Judge Drops Probation Counts Against Mother of Heat-Stroke Victims

A North Orange County Municipal Court judge Wednesday dismissed probation violation charges against the mother of infant twins who died of heat stroke after she left them unattended in her car last month.

Beverly J. Ernst, 25, was arrested in Garden Grove on July 20 on suspicion of manslaughter and willful cruelty to children resulting in death. The babies--3-month-old Ashley and Adam--died after allegedly being left in children’s car seats in the back of Ernst’s Chevrolet while their mother visited a friend.

But charges weren’t filed immediately, and a controversy erupted as county authorities kept the Anaheim woman in the Orange County Jail for six days. For two of those days, she was held on suspicion of violating her probation in a completely different Anaheim case.

That drew the wrath of the judge who eventually ordered Ernst’s release.

“But for the district attorney not being able to hold her on his own charge, she wouldn’t be in jail at all,” North Orange County Municipal Judge Margaret R. Anderson said after freeing Ernst on July 25. “I just didn’t like the way this whole thing was done, and I won’t be a party to holding this woman like this.”

Probation in Unrelated Case

Last March, Ernst was convicted of resisting arrest, a misdemeanor, and sentenced to three years’ informal probation. The charge stemmed from an argument with her mother that her Anaheim neighbors reported to police. Prosecutors maintained that her arrest in the death of the twins constituted a violation of her probation, which states that she should not break the law.

Ernst was charged with two counts each of involuntary manslaughter and involuntary child endangerment on Aug. 11. She pleaded not guilty.

On Wednesday, Ernst appeared before North Orange County Municipal Court Judge Arthur D. Guy Jr. She looked frail and concerned, and raced out of the courthouse after the proceedings. “I have no comment,” she said.

Her attorney, Public Defender Dennis O’Connell, contended that the dismissal of probation violation charges supports the view that “they (the district attorney’s office) filed the violation simply to hold her in custody.”

“To me, it was heartbreaking that they made a move like that to keep her in custody when there really was no basis for it,” O’Connell said. “They may have had legal grounds to file the violation, but this was not the type of case where she’ll go out and re-offend.”

Wade Makes Comments

Wallace Wade, the deputy district attorney in charge of the case against Ernst, said the dismissal of the parole violation charges does not affect Ernst’s manslaughter case. And he described O’Connell’s characterization of the violation charges as “hyperbole.”

“I’m a little surprised that the public defender doesn’t understand that when someone is on probation they are involved in a trust relationship,” Wade said. “It’s a legitimate use of prosecutorial authority to bring it (violation of that trust) to the attention of the court. Now that we’ve filed greater charges against her, I don’t think that that’s at all inconsistent.”

Judge Guy dismissed the charges after the City of Anaheim withdrew its petition and requested that Ernst’s probation be reinstated.

“Now that the district attorney has filed felony charges against her, we’re letting them proceed with their case,” said Bruce Bartram, Anaheim deputy city attorney. “She (now) faces much more serious consequences. We can always refile pending the outcome of the felony case.”