Midwife charged with homicide to enter plea


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MOAB, Utah (AP) - Court records show an unlicensed midwife charged with negligent homicide in the 2012 death of a newborn is set to accept a plea deal.

The court docket indicates that the 71-year-old Valerie ElHalta is expected to enter a plea Tuesday in a Moab court and bring the case to a close.

Prosecutors say ElHalta tried to help a 31-year-old woman give birth in August 2012 at the woman's Moab home. The baby wasn't breathing when born and died a week later at a hospital.

Prosecutors say ElHalta should never have performed such a risky birth at a home because the woman already had three cesarean section deliveries.

ElHalta's midwife certification had been revoked years earlier.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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