The Supreme Court of Canada has reserved judgment in the Crown’s appeal of a woman acquitted of abandoning a new born baby at a Walmart in Prince Albert.
The woman, who cannot be named, gave birth to the baby in 2007 in a washroom cubicle.
She then left the store, saying she thought the baby was dead.
She was charged under the criminal code with unlawfully abandoning a child.
A trial judge found her not guilty and the verdict was upheld by a judge at the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
He said he believed the woman did not know she was pregnant and thought the child was dead.
Crown lawyers have argued the mother had a duty to determine whether her baby was alive and appealed on the grounds there was a failure to identify criminal intent.
With files from The Canadian Press
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