CA Woman Who Used Meth Before Stillbirth Will Be Released

CALIFORNIA — A 26-year-old central California woman, charged with murder after delivering a stillborn baby who tested positive for methamphetamine, will be released after spending more than a year in jail, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. The decision was backed by Xavier Becerra, California's top prosecutor.

Chelsea Becker's lawyer, argued that the state's homicide law does not apply to pregnant women. Robert Shane Burns, a Kings County Superior Court Judge, granted her attorney's request Tuesday.

Becker, who has been unable to raise $2 million bail, will be released to a drug treatment center in another county pending trial.

The central California woman reportedly gave birth to two other babies who tested positive for meth at birth. Prosecutors argue that Becker should remain behind bars after repeatedly using narcotics while pregnant.

Becerra, California's attorney general, sent a friend of the court brief urging the charges be dropped. Like Becker's lawyers, Becerra argues that California's homicide law does not apply to pregnant women.

"Section 187 of the California Penal Code was intended to protect pregnant women from harm, not to be used to prosecute for murder a woman who has just lost a pregnancy," Becerra wrote in a statement last November. "We will continue to work to see our laws properly applied in order to end [Becker’s imprisonment] and protect women from similar prosecution in the future."

The case has sparked outrage among advocates for pregnant women. National Advocates for Pregnant women is providing legal support for Becker.

“We are relieved that Ms. Becker has been released and can continue to fight these charges from outside of jail,” Samantha Lee, staff attorney for National Advocates for Pregnant Women, said on Tuesday. "These charges should never be brought against any person for experiencing a pregnancy loss."

Lee added that the organization would be filing an application to have Becker's case thrown out altogether.

"We will also continue to fight against the DA’s flagrant misuse of his power and the dangerous medical misinformation he is promoting," she said.

Becker gave birth to a stillborn, Zachariah Joseph Campos, in September of 2019. The coroner's report listed toxic levels of meth as the cause of death. But one of Becker's attorneys, Dan Arshack, argues that the pathologist never reviewed her medical record, which included three infections that could have caused the stillbirth.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.