Rowland's out of jail, heading to Indiana

Melissa Ann Rowland, the woman originally charged with murder for delaying a Caesarean section, was released from jail Thursday after being sentenced on lesser charges.

Rowland, 28, will enter an inpatient rehabilitation program in Indiana that apparently will provide mental-health and substance-abuse treatment.

As part of a plea bargain, she previously pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree felony child endangerment. She gave birth in January to twins, one stillborn and one with drugs in her system.

Rowland was released from the Salt Lake County Jail just after 3:30 p.m. Thursday with a small plastic bag of personal items. She said that the clothes she was wearing and $150 in cash were all the possessions she had in the world.

"It's wonderful," she said when asked by the media how it felt to be out. "I'm anxious to get out of here. The fresh air feels great."

Despite being upbeat about being released, Rowland was still a little bitter about all that had happened to her.

"The district attorney was wrong. I should not have been charged with criminal homicide," she said.

Rowland said she entered the plea bargain only because she was guilty of doing drugs, not because she killed her baby.

Rowland's case made national news and outraged women's groups, patients-rights advocates and others.

Court documents said various doctors and nurses at three local hospitals told Rowland on different occasions starting Dec. 25, 2003, that her pregnancy had serious complications endangering the babies. But she resisted strong recommendations to have an emergency surgical delivery and left each facility against medical advice, according to court documents.

Thursday, Rowland adamantly denied the allegations about the C-section.

"I never refused a C-section," she said.

Rowland said Thursday that from the day she found out she was pregnant she knew she would have to have a C-section.

Rowland delivered the twins Jan. 13 by Caesarean section, with a twin boy born dead and a twin girl born alive but with cocaine in her system. The girl has since been adopted.

Third District Judge Dennis Fuchs sentenced Rowland to two terms of zero-to-5 years in prison to run concurrently, but he suspended the prison sentence and put Rowland on "good behavior" probation for 18 months.