A trial began Monday for the 26-year-old Springfield Township woman who allegedly hid her pregnancy, secretly gave birth, and left the baby in her parent’s home for dead.
Despite the second degree murder charge, Carmen Rappuhn appeared in good spirits before the start of her trial at the Oakland County Circuit Court.
She donned a flowery dress, heels and makeup, though a tether was wrapped around her ankle. She smiled and laughed with family members while waiting for the court case to begin.
A jury was selected and opening statements were heard Monday before Judge Nanci J. Grant.
Rappuhn’s charge stems from a Sept. 28 incident when Oakland County Sheriff’s Department deputies were dispatched to assist the Springfield Township Fire Department with a medical call at a Norman Road residence for a young women bleeding.
The woman, later identified as Rappuhn, had to be transported to Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc for further treatment.
There it was determined after examination, she had delivered a baby within the previous 24 hours and at approximately 34 weeks into the pregnancy. Normal gestation is 40 weeks.
She denied this, according to police reports, but rather said she had a miscarriage two months earlier and was still bleeding because of it.
Springfield Township deputies were notified, went to the home early Sunday, and found her baby, deceased, wrapped in a nightgown, and inside a clothes hamper in the middle of a messy bedroom, reports said.
A medical examination determined the baby boy was born alive.
The woman’s stepfather, who called 911 that Saturday night, stated in police reports, he and his wife had a feeling their daughter was pregnant, but she denied it when confronted.
After an investigation, Rappuhn was arrested Friday, Oct. 18, and appeared that afternoon in tears before Judge Michael Batchik at the 52-2 District Court in Clarkston.
Judge Gerald McNally, formerly of the 52-2 District Court, had dismissed the second degree murder charge, reducing it to manslaughter. But Judge Grant reinstated the second degree murder charge Jan. 24.
If convicted, Rappuhn could face life in prison.