Jury finds Patel guilty on both counts.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: In the end, the fate of Purvi Patel, 33, the Indian American unmarried woman from Indiana who took abortion pills to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy, gave birth by herself to hide it from her strict orthodox Hindu religious family, and threw the new-born fetus into a dumpster of a restaurant run by her family, was sealed by the jury who found her guilty on both counts of neglect and feticide, condemning her to a maximum of 70 years in jail.
After a trial of seven days, the jury took nearly five hours today to reach the decision in the shocking case which took place in July, 2013, reported WSBT-TV. The state asked the judge to revoke Patel’s bond after the guilty verdict was announced. The judge granted the request, and her bond was reset to $10,000 cash. Patel’s sentencing is scheduled for March 6.
In closing arguments, the prosecutors painted for jurors a picture of a baby boy who was unwanted and died a horrible death at the hands of his mother, minutes after he was born. The strength of the case against Patel hinged on whether the fetus was born alive or not, and how old it was when she delivered.
Patel’s lawyer warned jurors not to let emotions decide this case. Jeff Sanford told them, according to WSBT-TV: “It’s a hard case. I don’t have to like it and neither do you, but you have to do what’s right.”
The state told jurors Patel’s intent was to rid herself of the unwanted pregnancy through an illegal abortion.
“This whole production is about a little boy…” said Deputy Prosecutor Mark Roule. “He wasn’t expected, he wasn’t wanted. He lived a brief and horrible life. What happened to him was very, very wrong.”
Roule detailed how the baby was born on the bathroom floor at Patel’s home. She wrapped him in plastic bags and put him in a dumpster behind Moe’s Southwest Grill in Mishawaka – a restaurant her family owns.
Then, when her pain and bleeding wouldn’t stop, Patel went to the emergency room.
“She continued to lie to doctors and nurses…she tried to keep secret the fact that she’d been responsible for another life and done nothing,” Roule said.
Roule also showed jurors pictures of that dead baby boy.
“[The state] wants to talk about things that are emotional, that that will tug at your heart strings, that will make you ignore the lack of evidence presented in this case…” said Patel’s lawyer Jeff Sanford. “But that’s not the decision of a jury… otherwise we could take her out front and hang her.”
He also said the state had no evidence of the drugs in Patel’s blood and no proof she even received them from an online pharmacy, reported WSBT-TV.
Neglect carries 20 to 50 years and feticide carries 6 to 20 years in prison, so Patel faces a maximum of 70 years.
The American Bazaar had earlier reported that the case is being watched closely by pro-life proponents, who favor punishing Patel for her actions which they say snuffed the life of a newborn child, as it was more than 24 weeks old when she gave birth.
ABC reported that after the state rested its case in the trial of Patel on Friday, the defense called her parents to the stand. Purvi Patel did not take the stand. Her parents, Nic and Kunja Patel, testified they didn’t know their daughter had a secret lover or that she was pregnant. They both said they didn’t see any changes in their daughter in July 2013, when the baby was born.
Nic Patel testified their household is strictly Hindu and that he taught the religious principles of no sex outside marriage. He also testified he would prefer his daughter married within the Hindu faith but would love her regardless.
WNDU.com reported the father saying he prays at least two hours a day. He also said he would have loved his daughter’s child and would have welcomed it into the family home anyway, even though the apparent father was Hispanic, not Hindu.
Dr. Shaku Teas, a pathologist testifying on behalf of Purvi Patel, said that there was no evidence of a live birth and the flotation test conducted by Dr. Joseph Prahlow was worthless. Teas testified the baby was between 22 and 23 weeks gestation.
Her finding of 22-23 weeks gestational age differed from all the states experts, reported ABC. Dr. Bobbie Sutton a surgical pathologist concluded 26-27 weeks of age. Prahlow, the pathologist to perform the autopsy concluded at least 25 weeks of age. Dr. Byrne, who examined Patel, estimated 28- 30 weeks gestation.
They all concluded the baby was over 24 weeks, which is the age of viability, meaning the baby had a chance of survival with medical attention.
In a taped interview Patel conducted from her hospital bed the night the baby died, she told police she had only found out she was pregnant three weeks earlier and that she thought she was about two months along, WSBT reported.
According to WSBT, Patel said earlier, the baby was lifeless when it was born, but she opened its mouth and tried to revive it. She said she didn’t call 911 because she was in shock, and after cutting the umbilical cord, she put the infant in a plastic bag because she didn’t know what else to do.
The Elkhart Truth reported that a toxicologist told jurors Thursday that he couldn’t find any evidence of abortion drugs in Purvi Patel’s system after prosecutors say she used drugs purchased online to end her pregnancy in 2013.
Dr. Prentice Jones, Jr., of the South Bend Medical Foundation, testified that he couldn’t find any accepted method to test blood for the particular drugs Patel allegedly used, according to a report from the Elkhart Truth’s news partner, WNDU.
Jones said he was unsuccessful when he tried to develop his own method to test for the drugs.