No evidence Patel took abortion drugs, says her lawyer.
AB Wire
WASHINGTON, DC: Purvi Patel, who was sentenced to 20 years in jail last month after the court found her guilty on charges related to self-induced abortion and feticide, has filed an appeal to overturn her verdict.
The incident leading to her arrest occurred on July 2013 when she got admitted to an Indiana hospital with heavy vaginal bleeding. She told hospital authorities that she had a miscarriage.
According to the prosecutor, Patel took an abortion drug that she got from Hong Kong which led to early labor and later she allegedly removed the fetus, cut the umbilical cord and threw the fetus into a dumpster behind Moe’s Southwest Grill in Mishawaka – an establishment owned by her father. The prosecutor also added that she was having an affair with a co-worker at her father’s restaurant, where she worked.
However, the prosecution couldn’t prove whether Patel took abortion drugs or not. Taking this into notice, Lawerence C Marshall, Patel’s counsel, raises questions about the charge of feticide leveled against her. The post-mortem of the infant had allegedly revealed that the baby’s lungs took a few breaths before dying. The investigators said Patel put the fetus in a grocery bag and then threw it into the dumpster, causing the baby to die. He has filed an appeal, and hopes to get a reprieve for Patel or have the case verdict overturned.
Purvi had earlier filed a not guilty plea to the charges of felony as she said the baby was stillborn.
This is not the first time that a woman is found guilty on charges of feticide. Earlier, another woman Bei Bei Shuai was sentenced to one year in prison after killing her fetus, while attempting to commit suicide.
Similar feticide laws exist in 38 states in the United States, including Indiana, that restrict the rights of pregnant women.
Marshall, who is a law professor at Stanford University and Indiana University law professor Joel Schumm had earlier filed to represent Patel before the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Marshall was quoted by South Bend Tribune saying “There are issues here; there are errors here that were committed, that in our view justify and compel reversal.”
He added, “We will be hopefully showing the appellate court that errors were committed in both interpreting the law and how facts were allowed to be proven.”
Indiana’s St. Joseph County Courts have to hand over the transcript of the case to Patel’s lawyers before the end of three months from the day the appeal was filed. The lawyers, after reviewing facts and evidence, have to submit a brief of the case to the Indiana Court of Appeals.