Pubdate: Sat, 12 Feb 2005
Source: Spartanburg Herald Journal (SC)
Copyright: 2005 The Spartanburg Herald-Journal
Contact:  http://www.goupstate.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/977
Author: Lynne Powell, Cherokee County Bureau

JUDGE TO RECONSIDER MOTHER'S SENTENCE

GAFFNEY - A circuit judge is considering a defense attorney's motion
to reduce the prison sentence for a woman whose newborn tested
positive for cocaine.

Defense attorney Don Thompson said his client, 22-year-old Pamela
Cruz-Reyes, should have the opportunity to reconcile with her child,
who was born in November and tested positive for cocaine.

Judge Mark Hayes sentenced Cruz-Reyes in December to four years in
prison followed by five years probation.

She would be eligible for parole in April 2007.

Thompson said serving 30 months in prison would be well over the
15-month period that the Department of Social Services could use to
request in family court that Cruz-Reyes' parental rights be terminated.

While making his case before Hayes, Thompson accused the 7th Circuit
Solicitor's Office of notifying the media of the first court hearing
in order to gather "political mileage" from Cruz-Reyes' sentence.

Solicitor Trey Gowdy, who wasn't in court Friday, said his office
staff didn't notify media outlets of the guilty plea, but defended the
right of the media to be present.

"I forgive Don for what he said, but he's wrong," Gowdy
said.

"Defense attorneys don't owe an obligation to the public, prosecutors
do." The solicitor has since formed a committee to develop a universal
protocol on how to encourage pregnant women who are under the
influence of drugs to seek treatment and prenatal care without the
fear of prosecution.

Gowdy has proposed offering women opportunities for drug treatment
before they face criminal charges.

"I feel like (Hayes) wanted to give my client the opportunity to get
her child back," Thompson said.

"DSS can terminate parental rights if they are in the custody of the
child 15 (months) out of a 22-month period."

Gowdy said he feels the four-year prison sentence was
fair.

"(Cruz-Reyes) was given an opportunity to get treatment and she
refused," Gowdy said.

Cruz-Reyes has two other children who are in the custody of family
members. Her third child is in DSS custody.

During the same hearing, Cruz-Reyes pleaded guilty to possessing
cocaine and Xanax following a drug raid of a Gaffney home on Sept. 5,
2003.

"I realize I have a drug addiction," Cruz-Reyes said. "I'm going to
(Narcotics Anonymous) and (Alcoholics Anonymous) trying to get my life
turned around. I want my child back, and I'll do anything I have to do
to get her back and become a mother like I should have been to start
with."

Hayes sentenced her to six months in jail on the Xanax charge and 18
months in prison on the cocaine charge and ordered the sentences to
run concurrent with her four-year sentence.

Hayes said he would take Thompson's motion to reconsider the four-year
prison sentence under advisement.
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