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Hialeah Abortion Clinician Case Dropped

MIAMI (CBS4) – The case against a Hialeah clinic owner accused of illegally practicing healthcare during a failed abortion has been dropped by Miami-Dade prosecutors.

CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald is reporting that medical experts changed testimony, making allegations against Belkis Gonzalez, 45, difficult to prove.

Defense attorneys asked a judge this week to dismiss the case and prosecutors agreed the case could not move forward, according to The Herald.

Gonzalez had been charged with practicing healthcare without a license and tampering with evidence after she allegedly cut the 21-week, 4 day old fetus' umbilical cord after its surprise birth inside a recovery room at A GYN Diagnostic Center, 3671 W. 16th Ave. and disposed of it in a medical waste bag.

It is alleged that the baby breathed for minutes and moved and that its body was subsequently hidden from detectives for a week, according to the Herald.

"We worked closely with the State Attorney's Office, and discovered there wasn't any evidence to justify a criminal prosecution," defense Attorney Al Milian told the Herald.

 (©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this report)

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