Nevada Woman Receives $1.6 Million Settlement After Wrongful Imprisonment for Miscarriage

A Nevada woman has secured a $1.6 million settlement from Humboldt County authorities after being wrongfully imprisoned for more than two years following her miscarriage. Patience Rousseau, 34, was convicted of manslaughter in 2019 under a little-known Nevada statute enacted in 1911, which prosecutors argued applied due to her use of drugs during pregnancy.

Rousseau's ordeal began in February 2018 when, as a 26-year-old experiencing depression and substance abuse, she discovered she was pregnant. Unable to travel to Reno for an abortion due to her car being broken down, she attempted to induce a miscarriage using large quantities of cinnamon and by lifting heavy objects, methods not scientifically recognized for terminating a pregnancy. In April 2018, she delivered a stillborn baby boy she named Abel.

Rather than receiving support, Rousseau was arrested and charged with felony manslaughter. Prosecutors invoked the 1911 law, which criminalizes the use of drugs to terminate a pregnancy after 24 weeks. Rousseau became the only known woman to be charged under this statute. Investigators focused on her use of methamphetamine, marijuana, and cigarettes during pregnancy, arguing it demonstrated an intent to end the pregnancy. She pleaded guilty and was incarcerated in 2019.

Her conviction was overturned in 2021 by a new attorney who argued that prosecutors could not prove her drug use caused the miscarriage, nor that her substance abuse was a deliberate attempt to terminate the pregnancy. The county medical examiner had been unable to determine the baby's cause of death. Crucially, Rousseau had not known precisely when she became pregnant, raising questions about whether she could have known she had passed the 24-week threshold specified in the law. Despite the conviction being overturned, Humboldt County authorities initially considered prosecuting her again before the charges were finally dismissed with prejudice in 2025.

Further controversy arose when it was revealed that the ashes of her infant son, Abel, had come into the possession of one of the deputies involved in Rousseau's arrest. The deputy allegedly took the ashes with her when she relocated. As part of the settlement agreement, Abel's ashes were finally returned to Rousseau.

Of the $1.6 million settlement, approximately $1.2 million will go to Rousseau, with the remainder covering legal expenses and a previous $100,000 settlement paid by Nevada. The agreement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by Humboldt County. Rousseau stated that the experience has permanently damaged her relationship with the state and she has no intention of returning to Winnemucca.

Rousseau is now sober and living in South Dakota with three of her sons. She plans to use the settlement funds to purchase a home, buy a car for her mother, and start a business. The case has also reignited debate surrounding Nevada's century-old abortion statute, with an attempt to repeal the law failing to get a legislative hearing last year.