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Teen mother expected to plead to manslaughter in baby's death

Grossberg
Grossberg  

Boyfriend pled guilty to throwing away newborn

April 21, 1998
Web posted at: 11:26 a.m. EDT (1526 GMT)

In this story:

DOVER, Delaware (CNN) -- The 19-year-old woman accused of killing her newborn son and leaving him in a motel trash bin is expected to join her former boyfriend -- the baby's father -- in pleading guilty to manslaughter on Wednesday.

Amy Grossberg and her attorneys decided on a plea deal after learning what former boyfriend Brian Peterson would say in testimony against her, according to published accounts on Tuesday.

Peterson's attorney, Joe Hurley, told CNN that he had briefly discussed Grossberg's plea with her lawyers. Although he wouldn't divulge the substance of those talks, he said, "My expectation is that she will plead to the lesser charge of manslaughter."

Grossberg's attorney declined to comment on the reports, which gave no details of what Peterson allegedly would say. But The (Wilmington, Delaware) News Journal quoted one source as saying it was "devastating" to Grossberg's defense.

Two sources told The Bergen (County, New Jersey) Record that Grossberg's decision to plead guilty came when her attorneys received a detailed account of Peterson's statement to investigators after he pleaded guilty.

Peterson
Peterson  

Hurley said he wasn't involved with Grossberg's decision. But he said Peterson's statement "probably had an effect. People blink when they're looking over the cliff."

Plea due on Wednesday

Grossberg is expected to enter her plea at a hearing Wednesday. Manslaughter carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, but under sentencing guidelines a term of no more than 2 1/2 years is likely.

The two teens were high school sweethearts when they were charged with first-degree murder after the November 12, 1996, death of their infant son at a motel in Newark, Delaware.

Grossberg claimed that she did not know she had delivered a baby and had no role in disposing of the body.

The state medical examiner's office determined that the boy was born alive, was full term and died of multiple skull fractures caused by blunt trauma and shaking.

Peterson, 19, pleaded guilty to manslaughter last month and agreed to testify against Grossberg when her trial was scheduled to begin May 4. Charges against her were reduced earlier this month to second-degree murder and murder by abuse or neglect.

Legal experts have said they believe Peterson's plea -- in which he acknowledged putting the body in the trash bin but said he believed the baby was dead -- made it virtually impossible for the state to win a first-degree murder conviction against Grossberg.

Grossberg and Peterson remain free on $300,000 bail and are living with their parents in northern New Jersey where they grew up. At the time the baby was born, Grossberg was a student at the University of Delaware; Peterson was attending Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 
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