WJJQ LOCAL NEWS
Merrill woman to face charges of using drugs while pregnant

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

A Merrill woman will stand trial on charges that she used drugs while pregnant.

Twenty five year old Melissa Lemke was bound over yesterday by Lincoln County Judge Jay Tlusty.

An investigator testified that Lemke had crystal methamphetamine in her purse last month. She showed up at a house in Merrill where police were searching for drugs. According to a social worker's testimony, Lemke admitted to using morphine and Vicodin during her pregnancy as well. The child tested positive for opiates at birth last summer.

She is being charged with several felonies including drug possession and aggravated battery to an unborn child. Her defense attorney Justin Wolff argued that it wasn't reasonable to believe she knew she was pregnant.

Two others are also charged in the drug bust. George Hill and Leanna Wells appear in court next month, where a judge will decide whether they, too, should stand trial.

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