INDIANAPOLIS – A judge must grant bond to an Indianapolis woman accused of killing her premature baby by ingesting rat poison while she was pregnant, the Indiana Court of Appeals said Wednesday.
In a 2-1 ruling, the court reversed a lower court decision that denied bond for Chinese immigrant Bei Bei Shuai. The court said the defense presented sufficient evidence to rebut the murder and feticide charges, and ordered Marion Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle to set bond.
Carlisle ruled in June that Shuai should not be allowed out of jail because there was a strong presumption of her guilt. Bond is extremely rare in murder cases.
The three-judge panel on Wednesday rejected Shuai’s argument that her charges should be dismissed. The court said the 34-year-old Shuai had not proven that common-law immunity exists for pregnant women who harm their own fetuses.
Judge Patricia A. Riley dissented, saying she didn’t think legislators ever intended to use the feticide statute to criminalize pregnant women’s prenatal conduct.
Shuai’s attorney, Linda Pence, said Shuai ate rat poison because she intended to kill herself, not her baby. Prosecutors argued she intended the baby to die.
Pence didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking comment on Wednesday’s ruling. The attorney general’s office, which handled the appeal for the Marion County prosecutor, had no immediate comment.
Shuai ate rat poison on Dec. 23, 2010, after her boyfriend broke up with her. She was 33 weeks pregnant. Attorneys say it was a suicide attempt and that Shuai was suffering from depression. Shuai was hospitalized, and doctors tried to treat her for the poison. Court records show doctors told Shuai they detected little problem with the fetus until days later, when the premature baby girl was delivered by cesarean section on Dec. 31.
The child, Angel Shuai, died three days later from bleeding in the brain after she was removed from life support. Bei Bei Shuai was charged in March and has been jailed since.
Dozens of health care groups and other groups have filed friend-of-the-court briefs asking the Court of Appeals to allow Shuai’s release, arguing that the case could mean pregnant women who smoke or drink could also face criminal charges if their fetus is harmed.
