"Newborn Boy" BARRY- at birth (2009)/ Charged: Mother: Keri Barry - Wayne NJ

A Wayne woman is free on $150,000 bail after being arraigned in state court
Monday on charges she asphyxiated her newborn child.

Keri Barry, 22, pleaded not guilty before state Superior Court Judge Raymond
A. Reddin in Paterson to one count of aggravated manslaughter and two
counts of child endangerment. Reddin reduced Barry’s bail from
$200,000, set by another judge upon her arrest last week, to $150,000
at the request of defense attorney John J. Bruno Jr. of Rutherford and
without objection from Passaic County Senior Assistant Prosecutor
Robert Pringle. Defense co-counsel Ike Gavzy confirmed later in the day
that Barry’s family posted the bail through a bondsman and that she had
been released from the Passaic County Jail.Judge Reddin said
during the arraignment that, at Bruno’s request, he would personally
contact the jail’s chief doctor to attend to a medical issue Barry is
experiencing. Bruno would not specify outside of court what the nature
of the problem was. “She hasn’t seen a doctor since she’s been in
jail,” was all he would say about her medical condition.“This
was a very tragic situation,” he added, following the arraignment.
“There is another dimension to this case that we look forward to
discussing in the hopes of shedding a different light on things.” Bruno
would not elaborate.Barry’s parents, aunt, and a brother, who
Bruno said had just returned from Iraq, attended the hearing. All
declined comment afterwards, weeping and embracing in the courthouse
hallway.Barry gave birth to a live, full-term baby boy on Dec.
11 while she was home and did not seek medical attention, according to
authorities. Her family later realized something was wrong and took her
to Chilton Memorial Hospital in Pequannock, where staff discovered she
had given birth. Barry’s home was searched, and police confiscated
garbage bags left outside the house that authorities said contained
afterbirth. The baby was found in one of the plastic garbage bags,
according to officials.Authorities have said they know who the child’s father
is but have not revealed his identity.The case now awaits action by a grand jury.

A Wayne woman was arraigned Monday on a charge of murder in the death of
her newborn child.
Keri Barry, 22, appeared before state Superior Court Judge Greta
Gooden-Brown in Paterson on charges of murder, endangering the welfare
of a child and hindering apprehension. Judge Gooden-Brown raised Barry’s
bail from $150,000 to $200,000. She remains free on bail and has until
Friday to put up the additional money. Barry said little during the
brief proceedings, which was attended by her parents, other relatives
and friends.
Lawyers from both sides emphasized that the case is complicated and the evidence to sift through is voluminous.

Passaic County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Robert Pringle said
in court that investigators have found Instant Messages and other
evidence indicating that Barry knew she was pregnant all along, despite
her initially telling police she did not realize she was.
At first, Barry insisted she’d had a miscarriage after being
taken to the hospital in December. However, five days later police found
the baby’s body in a household trash bag discovered with other garbage
in a back shed of Barry’s Alps Road home.Co-defense counsel John Bruno Jr. of Rutherford said outside court,
“We agree somebody should be held responsible for the death of the baby but not the defendant.”
“Why did it take Wayne Police five days to search that trash bag?” he later added but would not elaborate.
Authorities have declined to release information on evidence relating to how and when the newborn was placed in the trash bag.
Pringle said outside of court that, in hindsight, perhaps
investigators should have checked the bag sooner but added: “You have to
remember the information police had at the time. She kept insisting she
never had a child, and that anything that came out of her went down the toilet.”
In court, Bruno told Gooden-Brown that the defense hasn’t even
begun to scratch the surface in terms of reviewing evidence gathered by
the state. He said he anticipates filing a motion to dismiss the
indictment and a motion to suppress certain other evidence. He called it
“an extraordinary case with extraordinary issues.” At this early stage
of the game, he said he was not willing to spell out the details of the defense’s case.
“Our client gave birth to a baby, all by herself, in a basement.
Three hours, by herself, losing blood,” Bruno added.
A grand jury in May indicted Barry, 22, of Wayne on an upgraded
charge of murder in the death of her newborn son, whose body was found
in a garbage bag found outside her home last December. Barry was
originally charged in December with aggravated manslaughter and
endangering the welfare of a child. Murder carries a possible life
sentence, while child endangerment carries a maximum sentence of up to
10 years in prison. Hindering apprehension carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Authorities said Barry gave birth on Dec. 11 to a full-term boy
while she was alone at her home and did not try to seek medical attention.
Her family later realized something was wrong and took her to
Chilton Memorial Hospital in Pequannock. Township police were notified
because the child’s whereabouts were unknown. Barry’s home was searched,
and police confiscated garbage bags left outside the house that
allegedly contained the afterbirth.
The baby was discovered in one of the plastic garbage bags
during an examination at police headquarters, authorities said. An
autopsy determined that the cause of death was asphyxiation, according
to the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.

