The North Dakota Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court's ruling granting a new trial to Cassandra Black Elk, who had pleaded guilty in the death of her 3-week-old baby daughter.
She testified in a hearing in January that public defender James Loraas told her to plead guilty before seeing autopsy results and that they’d"deal with it later." Autopsy results later showed the infant was normally developed, well-nourished and well-hydrated, and there was no evidence of foul play. The baby's death was listed as"unexplained sudden death."and deserved a new trial.
The justices noted that prosecutors did not object to Black Elk’s statements during a January hearing. The court also ruled that Borgen was correct to conclude that Black Elk’s attorney was ineffective, and that"The legal misinformation provided to her by defense counsel deprived Black Elk from an intelligent and voluntary plea.
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