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Teens accused of killing infant son freed on bail
January 21, 1997Web posted at: 8:30 p.m. EST
WILMINGTON, Delaware (CNN) -- High school sweethearts accused of murdering their newborn son won temporary freedom Tuesday after their parents posted bail of $300,000 each.
Brian Peterson and Amy Grossberg were fitted with electronic monitoring devices at a half-way house, then transported separately to private residences in New Castle County, where they will spend the night.
Peterson and Grossberg, both 18 and charged with first-degree murder, will be allowed to await trial under 24-hour electronic surveillance at their parents' New Jersey homes. The judge ordered them to surrender any passports and imposed a daily curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Superior Court Judge Henry duPont Ridgely ruled the pair could be freed Tuesday night, if they did not leave Delaware. They will be allowed to return to their home in Bergen, New Jersey, as soon as the electronic surveillance system is in place, expected Wednesday.
Prosecutors, who had asked for $500,000 bail, decided against contesting the defense request for bail. If they had done so, they would have had to reveal much of their evidence in an ensuing court hearing.
It is rare, but not unprecedented, for bail to be allowed in first-degree murder cases in Delaware in which defendants face the possibility of the death penalty.
Peterson and Grossberg have not denied giving birth to a boy and disposing of him in a Newark, Delaware, motel dumpster in November, but do deny allegations they fractured his skull.
The 6-pound, 2-ounce boy was found wrapped in plastic and left in a motel trash bin. An autopsy showed the infant suffered a skull fracture and had been shaken.
Both defendants were in college at the time of the alleged murder, Grossberg at the University of Delaware in Newark, and Peterson at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.
Related stories:
- Delaware teens to be arraigned on murder charges - January 20, 1997
- Teens plead not guilty in infant death case - December 17, 1996
- College freshman surrenders in infant son's death - November 21, 1996
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