Defense says cause of baby's death unproven

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The lawyer for a Chinese immigrant charged with killing her baby by eating rat poison while she was pregnant says the pathologist who performed the autopsy never considered other things that could have caused the newborn's death.

The attorney for Bei Bei Shuai relentlessly questioned Dr. Jolene Clouse during a hearing Wednesday in Indianapolis. The defense wants a Marion County judge to bar Clouse's testimony.

Attorney Linda Pence says other medical conditions or drugs Shuai was given in the hospital could have caused the brain bleeding that killed her daughter. She also says there's no there's no scientific proof that the toxin in rat poison can be transferred from a mother to a fetus.

Clouse insisted there was no reason to suspect any other cause.