Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 27, 1994 TAG: 9401270202
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Judge John Apostolou dismissed the charge after reading a psychologist's opinion that Catherine L. Cochran, 20, had made a "reasonable recovery" from the incident.
Cochran did not testify during a brief court appearance with her attorney, Robert Lanier of Buena Vista.
After her arrest in April 1993, Cochran told police that she kept her pregnancy a secret because she did not want to disappoint her mother.
Cochran did her best to hide her condition from classmates in a Roanoke Memorial Hospital nursing program.
Alone in her dormitory room March 17, she delivered a stillborn boy. She disposed of the body at the McDonald's on Plantation Road.
An autopsy showed the child would not have lived, even if the mother had sought proper medical care.
In April, Cochran with charged with illegal disposal of a body.
In June, substitute Judge Ellen Weiman took the charge under advisement provided that Cochran perform 150 hours of community service and continue with counseling.
Julie Jennings, a Lexington psychologist, stated in a letter Jan. 20 that Cochran no longer needed counseling.
by CNB