Judge to decide dead baby case Monday
Photos
Mark Fisette/Daily News
Judge Peter Agnes Jr.
By Michelle Laczkoski/Daily News staff
GHS
Posted Jan 24, 2009 @ 12:09 AM
WORCESTER —
When Allissa Pugh came home from work on Jan. 2, 2007, she thought she was having a miscarriage, but unexpectedly went into labor in her bathroom, her lawyer said during closing arguments yesterday.
But, prosecutor Blake Rubin called the delivery "reckless" and said Pugh's actions during her pregnancy were consistent with "destroying the baby."
A judge will seal 29-year-old Pugh's fate Monday, when a verdict is expected in her manslaughter trial.
Judge Peter W. Agnes Jr. said yesterday he will take witness testimony and lawyers' closing arguments under advisement and return a verdict in Worcester Superior Court on Monday at 9 a.m.
"This case raises very fundamental questions about the duty of a pregnant woman at delivery," Agnes said. "I know of no other case that deals with facts quite like this."
On Jan. 2, 2007, Pugh told police she unexpectedly went into labor. She said she tried unsuccessfully to revive her newborn son and then gave up, wrapping his body in a shopping bag and putting it in the trash. The newborn's body was found in a trash truck on Jan. 6, 2007, after garbage was collected along Purchase Street in Milford.
In closing arguments yesterday morning, her lawyer Peter Ettenberg said Pugh believed she was having a miscarriage and panicked.
Pugh told police, "I never expected this baby now, I thought I had more time," Ettenberg said. She believed she was three months along and had not told anyone about the pregnancy, Ettenberg said.
Citing a comment police made to Pugh during interviews, Ettenberg told the judge, "Good people make bad decisions and judgment calls in stressful situations."
He added: "It was tragedy that could not be foreseen, it was not criminal."
But, Rubin said Pugh was reckless before and during the baby's delivery.
"The moment she knew she was in labor, I suggest she had the duty to seek medical assistance," said Rubin, noting her previous experience in lamaze classes and child labor with her son, Colby.
At the time, Pugh had nearly 30 years of "life experience," Rubin said.
"We're not talking about a 14-year-old kid," he said.
Ettenberg said her pregnancy differed from her first. She gained much less weight and the baby never kicked or moved. Pugh, who did not realize she was carrying a near full-term baby, believed she was having a miscarriage in the bathroom, he said.
"Is there a duty for a woman to call for help if she has a miscarriage?" Ettenberg asked. "If that's the case, there are thousands of women who had miscarriages in their house who should be prosecuted."
Pugh also negligently disposed of the newborn's body, without seeking help from a medical professional, Rubin said.
"This baby had no funeral, no burial, no flowers, no eulogy, no casket, not even a name," Rubin said. "It was just put out in the trash with dog feces. I suggest a household pet would get better treatment."
Following Ettenberg's objection to that statement, Agnes said he would not use it in making his decision.
"This isn't some cold, callous, hard-core woman sitting there who doesn't give a damn," Ettenberg said in defending Pugh.
Dressed in a black button-down shirt and gray pants, Pugh sat motionless next to her lawyer during nearly two hours of closing arguments. She shook her head as Rubin accused her of making several inconsistent statements during police interviews.
Among the discrepancies, Pugh initially said she felt contractions at work, but in later interviews said she did not. At first, Pugh said she didn't check for a pulse once the baby was delivered, but later told police she checked his wrist for a heartbeat.
"This reveals she is not a truthful person," Rubin said.
Witnesses who testified Wednesday said they saw Pugh drinking and smoking at a bar while she was pregnant and also overheard her say she wasn't going to have any more children.
But, Ettenberg said Pugh planned on taking "all steps necessary" to have the baby. He tried to discount witness testimony, calling it contradictory and not credible.
Prosecutors also failed to prove "beyond reasonable doubt" that Pugh's baby was born alive, Ettenberg said.