New indictment charges Wayne woman with murder of newborn
April 26, 2011



A Wayne woman was re-indicted Tuesday on a charge of murdering her newborn child after a state judge last month dismissed the original indictment because of possible bias among grand jurors.


Keri Barry, 22, gave birth to a full-term baby on Dec. 11, 2009 at her then-home at 173 Alps Road in Wayne, according to the state. Barry was alone at the time and made no attempt to seek medical attention, the state alleges. An autopsy determined the child was a healthy, full-term baby boy who died of asphyxiation, according to the prosecution.

When Barry’s family learned that something was physically wrong with her, she was taken to Chilton Hospital in Pompton Plains. Hospital staff discovered she had recently given birth and were concerned about the baby, according to the state. As the child’s whereabouts was unknown and Barry’s family unaware that she had given birth, the Wayne Police Department was notified and an investigation began, authorities say.

The family agreed to a search of their home, where garbage bags were collected that allegedly contained afterbirth, according to the prosecution. Upon searching the bags at police headquarters, the dead baby was found, authorities say.

Barry had previously been indicted on murder and related charges by a Passaic County grand jury but state Superior Court Judge Greta Gooden Brown last month dismissed the indictment. The judge agreed with defense attorneys’ arguments that some of the previous grand jurors may not have been fully questioned about possible prior knowledge they had of the case through newspaper reports or the Internet.

The judge, while dismissing the indictment, left the door open for the prosecution to present the case anew to another grand jury panel.

Barry faces charges in the indictment of murder, endangering the welfare of a child, and hindering apprehension. She could face life in prison if convicted.

E-mail: petrick@northjersey.com

http://www.njhia.org/current-news/nj-homicide-news/new-indictment-charges-wayne-woman-with-murder-of-newborn/

Judge: Sufficient evidence for murder charge against Wayne woman in newborn's death

December 17, 2012, 5:47 PM
Last updated: Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 11:04 AM
By JOHN PETRICK, staff writer, The Record

A judge on Monday found there is sufficient evidence to support a murder charge against a Wayne woman accused of asphyxiating her newborn infant in 2009 by placing it in a trash bag and tying it up.

Defense attorney John Bruno of Rutherford depicted Keri Barry as being unable mentally and physically to call for help when she gave birth prematurely, leaving her bloodied and debilitated in the basement bathroom of her parents’ house, where she lived, with no working phone nearby.

“We have to remove the emotional element from consideration,” Bruno said, in arguing his motion to dismiss the murder charge because of insufficient evidence. “One of the critical elements of murder is ‘purposefulness.’ We cannot ignore that she was giving birth in a basement bathroom, screaming for her life.

“The state says, ‘Well, she should have called for help.’ Who could she have called for help when she’s in and out of consciousness, giving birth to a baby? The girl was in the basement alone with blood all over the place.”

Passaic County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Robert Pringle argued that evidence depicts a more self-possessed woman who, via instant messages, told friends in the months preceding the birth that she knew full well she was pregnant and didn’t want the baby.

Those instant messages also indicate Barry was researching ways to induce a miscarriage through binge drinking and bad eating, and that she did just that. She even talked about wanting to have her tubes tied in an instant message conversation less than an hour before she gave birth, according to the prosecution.

Barry at first told investigators that she never even knew she was pregnant when the apparent miscarriage overcame her, with the baby coming out in chunks that she flushed down the toilet, the prosecution noted. She later changed that story, the prosecution said, saying she did know she was pregnant, but claimed that the baby was apparently stillborn because it made no movements or sounds.

Barry, 25, of Alps Road, gave birth to a live full-term baby boy Dec. 11, 2009 while she was home alone and did not seek medical attention, according to prosecutors. Her family later realized something was wrong and took her to Chilton Memorial Hospital in Pequannock, where staff found she had recently given birth, prosecutors have said.

Township police were notified because the whereabouts of the child were unknown. Barry’s home was searched at the invitation of the family, and police confiscated garbage bags left outside the house that allegedly contained the afterbirth. The baby was found Dec. 15 in one of the plastic garbage bags during an examination of the evidence at police headquarters, according to officials. An autopsy determined the cause of death was asphyxiation.

