U.S. judge orders new trial for woman sentenced to 18 years in prison after stillbirth

A pregnant woman stands for a portrait in Dallas, Thursday, May 18, 2023.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A judge has ordered a new trial for an Alabama woman who was sentenced to 18 years in prison following a stillbirth that her attorneys argued was caused by an infection rather than drug use.

Lee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Tickal vacated Brooke Shoemaker’s 2020 conviction for chemical endangerment of a child resulting in death. Tickal said Shoemaker’s attorneys presented credible new evidence that the infection caused the stillbirth.

“Should the facts had been known, and brought before the jury, the results probably would have been different,” Tickal wrote in the Dec. 22 ruling ordering a new trial.

Shoemaker is one of at least several dozen women who have been prosecuted following pregnancy loss and one of hundreds who have been prosecuted for pregnancy-related conduct, according to Pregnancy Justice, an advocacy organization helping with her appeal. Her 18-year sentence is one of the longest in such cases, according to the organization.

In 2017, Shoemaker had a stillbirth at about 24 to 26 weeks into her pregnancy. She admitted to medical staff that she used methamphetamine during her pregnancy.

The state medical examiner found methamphetamine present in the fetus’ bloodstream but listed the cause of death as undetermined.

Shoemaker’s attorneys argued that there is no proof that the drug use caused the pregnancy loss. In her appeal, her attorneys submitted an expert’s opinion, based on a review of of pathology slides, that a genetic abnormality and severe infection caused the demise of the pregnancy.

Karen Thompson, the legal director of Pregnancy Justice, welcomed the decision, saying there was never a factual basis for the charges against Shoemaker.

“The judge really recognized the validity of science. One of the problems that we see in these kinds of cases across the country is there’s not any desire or need to prove any harm,” Thompson said in a telephone interview.

Shoemaker, in a statement issued through Pregnancy Justice, said she is hopeful that she will be home with her children and parents next year.

“I’m hopeful that my new trial will end with me being freed, because I simply lost my pregnancy at home because of an infection. I loved and wanted my baby, and I never deserved this,” Shoemaker said.

Prosecutors are appealing the decision to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. Shoemaker will remain incarcerated during the appeal.

“Our office stands firmly by the investigation and prosecution of this case. We remain committed to seeking justice for this baby and to pursuing accountability through the legal process,” Lee County District Attorney Jessica L. Ventiere said in a statement issued Tuesday.

Alabama leads the nation in pregnancy-related prosecutions, with most of the cases related to drug use, according to Pregnancy Justice.

Alabama’s chemical endangerment law was initially approved by lawmakers as way to address harm to children from meth labs but has also been used to prosecute pregnant women. The Alabama Supreme Court upheld that interpretation in 2013 writing that the word child in the law includes “unborn child.”

Kim Chandler, The Associated Press