Citing testimony from three doctors, Ettenberg said it is unknown if the baby was born alive or if it would have survived with medical attention.
"That's reasonable doubt," he repeated throughout his argument. "'Probable' is not proof beyond reasonable doubt."
Ettenberg said prosecutors are "trying to season something that smells bad and pass it off as fresh."
He said the prosecutor's case is based on speculation.
"We can't re-create the disbelief and panic happening in that bathroom. It's not fair or reasonable," he said. "The commonwealth is trying to take an unfortunate set of facts, unique facts, and (they're) saying it's criminal."
Rubin said the doctors' testimony concluded the baby was born alive.
Dr. Drucilla Roberts, a Mass. General Hospital pathologist said, "with a reasonable degree of medical certainty," the baby was alive inside the mother and in the birth canal.
In her opinion, the baby was alive post-birth and had a beating heart. Though the autopsy found the manner of death as "undetermined," Roberts said the cause of death was suffocation and hypothermia.
The defense's expert witness, Dr. Richard Callery, the chief medical examiner in Delaware, said it was "a leap to call (the incident) a homicidal act of the mother."
In shedding light on possible motives to "destroy the baby," Rubin recalled testimony where Pugh admitted to having a one-night encounter with a man she met at a Waltham bar nine months prior to her delivery.
"She might not want (a baby) from a man she barely knew," Rubin said.
Pugh's shaky relationship with longtime boyfriend Jason Schiappucci and financial hardships may have also been factors in her "reckless" behavior, he said.
"We may never really know," Rubin concluded. "The evidence presented supports a conviction for manslaughter and improper disposal of a body."
Manslaughter is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The improper disposal charge carries up to three years.
Although Agnes was expected to reach a verdict yesterday, he said he will give more thought to each lawyer's arguments and explain his decision Monday.
Comments (14)
Leo White11 hours agoReport Abuse
Pugh was planning on taking all necessary steps to have the baby says her shyster lawyer- like have drinks at the Marchegiano club and repeatedly utterling that she did not want to have another child- all that said to complete strangers-all steps should be taken to make sure that she has no contact with her son- this creepy woman needs to be put away for a long time
forgiven10 hours agoReport Abuse
I am sad that this happened to the baby and the mom put her deceased infant in the trash; and I'm sad after reading the attacks on this woman through your comments the past couple of days. You all say how you feel bad for her little boy, yet, you call his mother a whore, a liar, a murderer, a pig...so many of you are quick to air her dirty laundry and hang her out to dry...yet, you leave your own kids home while you're out at the bar, obviously able to report to everyone what you saw Allissa doing! Or maybe you think you have it all together, and you never could even imagine yourself doing something so horrible as Allissa has done. Well guess what? If Allissa turns to God and asks to be forgiven, He will forgive her. She doesn't have to (your quotes) 'rot in jail' or even 'rot in hell' if she decides to turn to God and asks to be forgiven. He got nailed to the cross for what Allissa did, and for all the wrong things you've done in your life, too. Does that mean we have to defend or excuse Allissa's actions? No, and we shouldn't. There will be a consequence for what she did, and she will pay a price.
But all of you, too many to name here, whose comments are holier-than-though, well, let me just remind you of what your Maker has said to each of us. God says that 'my people perish for lack of knowledge.' Hosea 4:6. Whether you realize it or not, or even believe it or not, you're bringing judgement on your own head. You might want to refrain in the future from running your mouths, and let the judge be the judge!
Matthew 7:2: For just as you judge and criticize and condemn others, you will be judged and criticized and condemned, and in accordance with the measure you [use to] deal out to others, it will be dealt out again to you.
John 8:7:
And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, 'Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.' (It's not too late for you to turn to God and ask to be forgiven.)
jcsays9 hours agoReport Abuse
Nice try forgiven,
Man has a duty to judge others. If we did not it would be bedlam, murderers, still free,thieves,thugs, running amuck. God has 10 comandments that you left out, on which man bases his law. One of those commandments? Thou shall not kill!
