Case dropped against North Dakota mother in baby's death

A North Dakota judge has dismissed the case against a woman who pleaded guilty in the death of her infant daughter and was sent to prison last year. The Bismarck Tribune reports the judge ordered the case against Cassandra Black Elk dismissed Friday at the request of prosecutors. A district court judge in January had vacated Black Elk's sentence and ordered a new trial, agreeing with her claims that she received bad advice from her lawyer when he told her to plead guilty. An autopsy found no evidence of abuse or neglect in the baby girl’s death in February 2022 in Bismarck.