Mother Convicted as Drug Deliverer After Cocaine Is Found in Newborns

An addict who gave birth to two children with traces of cocaine in their systems was convicted of drug delivery Thursday under a law routinely used against drug dealers.

“A derivative of cocaine which the defendant had introduced into her body passed into theirs” through the umbilical cord, Circuit Judge O. H. Eaton Jr. ruled in the non-jury trial.

Jennifer Clarise Johnson, 23, faces up to 30 years in prison, but prosecutor Jeff Deen said he would recommend that she continue in a drug-treatment program and receive a long period of probation.

Deen said the verdict is “a new tool for prosecutors to put a stop to this great problem in this state and in the nation.”

A key issue in the case was whether a newborn is a person after birth but before the umbilical cord is severed. The state made that argument to justify prosecution under a law making it a felony to deliver drugs to minors.

“I am convinced and find that a child who is born but whose umbilical cord has not been severed is a ‘person’ within the intent and meaning” of Florida law, Eaton said. He ruled also that the term “delivery” includes passage of cocaine through the umbilical cord after birth.