As for this woman she will eventually be judged by God. But for now it our responsabilty as a society to enforce our law based on God's law.
Also women like this don't value life anymore, because of the 'Left' and their non secular agenda to take God out of our society.
For Real?9 hours agoReport Abuse
I understand innocent until proven guilty, I just find it ironic that she is accused of throwing away a human child when she called me selfish for putting down a cat who was suffering with cancer.
Carolyn Henschel7 hours agoReport Abuse
Not very convincing 'forgiven'. No matter how you look at it, she plotted basically for 9 months to 'murder' her child. Smoking, drinking, parties, ect. She deserves the MAX as far as I'm concerned and hopefully she will get just that!!
Layla6 hours agoReport Abuse
What forgiven forgets is that other people didn't dump their newborn in the trash. She did. Personally I think that even if she 'gets off' her name will be MUD in the area anyway. She could have called for medical assistance vs. just throwing the baby in the trash.
forgiven5 hours agoReport Abuse
To: jcsays and Carolyn...I never tried to 'convince' anyone as to whether or not she's guilty. In fact, I said she should NOT be excused and will have to pay a price. Obviously, we have a judicial system that allows us to hear the evidence, judge the case, and come to a verdict. If the people on this blog, who were cut-throat with their comments, were on a jury, they'd never be able to communicate like that because it's not done in a civil manner. You missed my point. I was addressing the way these individuals have reduced themselves to cold, critical, and judgemental communication. You call her 'murderer', that's a judgement...you do not know what was going through her head, therefore you've got that measure of judgement on your head, Carolyn. You mention smoking, drinking parties etc...how many of us are guilty of smoking or going to a drinking party? That kind of measure of judgement will be used against you when you stand before God one day with all of your sins. And when you say, 'but God...that's not what I meant, that's not what I was thinking etc...' He'll remind you of the measure of judgement you used on others. I'm simply trying to let you know what God says about that. If you don't believe it, read it for yourself. If you could care less what God has to say, that's your choice.
It's easy, jcsays, to quote 'thou shalt not kill' and it makes most of us feel we're 'good with God' because we've never broken that one! But God says is the most important one to Him is 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind' Matthew 22:35-38 Allissa did something wrong and she will suffer the consequence of her actions. Hopefully she will give her life to God so she can be forgiven and restored to the kind of life God had intended for her. She and her son will need the love of God to help them through this. She will not be damned to hell if she turns to God now, so you shouldn't say stuff like that if you don't really know what God has to say about it.
Rancor5 hours agoReport Abuse
Forgiven: frankly I agree with JC and Carolyn. Actually it seems as though a lot of us on here agree with them and a selected few need to realize that what Miss Pugh did was wrong and these people are either relatives of Miss Pugh or nieve individuals that she fooled into believing her side of the story in which it seems like she keeps changing her story, so how can you belive her? It is our right to be judgemental of her actions...remember freedom of speech!!!! Your right we all can go out and party but a lot of us don't go out and party knowing we are pregnant and drink exessively, so remember that? Also a lot of us don't go throwing babies in dumpster either.
femalemilfordresident5 hours agoReport Abuse
Financial Hard ship? Does anyone know how much it cost these days to go out drinking ? She had six shots an how many drinks? Plus she was smoking an that alone cost $6.00 a pk. Her side kick the man that couldn't tell his lover was pregnant was also buying drinks they HAD the means to have this baby or to inquire health insurance. Has anyone heard if the one night stand has had any contact with the proceedings?
