A woman gave birth in a Brooklyn courtroom late Friday night, just hours after being discharged from a hospital, according to police and witnesses.
Samantha Randazzo, 33, went into labor during her arraignment on a drug charge and delivered her baby “on a courtroom bench without adequate medical care, privacy, or dignity,” according to a joint statement from the Legal Aid Society and multiple public defender organizations whose members witnessed the birth firsthand.
Randazzo’s attorney, Wynton Sharpe, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. In a separate interview with The New York Times, he praised court officers who rushed to assist Randazzo when her water broke and described the situation as “joyful and sad.”
Randazzo delivered a baby boy, according to her lawyer.
The New York Police Department said Randazzo was arrested Thursday evening after officers allegedly saw two people on a rooftop at a public housing complex with a controlled substance “in plain view.” She was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal trespass.
“At the time of arrest and when they arrived at the station house, Ms. Randazzo was wearing baggy clothes, did not inform officers she was pregnant, did not indicate any disabilities, and declined medical attention,” the police said.
Early Friday morning, at around 3:30 a.m., Randazzo then informed officers she was pregnant and “experiencing withdrawal from drugs,” according to the police statement. Police say they then took her to Coney Island Hospital, which later discharged her. She gave birth in court just before midnight, roughly four hours after she was discharged, the NYPD said.
A call was made to the FDNY after she gave birth. The agency said she was transported by emergency medical services to Brooklyn Hospital.
NYC Health + Hospitals, which operates Coney Island Hospital, did not immediately respond to a request for more information on Randazzo’s initial discharge before her appearance in court.
The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, New York County Defender Services, the Bronx Defenders and the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem jointly criticized the decisions leading up to Randazzo’s labor. The organizations also took issue with “rumors” that some staff had joked about the incident.
The statement called for an investigation into the incident and a review of protocols governing pregnant people in custody.
“What occurred in that courtroom was not simply a failure of protocol or preparedness,” the statement said. “It was a profound moral failure and a devastating reflection of the cruelty embedded in our carceral system.”
