Court allows defendant to attend wife’s medical appointments and birth despite GPS condition

In a bond-condition hearing Tuesday the court considered a defense motion to remove a full-GPS house-arrest condition so the defendant could attend the birth of his child.

Defense counsel told the court his client’s wife is nine months pregnant and the GPS monitor could interfere with hospital procedures or ring during delivery. The state objected to removing GPS entirely but indicated the parties previously discussed limited accommodation for medical appointments and hospital attendance.

The court heard sworn testimony from the expectant mother, who said she has no other reliable caregiver and that her husband is her primary support after the child is born. She asked the court to permit either "tracking only" or removal of the device so the father could be at the birth and assist afterwards. The court noted GPS officers normally call a monitored defendant to confirm location when the device signals and that probation can restore full-house-arrest conditions if a violation occurs.

After weighing the logistical concerns and the expectant mother’s testimony, the judge ordered that the defendant may attend all medical appointments involving his wife and the birth, but granted no unsupervised contact with minors. The court directed probation to coordinate with counsel on travel and hospital attendance approvals and warned that any violations could result in stricter monitoring or remand without bond.

The hearing record shows the expectant mother identified the hospital (Madison) and said her due date was imminent; the court tailored its ruling to permit parenting-related travel with UA-on-return conditions.

The court’s ruling balanced the spouse’s childbirth needs against the monitoring function of GPS conditions and left further enforcement to probation.