BABY KILLER HOPE YOU GET THE MAX , AND COLBY IS TAKING AWAY FROM THE MAN YOU LAY NEXT TO EVERY NIGHT .
milfordgirl2 hours agoReport Abuse
Hey forgiven, yeah we are out at bars drinking but we are ALSO not pregnant!! So therefore, there is nothing wrong with drinking at the bars for us. Drinking and smoking while you are pregnant, and tossing your baby into the trash on the other hand, IS wrong. Plus her telling everyone she was not having anymore kids WHILE CARRYING A KID, well, that just speaks for itself.
milfordgirl2 hours agoReport Abuse
Oh, one more thing, did God say it was ok to throw your baby out with the garbage? Just askin..
felicia2 hours agoReport Abuse
Have you read the article? For the first time, it was relatively accurate and I appreciate that the reporter actually attended so that she could hear first hand the facts of this case. There are 2 sides to this story and it is appreciated that the facts were introduced relatively true.
Did you read the comments made by the Detectives in YOUR town and investigator from the state of MA that stated: Citing a comment POLICE MADE to Pugh during interviews, 'Good people make bad decisions and judgment calls in stressful situations.' 'It was tragedy that could not be foreseen, it was not criminal.' Also the ADA states: 'We may never really know,' what happened in that bathroom that day. Dr. Roberts (a pathologist for the DA) stated: Roberts said that ONE theory for the cause of death was suffocation and hypothermia, however, the MA Chief Medical Examiner DISAGREED with her hypothesis. FUNNY! The Defense Med Examiner (who is the Chief Medical Examiner for the state of Delaware with 15 years more experience than both of the DA's experts with a clean tract record unlike MA ME who 'lost ' bodies in the past for crying out loud) stated: 'a leap to call (the incident) a homicidal act of the mother.' and neither ME for the state disagreed with him. In fact, the ADA requested Judge Agnus to allow him to call us the MA ME to retake the stand AFTER he had been dismissed due to the convincing testimony from the defense ME to his. This is typically not allowed but the Defense attorney allowed it. The result of that 2nd testimony, the AM ME ended up not having a choice but to state the truth under oath that the Defense Attorney was correct in the majority of his findings. FUNNY! This is YOUR CHIEF medical examiner!
Also concerning the comments made by the ADA: 'This baby had no funeral, no burial, no flowers, no eulogy, no casket, not even a name,' Rubin said. 'It was just put out in the trash with dog feces. I suggest a household pet would get better treatment.' Also read the following statement made by the judge: Agnes (judge) said he would not use it in making his decision as this is intended to introduce emotion into this case. The second part of that statement was: This has no relevance to the case and should be struck from the record. He also stated that he is as judge, I do not base rulings on emotion, I rule on legal facts and evidence submitted.
I am not asking for sympathy or trying to 'defend' Allissa. I am stating the facts of this case, they do not lie. She may be guilty of 'Improper Disposal' but NOT guilty of Manslaughter (in my opinion based on listening to the testimony 1st hand every moment of this trial from the courtroom). Remember there are 2 separate charges here and the sole reason that they elected NOT to have a jury is due to people like some of you who don't care about the facts, or the guidelines of the law but with their emotions. That is not fair, not American! This judge has a tough job and elected to take another few days to review the testimony to ensure that he makes the proper LEGAL decision. There is no hatred on any of you who feel she should rot in hell, your feelings and opinions are understandable and entitled due to your right to exercise your 'Freedom of speech'. She das been and will be judged and punished accordingly. This is a tragedy.
Rancor2 hours agoReport Abuse
Felicia I fully understand that but your still not fully understanding the fact that Miss Pugh took a pregnancy test (pretty accurate) and also you are eiher pregnant or your not??? There is no in between. So understanding that and understanding the fact that she continued to drink and smoke while pregnant without no medical attention to the baby leaves me to belive this is manslaugher. No ifs ands or buts about it. I think people would be a little more understanding if she went out there and did everything she could do to save this baby....but you know what....SHE DIDN'T. A mother would do everything she can to save that baby and again SHE DIDN''T. So are you listening to these facts as well or just listening to what you want to hear.
nancy13131353 minutes agoReport Abuse
She thought she was only 3 months pregnant? No prenatal care is a clue as to whether or not a person actually CARES about the child they are carrying or cares more about shots of booze at the club.
