Boston mother
pleads innocent in navel piercing
case
BOSTON (AP) — A mother
accused of allowing her 13-year-old
daughter to waste away from a massive
infection caused by a botched navel
piercing was ordered held on $10,000
bail.
Deborah Robinson, 38, pleaded innocent
to child endangerment charges at her
arraignment Thursday in Suffolk Superior
Court. She was ordered by the magistrate
to stay away from her daughter and
a 15-year-old son.
The girl had perforated her intestine
in June when she attempted to pierce
her belly button. Prosecutors say
Robinson failed to seek medical attention
for her daughter even after her condition
became life-threatening.
By the time her daughter arrived at
the hospital on Aug. 3, infection
had spread through her abdomen, fluid
was oozing from her navel, and she
had pneumonia. The former middle school
track runner had lost up to 40 pounds
and weighed just 75. Doctors did not
think she would survive the night.
Assistant District Attorney David
Deakin said Robinson was lucky she
wasn't facing a manslaughter charge.
He said the girl is recovering well,
though she's still hospitalized and
faces at least one more surgery.
After Robinson's arrest in August,
she was examined by psychiatrists
who found her mentally competent to
stand trial.
And another story showing women have
a propensity for violence, as if you
guys didn't know that.
Thursday, October
13, 2005
Second woman to plead guilty in Dewey
killing
BRENTWOOD — The second
of two women charged in the drowning
death of Dewey the dachshund has filed
a notice of intent to plead guilty
at Rockingham County Superior Court.
Newmarket resident Shannon Walters
is set to change her plea during a
hearing Nov. 30. The hearing had been
scheduled to take place Wednesday
but was postponed at the last minute.
A guilty plea for Walters would effectively
end a yearlong legal battle in which
defense lawyers disputed the methods
police used to obtain information
that led to the arrest of the women.
Walters's alleged accomplice, Erin
Wylie, 28, of 50 Harvard Street in
Portsmouth, has already pleaded guilty
to counts of cruelty to animals and
conspiracy for her role last year
in stealing and killing the dog that
belonged to Eliot, Maine resident
Pat Collins, her boyfriend at the
time.
Rockingham County Superior Court Judge
Tina Nadeau sentenced Wylie to a year
in the Rockingham County Jail. Nadeau
also prohibited Wylie from owning
or controlling any animals for seven
years and ordered her to get a mental
health evaluation.
Authorities say Wylie and Walters
conspired to kidnap the dog in May
2004 and drown it in a bathtub at
Wylie's apartment because she was
jealous of the attention Collins paid
to the dog.
The plea came after a decision last
month by Rockingham County Superior
Court Judge Tina Nadeau, who ruled
to allow crucial evidence in the case
after previously denying it. Nadeau
had initially thrown out e-mails between
Wylie and Walters that were obtained
by Tracy York, a neighbor of Walters,
because she said they had been illegally
intercepted. York had obtained these
e-mails by looking into a folder on
a computer server that she and Walters
had shared through a local-area network
in their duplex apartment.
Walters's computer had a key-logging
program on it and York used information
from that to obtain Walters' e-mail
password. She then retrieved correspondence
between Walters and Wylie detailing
the killing of Dewey and plans for
a meeting to dispose of the animal's
body.
Nadeau changed her mind after the
state had filed a motion for reconsideration
arguing that the key-logging program
did not constitute an interception
because it did not record any telecommunication
transmitted through a communications
common carrier.
A trial had been set for September,
but was continued. The trial for Walters
was to begin Monday. Both women face
similar charges in Maine. |