A former USC student yesterday pleaded no contest to one charge of child endangerment resulting in death, ending a three-year legal battle in which she was accused of killing her newborn son.
Holly Ashcraft, now 23, was a third-year architecture student in October 2005 when a homeless man discovered a dead infant in a Dumpster behind the 29th Street Café.
DNA evidence proved it was Ashcraft's child, but defense attorney Mark Geragos argued the baby could have been stillborn.
As part of the plea deal, Ashcraft will spend no additional jail time, according to a press release by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
She was credited with two years' time served, which included 30 days spent in jail and nearly two years under electronic monitoring, said District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Jane Robison.
Ashcraft will be on probation for five years and faces up to ten years in prison for any violations. Formal sentencing is scheduled for June 27.
Geragos said Ashcraft wants to finish her degree but has not decided where.
"She's extremely pleased. This [case] has worn on her," Geragos said.
Los Angeles Police Department Detective Moses Castillo called the ruling disappointing and said the outcome was a result of "the facts of the case."
In the autopsy report, Deputy Medical Examiner David B. Whiteman concluded the baby was born alive, but could not provide the time of death or the specific cause.
The prosecution was also unable to identify the baby's father or any witnesses to the alleged crime.
In April 2004, Ashcraft was investigated on similar charges after she was admitted to a hospital showing signs of having just given birth but without a baby.
Then a USC freshman, she denied having a baby even after a medical examination and discharge of the placenta proved otherwise, Dr. Yvonne Bohn testified in the preliminary hearing.
Ashcraft then said it was stillborn and she had disposed of it. The infant's body was never found and charges were not filed.
At this point, Ashcraft was told about California's "Safe Haven" law which allows newborns to be dropped off at hospitals and fire stations with no questions asked, Castillo testified.
By October 2005, Ashcraft lived only a few blocks away from a fire station.
Detectives found envelopes addressed to Ashcraft inside the box containing the dead infant, Castillo testified. When questioned about the body at her apartment above the restaurant, Ashcraft denied having a baby and said she had only "read about it in the newspaper," Castillo testified.
The LAPD detective said the turning point in the case was when Superior Court Judge David Wesley reduced the original murder charge to involuntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors then moved to dismiss the case and re-file the original charges, only to see the murder charge reduced to involuntary manslaughter a second time and later thrown out.
At that point, only the child endangerment charge remained and a plea deal was made, said Deputy District Attorney Mary Murray, the third prosecutor to lead the case.
Spokeswoman Jane Robison of the district attorney's office said the "no contest" plea means Ashcraft does not have to admit guilt but will have a felony conviction on her record.
"I'd rather get her this time on something than lose the whole case," Castillo said.
Noting that national media outlets have been following the story, Castillo was hopeful Ashcraft might someday "give a tell-all."
"I want to know exactly what she did," he said.
