Cassi Black Elk - innocent and finally freed!

Cassandra Black Elk was wrongfully convicted of child neglect after the tragic death of her infant daughter. After a harrowing ordeal where she faced false accusations by law enforcement of abusing her child, terrible media coverage, ineffective assistance of counsel, and incarceration, Cassi has finally been freed. Judge Borgen recently vacated Cassi's conviction after a post-conviction petition filed by the Great North Innocence Project demonstrated that Cassi neither abused nor neglected her daughter.

While the State is appealing the judge's ruling, Cassi is now free and home. She has a new job, reentry support from the F5 Project, and a transition to reunification with her children (who have been in foster care during her incarceration). Her landlord has generously held her apartment for her while Cassi was incarcerated. However, now Cassi needs to pay the rent she owes. Will you help Cassi ensure that she can keep her apartment and support her transition back into life with her two children now that she is free?

CASSI'S STORY

At about 1:30 a.m. on February 19, 2022, Cassandra Black Elk fed her 3-week-old daughter, StarLight, a bottle, then swaddled her in a blanket and put her back down to sleep. When Cassi woke up five hours later, StarLight was not breathing. Police and paramedics arrived and confirmed that the baby had died.

Rather than being given a chance to mourn this unimaginable loss, Cassi was whisked from the scene of her baby's death to an interrogation room at the Bismarck Police Department. There, still beside herself with shock and grief, Cassi was aggressively questioned by multiple police officers for three hours. Officers falsely told Cassi that they found evidence of inflicted injuries on StarLight, and falsely accused Cassi of causing those injuries. They falsely told Cassi that she must have killed StarLight by shaking her. They falsely told Cassi that they knew by the progression of rigor mortis that the baby died earlier the previous night, while Cassi was awake. They told her that the autopsy would confirm that someone had hurt StarLight, and that Cassi would be treated better later if she simply confessed right then. They told Cassi that her other two children had been placed with child protective services and that Cassi would not get them back until she told them what she had done to StarLight.

Throughout this coercive interrogation, Cassi's story never changed - StarLight was perfectly fine when Cassi fed and swaddled her and put her to bed.

At the end of the interrogation, the same night her daughter had passed, Cassi was handcuffed and taken to jail, and charged with felony child neglect. According to the charging documents, Cassi was responsible for StarLight's death, though the exact mechanism would not be known until after the autopsy. It was suggested that Cassi's consumption of alcohol the night before had also played a role.

Meanwhile, Cassi's mugshot was all over local media, with headlines about her being charged in connection with her baby's death. Cassi's case was reported alongside another recent infant death in the Bismarck area, this one the result of an alleged horrific beating. Bail was set at an unattainable $25,000, so Cassi was separated from her other two children as she awaited her trial.

Cassi kept asking her defense attorney about the autopsy results. She said the autopsy would confirm her version of events. But, defense counsel persuaded her to plead guilty to the offense charged, before they received the autopsy results. When Cassi expressed reluctance about pleading guilty without the autopsy results, counsel told her that if the autopsy was favorable they could "deal with it later." Cassi pled guilty and received a 5-year prison sentence.

While in prison, Cassi kept trying to get the autopsy report, eventually contacting the medical examiner's office herself and obtaining a copy. The autopsy report confirmed that there was no evidence of foul play or recent trauma, and this was a sudden unexplained infant death. Nothing in the autopsy suggested that Cassi had neglected her baby.

THE GREAT NORTH INNOCENCE PROJECT TAKES THE CASE

After hearing Cassi’s story, staff attorney Jim Mayer (pictured with Cassi, below) with help from legal fellow Anna McGinn dug into Cassi’s case. The team was also joined by Ryan Sandberg of Pringle & Herigstad, P.C. who provided local pro bono representation. Within a few months, the team had completed the investigation and filed a petition for post-conviction relief having found numerous issues with the investigation and fully believing in Cassi’s innocence.

The petition argued that Cassi's representation was constitutionally ineffective because he encouraged Cassi to plead guilty to child neglect, despite not having received the autopsy results and Cassi’s insistence that she did nothing to abuse or neglect or child. The petition also argued that the State's Attorney violated Brady because she had attended the autopsy of Cassi’s daughter and failed to disclose the findings to the defense and that the final autopsy report was new evidence supporting innocence.

Great North’s team was given an evidentiary hearing which was held in Mandan, North Dakota on January 19. Jim, in partnership with local counsel, presented testimony from the medical examiner who performed the autopsy, and from forensic pathologist Dr. Mary Ann Sens, an expert in sudden unexplained infant death, who testified that there was no evidence that abuse or neglect played any role in harming StarLight.

Most importantly, the team took the somewhat unusual step of putting Cassi herself on the stand. She told her story with courage and dignity, and in the end that made all the difference.

THE COURT’S FINDINGS

Earlier this month, the Court entered an order granting the Great North’s petition, stating, "The Court finds Ms. Black Elk's testimony credible," and that "It is clear with the results of the autopsy report that Ms. Black Elk's conduct was not attributable to S.B.'s death." The Court held that "had Ms. Black Elk received proper advice from counsel, she would not have entered her guilty plea...." Because this ground alone was sufficient to overturn the conviction, the Court did not rule on the other claims the Great North team raised. Nevertheless, the Court cautioned the State, "the Court would note its concerns of the allegation that the State knew of the likely results of the autopsy report prior to the plea agreement, yet did not relay that information [to defense counsel] so Ms. Black Elk could have been appropriately informed before making her decision...."

WHAT COMES NEXT

The State has decided to appeal the Court’s ruling. In the meantime, the State agreed that Cassi could be released without bond. Now, Cassi is back home, working at a new job, and planning for reunification with her two children who are currently in foster care. Cassi has received and will receive, reentry support from Adam Martin's F5 Project.

Cassi’s story is not over, and the Great North Innocence Project will continue fighting for her to be fully exonerated so that she can reclaim her name and find the peace that she deserves.

Give now to support Cassi’s reentry after incarceration - all proceeds go directly to Cassi and her children.

Read more about Cassi's case