Finch files plea agreement in 'baby in trunk' case

April K. Finch, of Jasonville, has agreed to plead guilty but mentally ill to two charges in connection with the case of her placing her baby in the trunk of a car last year.

In a negotiated plea agreement filed Tuesday morning during a pre-trial hearing in Greene Circuit Court, the state agreed to dismiss the charge of neglect of a dependent and Finch agreed to plead guilty but mentally ill to criminal confinement -- a class C felony, and false informing -- a class A misdemeanor.

The state is not recommending a sentence on the count of criminal confinement -- that will be left up to the discretion of Greene Circuit Court Judge Erik C. Allen.

On the charge of false informing, the state recommends a $35 fine and 90 days in jail with credit for time served, to be served concurrently with the criminal confinement sentence.

Before the agreement was reached, Finch had undergone some psychiatric evaluations which resulted in the plea of guilty but mentally ill.

If the negotiated plea agreement is approved by the court, Finch could face a minimum of two years up to eight years of incarceration. If she were sentenced to prison, some special treatment might be given to her for mental illness.

The court has not yet set a date for a sentencing hearing.

The Finch case began on June 6, 2007 when Finch called the Greene County Sheriff's Department and reported her 3 1/2-month-old baby girl was missing. A search followed and the baby was found a short time later in a locked car trunk at the residence of her mother.

The baby was transported to Greene County General Hospital for observation and Child Protective Services was contacted.

The child was removed from the mother's custody.

Shortly after the incident, Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw said he was sure the incident was not an accident.

"It was not an accident. The baby was only 3 1/2 months old so there is no way that she could have climbed into the trunk herself," he added.

Police believe the infant girl may have been in the trunk for up to 4 1/2 hours.

According to court records, when the baby was discovered she was "drenched in sweat despite the fact that the outside temperature was in the 50s, her diaper was very wet and full of fecal matter, she appeared to have vomited while in the trunk and was foaming at the mouth."

The baby was treated at Greene County General Hospital in Linton for dehydration and released. After treatment, she was reportedly "doing fine" and was under the care of the Greene County Department of Child Services.

Finch was arrested after a four-day investigation and several interviews with Greene County Sheriff's Department, Jasonville City Police, Indiana State Police officers, investigators from the Greene County Prosecutor's office as well as officials with the Greene County Department of Child Services since the incident.

During one of the interviews, Finch told authorities "that she (April Finch) must have done this, that all the evidence pointed to her, but she did not remember what happened," according to the probable cause affidavit.

During the interview, April Finch responded "yes" when she was asked if she put the baby in the vehicle's trunk.

When asked by a police investigator why she put the baby in the car trunk, April Finch's initial answer was "I don't know."

Later, she told Det. Gress that she put the baby in the vehicle's trunk to get attention.

Staff writers Timberly Ferree, Nick Schneider and editor Chris Pruett contributed to this report.