COURT UPHOLDS CONVICTION IN FETUS DEATH

Columbia --- The South Carolina Supreme Court, in a sharply divided ruling,
has upheld the conviction of a woman accused of killing her unborn baby by
taking crack cocaine.

The court voted 3-2 that Regina McKnight should have known that taking
cocaine could kill her baby. It said her 12-year sentence under South
Carolina's homicide by child abuse law was not too harsh.

The two dissenting judges wanted the court to overturn the May 2001
conviction because they said it is not fair that a woman who gets an
illegal abortion in her eighth month of pregnancy could face a maximum of
two years in prison while McKnight faced a maximum life sentence.

A spokesman for Attorney General Henry McMaster said the office was pleased
with the ruling.

McKnight's supporters vowed to fight on, but had not decided on an appeal
strategy. "This case is far from over," said Lynn Paltrow, executive
director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women.

Options include asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case, or
starting another state appeal, claiming that McKnight's trial lawyer didn't
do her job, said her lawyer, C. Rauch Wise.

"Our concern right now is taking the route that could secure Reginia
McKnight's release as quickly as possible," Wise said.

Wise broke the news to McKnight in person Monday.

"It was without a doubt one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. We
couldn't even talk about her options," Wise said. "When I left her, she was
crying with the prison chaplain."

Monday's decision marked another blow for lawyers and advocates who want
the state's high court to overturn a decision it made six years ago. The
court ruled a viable fetus is considered a child and that women could be
charged with abuse if they took drugs after their fetus reached a viable stage.

Punishing pregnant women for illegal drug use has been a hot issue in South
Carolina for years. Nearly three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
hospitals cannot test pregnant women for drugs without consent and turn the
results over to police.

In the majority ruling, the state justices said McKnight's sentence was not
cruel and unusual punishment because "other states impose severe sentences
on those who are guilty of the murder or neglect of a child."

The justices also ruled the state produced enough scientific evidence to
support its charge and McKnight's actions fit the legal definition of
"extreme indifference" needed to convict her of homicide by child abuse.
They also set aside McKnight's equal protection claim, saying it was not
brought up at trial. Wise had argued it was unfair to sentence McKnight to
12 years in prison when she would have faced no more than two years if she
had gotten an illegal third trimester abortion.

In his dissent, Associate Justice James Moore said he could not agree with
the court expanding the homicide by child abuse statute to include drug
abuse by pregnant women.

A pathologist testifying for prosecutors said the Conway woman and her
stillborn daughter tested positive for high amounts of a cocaine byproduct,
and it was determined that cocaine use led to the death of the fetus.

But a defense expert who analyzed autopsy results said an inflammation of
the placenta, which could have at least two causes other than drug use,
killed the fetus.

The lawyers in the case will again find themselves before the state Supreme
Court next week, but this time the state will be appealing the trial
judge's decision to dismiss a charge of distributing cocaine based on
McKnight giving the drugs to her baby through her bloodstream.