Confronted with the autopsy conclusion, Barry told police that she wrapped the remains of the child in a towel and put it in a plastic bag and then tied it, but that it had never made any movements or sounds, according to the prosecution.

In yet another version, that the defense Monday maintained police coerced out of her after five hours of grilling while she was still weak from giving birth, Barry said the baby may have gurgled or moved it’s lips a bit before she placed it in the trash bag and tied it up, Pringle said.

The defense has also made much of the fact that police did not discover the baby’s remains in that trash bag until days after the birth. The time lag raises the question of whether the baby could have still been alive in the trash bag prior to police finding it. “Because of the very poor police work the baby was not found until the 15th,” Bruno said.

State Superior Court Judge Raymond A. Reddin in Paterson ruled that there is no evidence, such as signs of trauma, suggesting Barry physically did anything to the baby to cause the child’s death as a murder charge warrants. Nor has Barry ever admitted to suffocating the child. However, Reddin ruled, a reasonable person could conclude that putting a still-moving baby into a garbage bag and tying it could cause the baby to be asphyxiated. “The bag could not have been tied recklessly or negligently. That’s a purposeful act,” he said.

The judge noted that at trial, the defense may develop evidence to dissuade jurors from any of these conclusions but that for the sake of trial, the murder charge can stand.

A trial date has not yet been set.

- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/judge-sufficient-evidence-for-murder-charge-against-wayne-woman-in-newborn-s-death-1.368308#sthash.pZ6tLNs4.dpuf

Judge won't remove prosecutor in trial of Wayne woman accused of killing newborn

June 19, 2013, 6:45 PM    Last updated: Thursday, June 20, 2013, 11:37 AM

By JOHN PETRICK
Staff Writer
The Record


kevin r. wexler / staff photographer

Keri Barry, along with defense attorney John Bruno, in court Wednesday.


A judge Wednesday refused to remove a prosecutor in the case of a Wayne woman charged with murdering her newborn child, rejecting the defense attorney’s assertion that he should be compelled to testify about failing to immediately turn over a report that found Wayne Police mishandled the investigation.

Defense attorney John Bruno of Rutherford argued it took his firm three years of hounding the state before receiving an Internal Affairs report finding that a Wayne police detective compromised evidence by waiting to examine a garbage bag taken from the home of 25-year-old defendant Keri Barry which contained the remains of the infant victim.

He said that Internal Affairs investigation found that the delay in checking the garbage bag “caused the value of the evidence to diminish,” in the report’s own words. That could mean that key medical examiner’s findings may have turned out differently if the body been discovered sooner, Bruno said.

Bruno has also suggested during previous court hearings that the report’s findings suggest that the baby might have been found alive if police had looked in the trash bags sooner. Yet, he noted, it is his client who is accused of causing the baby's death.

Bruno argued the report’s findings should have been part of the evidence presented to the grand jury that indicted Barry, and that he will soon file a separate motion seeking dismissal of the indictment on those grounds. The defense lawyer said he asked Passaic Senior Assistant Prosecutor Robert Pringle for at least the past three years if there was an Internal Affairs report, and if so, what it found. He said that Pringle only revealed in February that such a report existed. It was turned over to the defense soon thereafter.

“Did Mr. Pringle drop the ball?” Bruno said. “The question needs to be answered through testimony, not only from someone from the Wayne Police Department, but from Mr. Pringle.”

Pringle insisted the first time Bruno asked if there was an internal report, and if he could have it, was in February – not three years ago. The prosecutor said until then, even he wasn’t aware there was such an investigation or report, nor did he particularly care. In the end, he said, it doesn’t impact the state’s case – that Barry initially lied about having the baby, stuffed it with towels into a plastic bag, closed the bag and discarded it with the trash.

“He asked for the report and we gave it to him,” Pringle said. “So what is Mr. Bruno saying? That I should have thought of something three years ago, before he did?”

State Superior Court Judge Raymond A. Reddin in Paterson said he saw no reason to remove Pringle because there is no indication he suppressed evidence. And in the end, Reddin said, the defense got what it wanted – the report. He noted that it is privileged information, even to the prosecutor himself, who had to seek a court order to have it released to the state and defense.

“I believe Mr. Pringle acted properly,” Reddin said. “We have it (the report) now and people can deal with it as they see fit. I’m not a doctor. I don’t know if that child could have been alive in that bag after 30 hours. I’m not qualified to say.”

Barry gave birth to a live, full-term baby boy on Dec. 11, 2009, while she was home alone, and did not seek medical attention, according to prosecutors. Her family later realized something was wrong and took her to Chilton Memorial Hospital in Pequannock, where staff found she had recently given birth, prosecutors have said.

