Endangerment Charge Dismissed For LI Nurse Accused Of 'Slamming' Baby

LONG ISLAND, NY — The child endangerment charge against a nurse who was accused of violently slamming a newborn infant at Good Samaritan University Hospital has been dismissed after an expert for the Suffolk County District Attorney's office declined to testify her actions caused any injury, her attorney said.

Amanda Burke of Holbrook had been fired from her job in the West Islip hospital's neonatal unit the day after a cellphone video of a Feb. 6, 2023 incident was turned over by the child's parents to hospital administrators.

Her attorney, Robert C. Gottlieb of Manhattan, applied to dismiss the of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, as her trial was scheduled to begin Monday and prosecutors didn't oppose, Newsday reported.

In a phone interview with Patch, he said the case "should never have been tried in a criminal court."

"If the DA had conducted any sort of investigation, this case would have been dismissed last year," he added.

Burke was accused of slamming the baby down in a bassinet, and Gottlieb explained it comes down to how the baby was turned over by its diaper.

"It looked as though the baby was placed in a rough manner in the bassinet, but she certainly never intended to do that," he said. "And whatever and however she did to the baby was not likely to cause any injury."

In a statement to Patch, the DA's office said, “Unfortunately, despite the disturbing video which captured the incident in this case, the New York State Department of Licensing found the defendant did not act with gross negligence. As such, we could not prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.”

In the past week, the DA's office "finally" spoke to an expert in infant care for the first time, and their experts said that "contrary to" the child endangerment charge, "her conduct was not likely to cause physical injury to the baby and therefore there was no crime," Gottlieb said.

After the child endangerment charge was brought, the DA's office notified the state Education Department’s Office of Professional Discipline to review the incident, which found Burke's actions “did not constitute professional misconduct” and classified it as “simple negligence,” before closing the case, Newsday reported.

Gottlieb said he shared the report from the licensing agency back in June.

"The DA has had that report that they mentioned today as a basis for not proceeding; they've had it since June and took no action," he said.

The charge of endangering the welfare of a child requires a person to have likely caused physical injury to a child and there was never any basis to conclude that by what is even seen on the videotape, according to Gottlieb.

"We know it didn't because the baby was examined immediately the night of the incident, and the doctors at Good Sam said the baby was fine and was healthy and there was no injury," he said. "And that should have been the end of the case."

Patch previously reported that the baby was doing great.

Burke told Newsday, “I had people at my door, letters in the mail, emails,” Burke said of the ways the public expressed their anger over the incident. “I have an 8-year-old and I felt like she was in danger. It was a nightmare.”

Gottlieb could not say if Burke would pursue a civil action in relation to her arrest and firing.

"What she or her family decides to do is up to them," he said. "As far as the criminal case goes, it's over and her nightmare is over."

A spokesman for Catholic Health Services of Long Island declined comment.