DA SEEKS TO RESTRICT 'COCAINE MOTHER'

Request for monitoring or jail is related to her bail but could protect her
fetus

By Lisa Sink of the Journal Sentinel staff April 07, 1998 Waukesha --
Waukesha County's chief prosector sought Monday to clamp down on the
so-called cocaine mom, a move that could result in the protection of the
pregnant woman's fetus.

District Attorney Paul Bucher filed a request to jail or electronically
monitor the woman. He alleged that she violated her bail on a drug-related
charge by abusing cocaine.

"I want to get this in as quick as we can," Bucher said.

The woman, who is being identified by the Journal Sentinel only as Angela
to protect the identity of her children, is due to deliver her fourth son
in about four weeks.

When she was about eight months pregnant with her third son in 1995,
Waukesha County officials made national headlines by detaining her to
protect her fetus. She was forced into drug-abuse treatment until she
delivered her son, who is now 2 1/2, healthy and living in a foster home.

The move was later declared illegal by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which
said a fetus isn't a person under state law and therefore couldn't be
protected in such a fashion.

While Bucher's move Monday was not specifically aimed at protecting
Angela's fetus, it would have that effect if a judge agrees with his
request. Bucher asked that the 26-year-old Angela:

- - Be required to report to the county's work-release jail every evening or
be electronically monitored, or both. -Submit to weekly drug tests.

- - Undergo a drug assessment with the Waukesha County Council on Alcoholism
and Other Drug Abuse and comply with any treatment recommendations by the
council. A hearing on Bucher's requests was not immediately scheduled.

Bucher, who is considering a bid for state attorney general, said his
requests were not a veiled attempt to protect Angela's fetus but were a
reaction to the accusation that she flouted her bail conditions on a drug
paraphernalia charge.

"Her pregnancy has nothing to do with this," Bucher said. "We want to make
sure that she doesn't violate her (bail) conditions by ingesting cocaine."

As for the pregnancy, Bucher said:

"It concerns me, as it would anyone, regarding the health of the fetus, of
the child. And the fact that she's not getting the message. This is her
second time around."

Angela was arrested in December, accused of possessing two pipes for
smoking crack cocaine. She was released on several conditions, including
one that she not take illegal drugs.

In an unrelated Juvenile Court case involving one of her older sons, Angela
recently was ordered to submit to biweekly drug screens.

Her first test was the first week of March. She told a reporter that she
tested positive.

Bucher obtained the results of a subsequent test on March 23 that, he said,
also showed the presence of cocaine.

Angela appeared in court on March 23 for a hearing on whether the results
should be released to prosecutors. She would not talk to a reporter.

Bucher, in court affidavits filed Monday, said that laboratory analysts had
informed him that the cocaine found in the March 23 test would have been
ingested within the prior 48 hours.

There has been a veil of secrecy imposed on the case recently.

A Juvenile Court judge released the drug test result to Bucher's office on
March 30 after holding two closed-door hearings March 23 and 30.

At the first hearing, Circuit Judge J. Mac Davis kept his ruling secret and
asked that all parties involved remain silent about any test results. At
the March 30 hearing, however, Davis gave Bucher the test results.

Assistant State Public Defender Craig Mastantuono, who is representing
Angela on the drug paraphernalia case, argued Monday that Bucher was
treating his client more harshly than similar offenders.

"The DA's motion asking for all of those conditions in a drug paraphernalia
case is highly unusual. In fact, I've never seen one," said Mastantuono,
who for more than a year has been specializing in drug cases.

He also argued that the March 23 positive test result on which Bucher was
relying was inconclusive.

He cited a notation on a lab report that states: "No name on specimen. Lab
not responsible for positive ID. Specimen identified by requisition
number."

"That seems to be a pretty strong disclaimer to me," Mastantuono said.

Bucher said he had no doubt the specimen was Angela's. He agreed his
request was unusual but said it was not unprecedented.