listen to this articleThe Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled that Internet search history related to abortions will be admissible in the criminal trial of a Howard County woman convicted of second-degree murder in the death of her infant.
In an unreported opinion written by Judge Laura S. Ripken and filed last month, the Maryland Court of Appeals upheld Moira Akers’ jury conviction and 30-year prison sentence by Howard County Circuit Court. In the affirmative, they found evidence of Akers’ internet search history and lack of information. Her prenatal care was adequate and acceptable.
In November 2018, a circuit court found Akers guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse in the newborn’s death, which Akers maintains was stillborn, according to the opinion. .
The Maryland Court of Appeals held that the lower court “could reasonably conclude that” [Akers’] Lack of prenatal care constitutes evidence of intent during pregnancy to harm or cause death to Baby A after birth. ”[Akers’] Since the specific search included inducing an abortion at home, the search history was sufficient as evidence. ”
The appeals court further ruled that expert testimony regarding the hydrostatic flotation test used to determine whether an infant’s lungs contained air was admissible. The trial was controversial among some in the medical community and was considered unreliable.
In admitting testimony regarding the use of the test, the appellate court noted in its opinion that the test cannot definitively answer whether the infant was born alive, but rather whether the infant’s lungs contain air. He pointed out that this is consistent with life. The court further noted that aeration can occur for reasons other than breathing, such as decomposition or the use of CPR.
In November 2018, first responders were dispatched to Akers’ home to treat her for severe vaginal bleeding. According to the opinion, Akers told emergency medical technicians that she was not pregnant, but later told hospital doctors that she kept the stillborn infant at home in a “closet in her home in a Ziploc bag.” “I kept it,” he said. After her doctor observed her severed umbilical cord sticking out of her.
EMTs and law enforcement officers later returned to Akers’ home and found the deceased infant inside a large plastic bag filled with bloody towels in a closed bedroom closet, the opinion said. .
Akers told detectives that during a May 2018 visit to her gynecologist, she was told it was too late to have an abortion at 15 weeks pregnant. However, the opinion said medical records showed Akers was approximately 11 weeks pregnant at the time of her visit and that she had been referred to an abortion service.
Akers told detectives that she hoped “something would happen” to terminate the pregnancy and that after seeing her gynecologist, she decided to hide the pregnancy from her husband.
After performing an autopsy on the infant, the medical examiner determined the cause of death to be homicide by asphyxiation. All other coroner’s findings during the autopsy were consistent with the hydrostatic buoyancy test results, indicating a live birth, the opinion said.
Akers argued in the appeals court that her Internet search history and evidence that she did not receive prenatal care during her pregnancy were irrelevant, unfairly prejudicial and should have been excluded.
Akers’ attorney could not be reached for comment.
The Maryland Court of Appeals warned that its decision was “very narrow” in scope and specific to the facts of the case, but while the decision cannot be cited as precedent, it can be used persuasively. He warned that this could shape the legal situation after a lawsuit.The Supreme Court will issue a reversal in 2022 Roe vs. Wade.
A spokeswoman for the Maryland Attorney General’s Office declined to comment on the appeals court’s decision.
