8 months pregnant and jailed during a COVID outbreak. Now a judge has freed her.
Brittany Cowick has become the first federal defendant awaiting trial in the Western District of North Carolina to be released from custody due to threats from COVID-19.
Before her release last week, federal judges in Charlotte and Asheville had rejected emergency motions from multiple inmates on pretrial detention who argued that their underlying medical conditions made them likelier candidates to contract the disease.
Cowick’s plea, however, apparently resonated with U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler: She’s eight months pregnant with her third child.
Her lawyer asked Keesler to revisit his earlier detention order after the Mecklenburg County Jail, where Cowick was being held, was pounded by an outbreak of COVID-19.
“Obviously you knew what the numbers were in the jail,” defense attorney Reggie McKnight told the Observer after his client’s release. “I had the obligation to make this argument. I’m glad the courts took the time to hear both sides.”
Clerk of Courts Frank Johns said Cowick’s motion was the first request of its kind to be approved by a judge within the Western District of North Carolina. Other COVID-19 orders from the courts could be coming soon, he said.
On Thursday, Cowick walked out of the jail and into house arrest at her mother’s home in Lenoir. She remains charged with two drug-conspiracy crimes, one of six people charged in connection with what federal prosecutors described as a methamphetamine ring operating in Burke and Caldwell counties.
Cowick, who celebrated her 25th birthday on Sunday, could not be reached for comment. Her baby is due in early October, according to a court filing.
She had been jailed since her June 23 arrest. Three days later, Keesler ordered her to remain detained despite her pregnancy and the standing threat of the virus seeping into the state’s largest jail.
Late last month, Cowick was among a group of federal inmates who asked the courts to revisit their detention orders after four dozen Mecklenburg inmates tested positive for COVID-19.
An affidavit filed last month by inmate Joseph Soldano described Mecklenburg prisoners around him who were shivering, wheezing and vomiting up blood.
“The inmate in Cell 44 began coughing and vomiting after returning from video visitation with his girlfriend,” wrote Soldano, who faces federal child pornography charges. “Later, after he ate dinner, he got sick and began coughing up blood as he walking up the stairs in our pod.”
At the time, Soldano was jailed next to Dontay Armstrong, who court documents say has contracted COVID-19 and who also has asked the courts to temporarily release him. Armstrong faces cocaine trafficking and firearms charges.
Soldano’s affidavit indicates he was also suffering from COVID-like symptoms.
“The mood in the pod is tense and fearful, especially for older inmates like myself and Mr. Armstrong,” Soldano wrote. “I have heard Mr. Armstrong coughing and wheezing. We both have severe diarrhea. I have also seen him with aches and pains and shivering cold. We try to support each other and help each other out. We talk when we don’t feel well and ask each other if we are OK. It is our way of dealing with a scary situation.”
Last week, Keesler denied Soldano’s request for temporary release, which had been opposed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Soldano’s attorney, Mark Foster of Charlotte, declined to comment Monday about the decision.
A court filing late last week indicates that Soldano, formerly of Gaston County, will plead guilty Tuesday morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Cayer.
Keesler has not ruled on Armstrong’s request, which is also opposed by prosecutors. Last week, Keesler filed an order giving prosecutors another chance to make their case about keeping Armstrong in custody, saying “the Court believes it would be aided by a more robust response from the government.”
Prosecutors also opposed Cowick’s release, saying that at her original detention hearing Keesler had been aware of both her pregnancy and “the likelihood that there would be positive COVID-19 cases at the jail.”
In his filing for Cowick’s release, McKnight argued that his client had no criminal history beyond the state and federal charges arising from the alleged meth ring and posed no threat to the public. She has two other children at home, including a 9-month-old son.
Besides, McKnight said, Cowick doesn’t have the means or the intention to flee.
“This COVID-19 threat to Ms. Cowick is of great concern for both her safety as well (as to) her unborn child,” McKnight wrote. “It is specific to her and immediate because infection rates appear to be rising daily.”
This time, Keesler agreed.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases inside the jail has dropped sharply over the last two weeks. Dejah Gilliam, public information manager for the Mecklenburg Sheriff’s Office, said the jail had two active cases of the disease as of Friday.
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This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