Township police were notified because the whereabouts of the child were unknown. Barry's home was searched at the invitation of the family, and police confiscated garbage bags left in the garage that allegedly contained the afterbirth and the remains. The baby was found Dec. 15 in one of the plastic garbage bags during an examination of the evidence at police headquarters, according to officials. An autopsy determined that the cause of death was asphyxiation.

Pringle has maintained that Barry covered the baby in towels while he was still alive and healthy and placed him in a small plastic bag. She left that for her father to collect when gathering the household trash into one larger garbage bag, which he did, not noticing anything wrong, according to Pringle. Her father then brought that trash bag to the garage, as he usually did.

Pringle has noted that it was 24 hours from the time Barry secretly gave birth until the police even became involved, once she finally went to the hospital. It wasn't until about 36 hours after the birth that police learned from the father that there was a trash bag containing household garbage in the garage, at which point police retrieved it and brought it to headquarters. According to Pringle, the lead investigator looked in the trash bag a few days later, finding remains.

Barry is currently free on $200,000 bail.


http://www.northjersey.com/news/judge-won-t-remove-prosecutor-in-trial-of-wayne-woman-accused-of-killing-newborn-1.692803#sthash.MspSOHYP.dpuf

Judge allows redacted emails in trial of Wayne woman accused of killing newborn

February 11, 2014, 6:49 PM    Last updated: Wednesday, February 12, 2014, 11:11 AM

By JOHN PETRICK
staff writer
The Record


Don Smith/staff photographer

Keri Barry in court Tuesday.


A jury will be allowed to consider instant messages — redacted by the court — in which a Wayne woman accused of killing her newborn son talks about not want a child and her desire to end the pregnancy, a judge ruled Tuesday.

State Superior Court Judge Raymond A. Reddin’s split ruling granted the prosecution’s request to allow the messages at trial, but also granted the defense’s request to pare them down.

Keri Barry’s “emotionally volatile” remarks about taking handfuls of birth control pills and wanting to get her tubes tied could make the jury “hate” her, depriving her of a fair trial, defense lawyer John Bruno, of Rutherford, had argued during evidence admissibility hearings.

“This judge was extraordinarily thorough and careful and had a well-reasoned decision and I believe that he has granted in part the defense request to omit certain inflammatory and prejudicial comments,” Bruno said after the ruling. “We naturally would have preferred the suppression of all emails and chats. However I believe what the judge did was fair and will put Keri in a much fairer light prior to today’s ruling.”

Assistant Passaic County Prosecutor Robert Pringle had countered during the hearings that the jury should be allowed to hear the messages because they show she lied to her parents, police and hospital workers when she told them she didn’t knew she was pregnant until she gave birth, and that she believed she’d either had a miscarriage or that the baby was stillborn.

Barry, who is charged with murder, is set to go to trial next month.
In meeting the prosecution and defense half way, Reddin ruled that the state can use the messages to show Barry knew she was pregnant and had tried different ways to end it, but without inflammatory remarks the defense said were the rantings of a confused young woman messaging a friend, not confessions.

For example, in a conversation from April 10, 2009, the judge allowed part of a chat in which Barry tells her friend she swallowed a week’s worth of birth control pills in a deliberate attempt to lose the baby. But, he wouldn’t allow her friend’s response: “It sounds like you did some damage. let’s hope that you did the damage that you hoped for. lol.”

In another conversation on Dec. 11, 2009, the day the baby was born, Barry discusses her desire never to have children. “You don’t understand the pain I’ve been in and now how my body is I don’t want kids of my own I know that for a fact.”

While the judge ruled that was admissible, he edited out a later remark in which Barry adds: “If I do get married the guy will know early on I don’t want kids I have my tubes tied not happening.”

Barry, now 26, of Alps Road, gave birth to a live full-term baby boy Dec. 11, 2009, while she was home alone, and she did not seek medical attention, according to prosecutors. Her family later realized something was wrong and took her to Chilton Memorial Hospital in Pequannock, where staff found she had recently given birth, prosecutors have said.

Township police were notified because the whereabouts of the child were unknown. Barry's home was searched and police confiscated garbage bags left outside the house that contained what was thought to be the afterbirth. The baby's body was found amid the alleged afterbirth on Dec. 15, 2009, in one of the plastic garbage bags during an examination of the evidence at police headquarters, according to officials. An autopsy determined that the cause of death was asphyxiation.

