Jury finds Kathy Phillips not guilty on all counts

by Nora Gathings (hsgathings@wsbt.com)

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Kathy Phillips (center) leaves the courthouse with her husband and other supporters after being found not guilty of murder and neglect of a dependent. (WSBT photo)

By Jim Pinkerton

Story Created: Jul 23, 2008 at 6:37 PM EST

Story Updated: Jul 24, 2008 at 6:59 AM EST

LAPORTE — After several hours of deliberations, jurors found Kathy Phillips not guilty on all counts early Thursday morning. The verdict was read at 1:15 a.m. LaPorte time.

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Phillips was charged with murder and neglect after a newborn baby was found in a field near her LaPorte County home in 2006. Her husband Garry found the baby in trash bag.

Phillips and her husband did not comment as they left the courthouse Thursday morning. But Kathy's mother, Marcia Ruminski, said throughout the trial her daughter has been "crucified." She maintained her daughter was never pregnant before the baby was found, and said police did not do a proper investigation.

"I don't care what anybody says," Ruminski told WSBT. "They falsified a lot of this stuff to get to the means that they wanted to get to."

Prosecutor Jennifer Evans said she was disappointed by the outcome, but acknowledged it was a difficult case.

"The inconclusiveness of the cause of death was seriously an obstacle," said Evans.

Evans also said the state was looking to find justice for the dead baby.

"That's the job ultimately of the jury to make a decision, and they did," Evans told WSBT.

It appeared to be a difficult case for the jurors, too. Just before 11 p.m., they told the judge they had reached a verdict on the murder count, but not on the neglect count.

The judge did not ask the jury to reveal the verdict they had reached. Instead, he allowed jurors to walk around the courthouse and asked them to return to deliberations.

At 12:15 a.m., the judge re-read some instructions to the jury. About 25 minutes later, he sent them back to the jury room to continue deliberations. They had been deliberating since 4:35 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

The prosecution’s case began July 16 with graphic pictures of the dead baby. Over the next week, police testified about what they found at the crime scene and how they handled the evidence. The lead detective told the jury they found evidence of blood in the Phillips’ bathroom.

A geneticist testified DNA proves Kathy and Garry Phillips are the baby's parents. A nurse and acquaintance of Kathy Phillips also testified that she appeared pregnant in the months before the baby was found.

Wednesday morning, jurors were shown a home video of the Phillips family, which the prosecution claimed showed evidence Kathy Phillips was pregnant.

That contradicted Tuesday’s testimony by Kathy Phillips’ mother, who said her daughter was never pregnant.

The judge instructed the jury they needed to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the baby was born alive. That's because the defense asked for a dismissal on the grounds that not even the doctor who performed the autopsy could determine a cause of death.

The judge didn't have the jurisdiction to throw out the trial because evidence was already presented. The jury used circumstantial evidence to decide Phillips’ fate.

In closing arguments, the defense reminded jurors the baby's cause of death is unknown.

"I ask you to assume the best, not the worst, of Kathy until the state has proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt,” her attorney Rich Cook said.

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