Appeals judges have tossed out the manslaughter conviction of a Brooklyn woman accused of smothering her newborn daughter moments after birth.
The ruling today came as a a “tremendous relief” to Laura Sergio, 30, who faced a five-year prison term if her conviction was upheld, said her lawyer, Richard Mischel.
Sergio gave birth April 6, 2007 to a baby girl in a bathroom of the Bay Ridge home she shared with her parents and two sisters.
After the birth, someone wrapped the baby in a towel and placed her in a garbage bag, where cops found her early the next morning.
Sergio said she had no recollection of the birth, and wasn’t even aware she was pregnant.
But Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes’ office charged that Sergio killed the child, and persuaded a judge to convict her of manslaughter at a bench trial two years ago.
A four-judge Appellate Division panel said that the DA’s case against Sergio didn’t add up.
It said the autopsy never determined the time of the child’s death or when she was put in the trash bag, and said the evidence “did not eliminate the possibility” that someone else killed the child.
Because the Appellate judges based their ruling on the facts of the case, the decision can’t be appealed. A spokesman for the Brooklyn DA’s office declined comment.
Sergio had been free on bail pending the appeal. “She has been trying as much as possible to carry on with her life,” Mischel said.
bsanderson@nypost.com