The court accepted a plea bargain in the case of Ann McGowan, shifting her first-degree murder charges to involuntary manslaughter.

McGowan was accused of strangling her newborn with a pair of pantyhose and abandoning the baby in a garbage bag in her backyard after giving birth at her Ames home July 21, 2001. Sentencing will take place at 9 .m. on July 11.

By pleading guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter, a class D felony punishable of up to 5 years imprisonment, McGowan accepted she unintentionally caused the death of her daughter and recklessly committed the crime of assault.

The involuntary manslaughter charge also carries a fine from $750 to $7,000, a 30 percent tax on that fine, court costs and victim restitution of $150,000.

McGowan is eligible for probation, and her lawyers will request probation from the court, said Mark Pennington, McGowan’s attorney.

McGowan is currently free on a continued bond granted by Judge Michael Moon.

William Kutmus, McGowan’s attorney, did not believe the plea bargain was a big surprise, he said.

“It was in the cards from the very get-go,” Kutmus said.

Kutmus met with prosecuting attorney Steve Holmes Friday morning in hopes of plea bargaining the case. Holmes admitted a plea bargain was on the minds of prosecutors following the previous day’s testimony of defense witness, Janice Ophoven.

Ophoven, a pediatric forensic pathologist, said Thursday McGowan’s baby was already deceased before McGowan strangled it with the pair of pantyhose. There was no sign of hemorrhage or bruising around the baby’s neck, Ophoven said. If the baby was alive when the pantyhose was applied, the pressure should have caused bruises due to bleeding within the neck’s tissue. The abrasions found on the baby’s neck also contained a gold tone which is typical of postmortem wounds, Ophoven said.

The debilitating blow to the prosecutor’s argument the baby was alive when strangled came when Ophoven expressed her analysis of the baby’s brain. The autopsy report noted degenerate changes in the baby’s brain, including brain swelling, due to a lack of oxygen.

Julia Goodin, state medical examiner who performed the autopsy, argued on behalf of the State Wednesday that the brain swelling discovered was a result of strangulation and the cutting off of oxygen to the baby’s brain. During cross-examination by the defense, Goodin testified she was not aware McGowan had lost an excess of blood while giving birth.

Ophoven testified the brain degeneration of McGowan’s baby was indeed due to a lack of oxygen, but the extent of degeneration present could only happen following a period of several hours.

“It takes a period of time for the cells to begin to fall apart and be noticeable under a microscope,” Ophoven said.

The nearly 50 percent of blood which McGowan lost was likely the result of a placental abruption, Ophoven said. The fetus depends on this blood and without it, the fetus’ brain would swell and degenerate resulting in the death of the fetus, Ophoven said.

“It is my opinion the child was deceased when the ligature was applied,” Ophoven said.

“Dr. Goodin did an excellent job,” Holmes said. “She is not a forensic pathologist however, and in this particular instance, we couldn’t counter [Ophoven’s] testimony.”

Holmes said a discussion between the prosecuting attorneys regarding the evidence and ethical responsibilities lasted late Thursday night.

“Our bottom line is to do justice,” Holmes said. “When we have contrary facts, and we can’t explain them, then I think it is my obligation to do something about it.”

Kutmus said he insisted to prosecutors the charges be brought down to involuntary manslaughter because that is “arguably within the facts” citing that McGowan didn’t intentionally kill her daughter.

“It’s a damn good compromise,” Kutmus said.

McGowan was described by Kutmus to be productive, yet nervous over the past two years since the incident occurred.

“She’s a trooper,” Kutmus said. “I would be proud if she were my daughter.”