Sentencing postponed in meth breast milk case; defendant may have been misinformed by her attorney, the court

◼ Sentencing postponed in meth breast milk case; defendant may have been misinformed by her attorney, the court - TS

The sentencing of a Loleta woman for voluntary manslaughter stemming from the death of her infant son was postponed for two weeks in order to give her time to decide whether she wants to vacate her plea.

Maggie Jean Wortman, 27, stands accused of killing her 6-week-old son, Michael Phillip Acosta III, by passing him a lethal dose of methamphetamine through her breast milk while nursing. She pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charge last month. However, Wortman entered into the plea agreement under the impression she could be sentenced to probation in the case -- a sentence for which it appears she is statutorily ineligible.

On Monday, Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Bruce Watson granted a defense motion seeking to postpone Wortman's sentencing hearing by two weeks, allowing Wortman and her attorney M.C. Bruce to determine whether she is probation eligible and, if not, whether she wants to retract her guilty plea.

Bruce said that in its pre-sentencing report in the case, the Humboldt County Probation Department advised that Wortman faces a mandatory prison sentence. Bruce disagrees, but he doesn't dispute the issue is in question under the California Penal Code Section 1203(k), which states that defendants are ineligible for probation in a case where they are convicted of committing a violent felony while already on felony probation.

When she was accused of inadvertently killing her son by nursing him after smoking methamphetamine in November 2010,

Wortman was on felony probation from a May 2010 conviction for maintaining a drug house. Voluntary manslaughter is considered a “violent felony” under section 667.5 of the penal code, which would seem to indicate Wortman is ineligible for probation and leaves her facing a mandatory term ranging from three years and eight months to 11 years and eight months in prison.

Bruce doesn't dispute that reading of the law but maintains his client is eligible for probation.