| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
Woman who pleaded no contest to leaving baby outside LA hospital given probation
Monday June 16, 2003LOS ANGELES (AP) A woman who pleaded no contest to leaving her newborn son in the parking lot of a hospital last year was sentenced Monday to five years probation.
Rosemary Gutierrez, 28, was given credit for 21 days served in county jail and also was ordered to undergo psychological counseling, prosecutors said.
In March, Gutierrez pleaded no contest to felony child endangerment. Prosecutors had asked that she be sentenced to additional time in jail, but the judge rejected that request. She had faced up to three years in state prison.
Authorities said Gutierrez placed her newborn son in a shopping bag and left the bag in the parking lot of West Hills Hospital and Medical Center in the San Fernando Valley in February 2002. The baby was found by a nurse about 12 hours later.
Police said a receipt to a gift certificate that was left in the bag led them to Gutierrez, whose home is about a mile from the hospital.
Gutierrez, who also has a 6-year-old child, had left the baby after giving birth at her mother's house. Both of her children have been returned to her after the baby boy was initially placed in the custody of the county Department of Children and Family Services.
``The kids are doing great ... She's a completely different person now,'' said Gutierrez's lawyer Kevin Avery, who noted his client has completed parenting classes.
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