee³⁷	Jennifer Lynne Horine	Tennessee	State court of appeals	Attempted aggravated child abuse	Methamphetamine	No adverse effects reported	Like Richards (see previous case), Horne pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years. She joined Richards' motion for postconviction relief as above.	Conviction overturned
2006	Kilmon v. State³⁸	Regina Kilmon	Maryland	State court of appeals	Reckless endangerment	Cocaine	Baby small (5.5 pounds)	Kilmon pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years. The state court of appeals granted certiorari, joining her case with Cruz's. The convictions were overturned in each case.	Conviction overturned
2006	Kilmon v. State³⁸	Kelly Lynn Cruz	Maryland	State court of appeals	Reckless endangerment	Cocaine	Baby small (3 pounds 2 oz) and premature (29 weeks)	Cruz was convicted at trial and sentenced to five years. Her appeal was joined with Kilmon's, as above.	Conviction overturned
2006	State v. Martinez³⁹	Cynthia Martinez	New Mexico	State court of appeals	Felony child abuse	Cocaine	Baby “borderline” small for gestation age and premature (36 weeks)	Martinez's motion to dismiss was denied by the trial court. She was convicted on entering a conditional plea of guilty. The appellate court reversed the denial of the motion to dismiss.	Conviction overturned
2007	State v. Wade⁴⁰	Janet S. Wade	Missouri	State court of appeals	Child endangerment	Methamphetamine and marijuana	No adverse effects reported	The appellate court affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the charge.	Pretrial dismissal
2007	State v. Hudson⁴¹	Lisa Ann Hudson	Tennessee	State court of appeals	Aggravated child abuse and neglect	Cocaine	Cocaine withdrawal	Trial court denied a motion to dismiss the charge. The appellate court reversed the denial.	Pretrial dismissal
2009	State v. Geiser⁴²	Michelle Behles Geiser	North Dakota	State supreme court	Child endangerment	Prescription drugs (not specified)	Stillbirth	The trial court denied a motion to dismiss the charge. Defendant was convicted on entering a conditional guilty plea. The state supreme court reversed the denial.	Conviction overturned
2010	Cochran v. Commonwealth⁴³	Ina Cochran	Kentucky	State supreme court	Child endangerment	Cocaine	No adverse effects reported	The appellate court reversed the trial court's dismissal of the charge. The state supreme court reversed the appellate court.	Pretrial dismissal
2013	Ankrom v. State¹⁸	Amanda Helaine Kimbrough	Alabama	State supreme court	Chemical endangerment of a child	Methamphetamine	Died 19 minutes after birth	The trial court denied Kimbrough's motion to dismiss the charge. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years. The appellate court affirmed her conviction. The state supreme court, joining her appeal with Ankrom's (see following case), affirmed the appellate court. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Kimbrough's writ of certiorari.	Conviction upheld
2013	Ankrom v. Alabama¹⁸	Hope Elisabeth Ankrom	Alabama	State supreme court	Chemical endangerment of a child	Cocaine	No adverse effects reported	The trial court denied Ankrom's motion to dismiss the charge. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended to one year's probation. The appellate court affirmed her conviction. The state supreme court joined her case with Kimbrough's and affirmed her conviction.	Conviction upheld
2013	State v. Stegall⁴⁴	Alexis Stegall	North Dakota	State supreme court	Child endangerment	Methamphetamine	No adverse effects reported	The state supreme court affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the charges.	Pretrial dismissal
2013	State v. Stegall⁴⁴	Chelsea Hettich	North Dakota	State supreme court	Child endangerment	Methamphetamine	No adverse effects reported	The state supreme court affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the charges.	Pretrial dismissal
2013	State v. Stegall⁴⁴	Kimberlie Nicole Lamon	North Dakota	State supreme court	Child endangerment	Methamphetamine	No adverse effects reported	The state supreme court affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the charges.	Pretrial dismissal
2015	Arms v. State⁴⁵	Melissa McCann Arms	Arkansas	State supreme court	Introduction of a controlled substance into the body of another person	Methamphetamine	Drug withdrawal symptoms	The trial court denied defendant's motion to dismiss the charge. She was convicted at trial and sentenced to 20 years. The court of appeals affirmed her conviction. The state supreme court reversed.	Conviction overturned