Crack baby death conviction overturned

Associated Press
Published: May 13, 2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The state Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of a Conway woman found guilty of homicide by child abuse after her stillborn baby tested positive for cocaine.

In a unanimous ruling released Monday, Chief Justice Jean Toal wrote that Regina McKnight did not receive adequate counsel. The justice said other factors could have caused the child’s death.

McKnight’s first trial ended in a mistrial in January 2001. She was convicted in a second trial in May 2001, and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The state’s highest court upheld that conviction on a straight appeal in 2003, ruling that she should have known that taking cocaine could kill her baby. Monday’s ruling overturns the conviction based on the specific question about whether of her attorneys were competent.