CANADA • Male, newborn / Accused: April Dawn Halkett (mother) ~ Prince Albert SK

Wal-Mart baby case sees another appeal
Woman left infant in P.A. store's toilet
March 25, 2011


April Halkett
Photograph by: Greg Pender, StarPhoenix

Prosecutors continue to pursue a criminal conviction in the case of a Saskatchewan woman who left her newborn baby in a public toilet in the Prince Albert Wal-Mart store nearly three years ago.

Crown prosecutors in Regina have appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada in the case against April Dawn Halkett. Halkett was charged with child abandonment after she gave birth in May 2007 inside the Wal-Mart washroom.

She was found not guilty in June 2009 following a one-week trial. In January, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by the Crown, saying Halkett never intended to hurt the baby boy when she made the decision to leave him in the toilet minutes after he was born.

The child's name is covered by a publication ban.

The Crown filed the request to appeal with the Supreme Court on March 4, saying a conviction in the case is of national or public importance. The Crown argues Halkett had a duty to care for the baby and should be judged on an objective standard -meaning whether she acted as a reasonable person would under the same circumstances.

"Caregivers and parents must know the standard by which they will be held for their actions or omissions that result in harm or risk of harm to children under their care," the Supreme Court application for appeal says.

"This cannot be arbitrarily determined by each person's individual beliefs or thought processes. If that is to be the case, the same standard of care may not necessarily apply to all persons having charge of children."

Following the trial in 2009, Queen's Bench Justice Neil Gabrielson found Halkett not guilty, ruling she was scared and confused at the time of the birth. Gabrielson said Halkett's action were negligent, but not criminal.

The Crown appealed the acquittal, arguing Justice Gabrielson had assessed Halkett under a subjective standard based on her state of mind when she gave birth.

"The learned trial judge was moved by the respondent's (Halkett) personal circumstances and her testimony as if credibility were a key consideration," the Crown's application to the Supreme Court says.

"This case was never about credibility or the respondent's personality. It is about what a reasonably prudent parent would do in these circumstances."

The application also says Halkett's state of mind at the time of the birth should not mean she had no responsibility to care for the child.

"Youth and confusion cannot absolve the reasonableness standard and thereby place our most vulnerable people in danger," the application says.

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Mart+baby+case+sees+another+appeal/4501950/story.html#ixzz1Heu725mE

Supreme Court to consider case of newborn found in Walmart toilet
October 20, 2011


April Dawn Halkett, left, arrives with supporters at Queens Bench Courthouse in Prince Albert, Sask., in May 2009.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a Crown appeal of Halkett's acquittal on a charge of child abandonment,
after she left her newborn baby boy in a Walmart toilet more than four years ago.
Photograph by: Greg Pender, Saskatoon Star Phoenix

The Supreme Court of Canada will hear an appeal in the case against a woman who left her newborn baby boy in a toilet at a Walmart store in Prince Albert more than four years ago.

The Supreme Court decision was announced Thursday. As is customary with the high court, no reasons were given for the decision to hear the case.

The case involves April Halkett, who left her newborn in a toilet shortly after giving birth in May 2007. The baby was rescued by a company manager.

Halkett, 20 at the time, was charged with child abandonment. She pleaded not guilty and testified at her trial in May 2009 that she didn't know she was pregnant and was shocked to deliver the baby inside the store washroom.

Halkett said the newborn was blue and didn't appear to be alive. She came forward to police after hearing the baby survived.

Halkett was found not guilty of child abandonment following the trial. Queen's Bench Justice Neil Gabrielson found Halkett would not have known what to expect from labour — or what a live child might look like — when she decided to leave the baby minutes after he was born.

Gabrielson said Halkett's actions were negligent but not criminal.

The Crown appealed the acquittal, arguing before the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal that Halkett had a responsibility to check on the baby before she left the washroom. The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled in Halkett's favour, however, finding the woman honestly believed the baby was dead and had no intention of hurting him.

Dean Sinclair, director of appeals with the province's Ministry of Justice, would not comment Thursday on the Supreme Court decision to hear the Crown's appeal. But in its application to the Supreme Court of Canada earlier this year, the Crown argued the case is of national importance.

The Crown says Halkett's actions should be assessed on an objective standard — meaning whether she acted as a reasonable person would in the same circumstances.

"Caregivers and parents must know the standard by which they will be held for their actions or omissions that result in harm or risk of harm to children under their care," the Supreme Court application for appeal says.

"Youth and confusion cannot absolve the reasonableness standard and thereby place our most vulnerable people in danger . . . The law imposed a duty on her (Halkett) as a parent the minute that baby was born whether she agreed with it or not."

No date has been set to hear the Supreme Court appeal.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Supreme+Court+consider+case+newborn+found+Walmart+toilet/5582593/story.html