DENTON -- A Guatemalan teen-ager who faces a first-degree murder charge in the death last month of her newborn son was returned to jail yesterday, her bail review hearing postponed until the state medical examiner's office determines how the infant died.
Defense lawyers and prosecutors said they had little choice but to delay the proceeding for 17-year-old Erminia Escalante-Berduo.
"Obviously, we can't get to first base in this case without an autopsy report," said Caroline County public defender W. Porter Ellington. "The cause of death is crucial for the defense and the state. But I'm not going along with this for long. There's no reason for her to be sitting in jail."
Prosecutor Robert Greenleaf told District Judge L. Edgar Brown that he would subpoena the state medical examiner's office if an autopsy report is not completed by March 25, the new hearing date.
Dr. Margarita Korell, the state pathologist in charge of the case, did not return phone calls yesterday.
Investigators say that Escalante-Berduo delivered the baby about 10: 30 a.m. Feb. 1 on the floor of a trailer she shared with her aunt and uncle in the rural town of Marydel in northeastern Caroline County.
About two hours later, relatives discovered the child wrapped in a plastic bag and Escalante-Berduo lying unconscious on a couch nearby.
When paramedics and the Rev. Chris LaBarge -- the Roman Catholic priest who ministers to a large Hispanic community at Immaculate Conception Church in Marydel -- arrived, the baby was dead.
Escalante-Berduo, who entered the country illegally, moved into the trailer park near the Delaware line and began a job in a Kent County egg-packing plant in December, was charged as an adult with first- and second-degree murder, as well as assault and child abuse for allegedly failing to care for the child.
LaBarge and others familiar with the region's growing Hispanic community have questioned whether Escalante-Berduo fully understands the charges against her. They also say that, as an illegal immigrant, her identity and age are likely to be false.
Yesterday, Erwin Bentzen Granados, first secretary and counsel at the Guatemalan Embassy in Washington, said preliminary checks show that Escalante-Berduo turned 17 on Valentine's Day, two weeks after her baby died.
"As far as we know, she entered the country illegally," Granados said. "We will monitor the case, and there will be a Guatemalan lawyer who will join the defense team."
Pub Date: 3/12/99