ATLANTA — A Georgia foster mother convicted of murder in 2019 in the death of the 2-year-old girl in her care had her appeal arguments heard Thursday morning at the Georgia State Supreme Court.
Jennifer and Joseph Rosenbaum were found guilty of murder and several other counts in 2019. Jennifer was convicted of the more serious charges in the case, including felony murder, and received a longer sentence of life plus 40 years.
Attorney Ashleigh Merchant argued on behalf of Rosenbaum, and you can see her full statement to the Georgia Supreme Court justices in the video player above this story.
According to a summary from the state Supreme Court, Rosenbaum's argument contends "her trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to request a jury instruction on the law of justification as a defense and that the trial court erred when it found that trial counsel was not laboring under an unwaivable, actual conflict of interest."
She appealed her conviction two months after her the trial, in October 2019.
More on the Rosenbaum case
The 2019 trial centered on the day Laila died in 2015 and the couple's contention that it was the result of her choking on a piece of chicken.
The GBI medical examiner who performed her autopsy, however, testified that the situation did not suggest choking on food was her cause of death and first responders said they could not recall an obstruction in her windpipe or food being found around her.
Laila's then-7-year-old sister Millie also took the stand and gave unsettling testimony about how Jennifer Rosenbaum would spank the girls, sometimes with a belt.
Jennifer Rosenbaum had worked for the Henry County District Attorney's Office and was running for a seat on the Henry County Commission.
“You’re going to be held accountable for each and everything you did to those children,” prosecutor Daysha Young said during closing arguments. “You will be held accountable for each injury you inflicted on these children.”
She has been incarcerated since the conviction at Pulaski State Prison in Hawkinsville.
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