Confronted with the autopsy conclusion, Barry told police that she believed the baby had been stillborn, as it never made any sounds or movements. She said she wrapped the remains of the child in a towel and put them in a plastic bag and then tied it, according to the prosecution.

In a subsequent version, which the defense contends police coerced from her after five hours of grilling, Barry said the baby may have gurgled or moved his lips a bit before she placed it in the trash bag and tied it, according to prosecutors.

The defense has pointed out that police did not discover the baby's remains in that trash bag until days after the birth. The time lag raises the question of whether the baby could still have been alive in the trash bag when it was found by police. A police Internal Affairs report also concluded that the delay may have affected the accuracy of the autopsy results.

Barry faces life in prison if convicted of murder.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/judge-allows-redacted-emails-in-trial-of-wayne-woman-accused-of-killing-newborn-1.704690

Judge Allows Instant Messages in Wayne Mother's Murder Trial

Woman is accused of killing her newborn baby. Trial starts next month, report says.


February 14, 2014 at 05:07 AM




Instant messages a Wayne woman now on trial for allegedly murdering her newborn child sent to a friend while she was pregnant will be allowed in court, a judge ruled this week, according to a NorthJersey.com report. However, the messages will be somewhat pared down, the report said.

State Superior Court Judge Raymond A. Reddin granted the prosecution's request to allow Keri Barry's instant messages to be considered in the trial, but said that certain messages that were particularly "inflammatory" could be taken out of consideration, the report said.

For example, a 2009 conversation in which Barry tells her friend she swallowed a week’s worth of birth control pills to lose the baby is allowed, the report said. But, her friend's response saying she hoped Barry did the damage she was hoping for was not allowed, it said. 

Barry's murder trial is set to begin next month, NorthJersey.com reported.

According to the report, Barry, now 26, gave birth at home without seeking medical attention in December 2009.

After her family took her to the doctor and allowed for a search of her home, investigators found a male baby’s body wrapped in a garbage bag outside her home, the report said.

http://wayne.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/judge-allows-instant-messages-in-wayne-mothers-murder-trial

Trial of Wayne woman accusing of killing newborn delayed

April 10, 2014, 4:00 PM    Last updated: Thursday, April 10, 2014, 4:36 PM

By KIBRET MARKOS
staff writer
The Record


Don Smith/staff photographer

Keri Barry in court in February.


The trial of a Wayne woman accused of killing her newborn son four years ago will be delayed at least another six months while Passaic County prosecutors challenge a Paterson judge’s decision to exclude some evidence.

Keri Barry’s trial was scheduled to start this week with jury selection in Superior Court in Paterson, following pretrial hearings to determine what evidence can be introduced at trial.

Prosecutors had sought to introduce a series of instant messages in which Barry talked about wanting to end her pregnancy prior to giving birth in December 2009.

Judge Raymond Reddin had ruled that the instant messages can be admitted at trial, but not the most inflammatory comments. Prosecutors said they will appeal Reddin’s decision and seek a ruling from a higher court to have all of the instant messages admitted into evidence.

Reddin put off the trial following the announcement by prosecutors that they intend to appeal. A ruling on such appeals could take six months to a year, Keith Hoffman, an assistant Passaic County prosecutor who handles appeals, said at the hearing Thursday.

Robert Pringle, the assistant prosecutor who is handling Barry’s case, declined to comment later, saying that the case is now pending an appeal.

Defense attorney John Bruno said he was disappointed because the delay will upset the schedules of witnesses who were lined up to testify.

“It also put my client on an emotional roller coaster,” he said.

On the other hand, an appeal by prosecutors will give him an opportunity to file a cross-appeal and renew his motion to dismiss the indictment against Barry, he said. That motion was denied several months ago, he said.

Prosecutors said Barry, 26, of Alps Road, gave birth to a baby boy on Dec. 11, 2009, and did not seek medical attention. Her family later took her to a hospital and found out that she had recently given birth, they said.

Police were then notified and searched Barry ‘s home, taking away garbage bags left outside the house that investigators believed contained the afterbirth, prosecutors said. Police later searched the bags and discovered the baby’s body, and an autopsy determined that the infant died from asphyxiation, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors allege that Barry placed the child in a bag while he was alive and tied up the bag, causing the asphyxiation.

Barry, meanwhile, told police shortly after her arrest that she believed the baby was stillborn, but said after further questioning that the baby may have gurgled or moved his lips before she placed it in a trash bag and tied it. Bruno has argued that Barry’s latter statement was coerced during five hours of interrogation by police.


http://www.northjersey.com/news/trial-of-wayne-woman-accusing-of-killing-newborn-delayed-1.898628