COURTESY KITV Christine Robles was convicted in June of manslaughter rather than second- degree murder .

Kauai mother gets
6 months in her
newborn baby’s death

The judge could have meted out
a 20-year prison sentence

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By Anthony Sommer
tsommer@starbulletin.com

LIHUE >> Christine Robles, 22, whose newborn baby was found dead last year in a trash can behind her parents' Koloa house, was sentenced yesterday to six months in jail and 10 years' probation for manslaughter.

About 20 of Robles family and friends attended the sentencing. Many wept openly when Circuit Judge Clifford Nakea gave her the sentence, and most thanked the judge as they left the courtroom.

Nakea said he came into court prepared to give Robles a one-year sentence but changed his mind after seeing how supportive her family was.

"Miss Robles, you have probably the largest support group that anyone has had since I've been sitting on this bench," Nakea told her.

Nakea said it was clear Robles was under a great deal of stress at the time because of her pregnancy and her religious beliefs opposing abortion, and he praised her for her honesty in dealing with investigators, her deep remorse and her taking responsibility for the baby's death.

"The problem for me is, How do I render a sentence that reflects the severity of what you have done and also reflects the person who stands in front of me?" Nakea said. "I can't just let you walk out of here. You've taken a life."

The Kauai prosecutor's office asked for the maximum 20-year term. Prosecutors agreed to reduce the charge from second-degree murder to manslaughter in exchange for a guilty plea on June 3.

Family members and friends told probation officers Robles was ashamed of her pregnancy and hid it from her parents. Her family is deeply religious and opposed to abortion.

"If she would have had an abortion, society's laws would have been satisfied, but all the other laws would have been broken," her pastor wrote the judge.

Her baby was born at her parents' home on April 30, 2001. Her father, who was the only one home, ran to a neighbor to call an ambulance.

Ambulance attendants found Robles unconscious and quickly determined she had just given birth. When they reached the hospital, they asked police to look for a newborn baby.

Officers found the dead child in a rice sack in a trash can behind the house. It is not clear who put the baby there.

An autopsy showed the baby had died of asphyxiation, but could not determine whether it had been intentionally killed or was unable to breathe because no one cleared its airway.

Six psychologists agreed Robles has no memory of the birth and probably was unconscious because of loss of blood and accidentally striking her head.

She was arrested when she left the hospital and immediately was released to the supervision of her parents.