The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the acquittal of a Saskatchewan woman who gave birth in a Walmart bathroom stall and left the newborn in a toilet.
In a 5-2 split decision, the court ruled in favour of A.D.H., who was found not guilty in June 2009 of abandoning the baby boy two years earlier in the store in Prince Albert, Sask.
The Crown appealed the case to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Court and both upheld the findings of the trial judge.
The judge said he believed the mother’s testimony that she didn’t know she was pregnant and left the store because she thought the child was dead.
She testified that she didn’t know she was expecting a baby because she tested negative three times on home pregnancy tests and she was still getting her period.
She told the court she thought the child was dead because of its blue pallor and the fact that it wasn’t moving.
(The Canadian Press)