Judge who jailed dying NY woman OKs hospice care
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A New York woman who lost her chance for a life-saving heart transplant by continuing to commit crimes and being jailed is being permitted to spend her dying days in hospice care.
A Nassau County District Court judge ruled Tuesday that 48-year-old Diane McCloud can be released from jail. McCloud's lawyer told the judge she has only weeks to live. A physician confirmed that's the case.
The judge had freed McCloud last January so she could apply for a transplant waiting list while receiving government aid unavailable to inmates. But McCloud was arrested again after shoplifting at three drugstores and pleaded guilty to petty larceny.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The judge resentenced her to the 15 months he had forgiven and added a year for the new charges.
Attorney Leonard Isaacs says McCloud is no longer transplant eligible.