COURT BACKS MOTHERS IN FETAL DRUG CASE

AMARILLO-A state appeals court ruled Thursday that mothers who pass
drugs to their unborn children cannot be prosecuted for delivery of
illicit substances.

The decision by a three-judge panel from the 7th Court of Appeals in
Amarillo focused on the state's definition of delivery and did not
address the boundaries of a law that defines a fetus as an
individual, the statute under which prosecutors pursued charges
against two mothers in 2004, said Joe Dawson, who represented one of the women.

Delivery involves possession, and the judges said the drugs were
"merely discovered in the unborn child's body," which does not
constitute possession.

Potter County District Attorney Randall Sims, whose predecessor
brought the original charges, could not be reached for comment.

The women's cases focused attention on a 2003 state law that allows
prosecution or civil court action for a preventable injury or death
of a fetus. The law exempts health care providers who perform a
legal medical procedure or cases of injury form legal drug use or
another action by the mother.

The ruling overturns the convictions of Tracey Ward and Rhonda Smith,
who accepted plea agreements for five years of probation but retained
their right to appeal.

Ms. Ward, 31, admitted smoking crack cocaine before her son was born.
Ms. Smith's daughter had methamphetamine in her system when she was born.