International Mother charged after brain death of child
NZPA St Paul (Minnesota) A St Paul woman has been arraigned on charges of ■ aggravated assault and thirddegree murder in the “brain death” of her daughter. Denise Ellison, aged 24, has been charged with the death of her daughter. Stacy, who remains in a hospital on a respirator. At a news conference yesterday, the County Attorney, Mr William Randall,,' said Stacy Ellison was! ‘ medically dead.” Her mother’s arraignment was brief and no plea was, entered. Judge Archie Ging-' old of Ramsey District Court ordered her bail reduced to- 1 $25,000.
Stacy was allegedly as-. saulted at her home on June--2 and was brought to hospi-i tai on June 3. Lectors at the: hospital declared that she i had suffered brain death last: Friday, apparently from a blow to the head. Mr Randall said he had no; plans to seek a court orderl to have the life-support I equipment unplugged. He had reviewed for the| Judge the three criteria fori b ain death enunciated by the Harvard Medical School in 1968. The three tests are unresponsiveness to normally painful stimuli, absence ‘ of spontaneous movements or breathing, and absence of reflexes. “Under all three tests
-Stacy is medically dead, or has suffered brain death,” ■iMr Randall said. Minnesota does not have a brain death law. A bill was J introduced in the 1977 legislative session declaring a person legally dead when : there is irreversible cessa■|tion of all brain functions, i The bill was not passed. Mr Randal] said there was (conclusive evidence that i brain death was final in such cases, because of medical studies. “It is not yet: accepted in legal proce-i dures,” he said. Ellison was being held in the Ramsey County Jail on $50,000 bond after spending the week-end in a psychiatric ward.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19780622.2.59
Bibliographic details
Press, 22 June 1978, Page 6
Word Count
302International Mother charged after brain death of child Press, 22 June 1978, Page 6
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.