Former NICU nurse now facing 20 charges, attorney weighs in on why it’s impossible to predict more
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HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Eight new charges have been handed down to former Henrico Doctors' Hospital nurse Erin Strotman, meaning the former health professional now faces a total of 20 charges in the ongoing investigation into the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
The charges were issued by the Commonwealth, which also motioned in a court hearing on Wednesday, May 7 that Strotman's current bond be revoked.
Prosecutors argued they were in a different place in their investigation as of Wednesday, now that Strotman faces 18 more charges than she did at the time of her arrest in January.
The Commonwealth also argued that, with what's been revealed by the Virginia Department of Health Professions -- which suspended Strotman's nursing license and found her to pose a significant danger to the community -- it now had enough for probable cause.
Strotman's defense argued the motion was "ill-taken" and said it was confused as to why anyone could think Strotman is a danger to the community, as she's currently on house arrest. Regarding the charges, defense attorneys said "it's more, but it doesn't change where we are."
The judge ultimately declined the Commonwealth's motion and ruled the prior bond issued to Strotman would remain the same for the new charges.
"I think that Judge Wallerstein's reasoning is certainly logical, [that] doesn't mean that the Commonwealth isn't going to do everything that we think is appropriate and right at the time," said Henrico County Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor. "But we always will respect the court's ruling when it is when it is based in representations that are supported by law and do follow the statute."
ALL COVERAGE: Babies injured, abused at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital’s NICU
Since January, Strotman has been issued sets of new charges in multiple waves. There were the initial two charges in January, then six more added in March. Strotman received six new charges in April, including two prior charges that had been dismissed and then refiled in a different court. Finally, these eight additional charges were issued on Wednesday.
The 20 charges Strotman faces include felony malicious wounding and felony child abuse.
Attorney Steve Benjamin explained to 8News that one charge of malicious wounding can carry up to 40 years of imprisonment.
Each new charge that's issued is not to increase the range of potential punishment, but instead is the result of careful investigation and consultation, he said.
"It takes time to go back and to review past medical records to see if there have been similar injuries to newborns and then to try to determine whether there may have been criminal agency involved — that is, abuse of the children that caused the injury," Benjamin said. "If so, [figuring out] who may have been responsible for those injuries, and that sort of work, requires not only reviewing the medical records, but seeing who was staffing the unit at the time and then who may have been handling the infants in such a way that deviated from the standard of care." [sailthru_widget name="Sailthru Widget Block" sailthru_list="Breaking News" title="8News Breaking News Alerts"]
Benjamin added that the findings of the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and the Virginia Department of Nursing Professions would not hold any weight in deciding a potential conviction.
"The determinations of other agencies are irrelevant to the criminal prosecution," Benjamin said. "Whether a person is guilty of a crime is determined by a jury or a judge in a courtroom based on admissible evidence -- and what another agency might determine ... whether a license is suspended, for example, does not necessarily mean that that person is guilty of the crime that has been charged."
Benjamin said they may, however, be relevant in pretrial determinations such as the release status of a defendant -- which is why the Commonwealth attempted to cite Strotman's license suspension when requesting her bond be revoked Wednesday.
This is a developing story, stick with 8News for updates.
