A jury has found a Bismarck woman not guilty of abuse or neglect of a child.

However, Stacey Hildebrand, 42, will spend five years in prison for drug charges related to a Sept. 25, 2006, incident in which she and her 11-month-old son were found sleeping in a car parked near a Bismarck elementary school.

Hildebrand cried and hugged her appointed defense attorney, Susan Schmidt, as South Central District Judge Robert Wefald polled the seven women and five men on the jury following the announcement of the verdict. The jury had deliberated for about 45 minutes before returning the not guilty verdict to the Class C felony.

After hearing from Burleigh County Assistant State's Attorney Julie Lawyer's four witnesses, Schmidt moved for Wefald to dismiss a Class A misdemeanor charge of actual physical control of a motor vehicle and the abuse or neglect charge.

Wefald granted the motion for the actual physical control charge and said Lawyer's witnesses had failed to provide evidence that Hildebrand's vehicle was in an area of which the public has the right to access, which is an essential element of the charge.

Hildebrand was charged on Sept. 26 with possession of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of drug paraphernalia associated with methamphetamine, abuse or neglect of a child and actual physical control of a motor vehicle with a minor present after Bismarck police found her and her infant son sleeping in a car in the parking lot of Martin Luther School, 413 E. Ave. D, at 10:21 a.m. Sept. 25.

Officer John Butman testified Thursday that he woke Hildebrand that morning by knocking on her car window. Hildebrand's 11-month-old son was found naked in a child seat in the back seat of the vehicle. Butman and three other officers testified that methamphetamine and methamphetamine paraphernalia were found in the car during a search.

Hildebrand pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a school, a Class Bfelony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class Cfelony, on Feb. 7.

Wefald sentenced Hildebrand to 10 years in prison with five years suspended and five years of supervised probation for the Class B felony, and 30 months in prison for the Class Cfelony. He also ordered her to pay $800 in court fees. Hildebrand will be given credit for time served since her arrest on Sept. 25.

Lawyer had recommended a sentence of five years in prison with all but 30 months suspended for possession of methamphetamine and 30 months in prison for possession of drug paraphernalia.

Schmidt had recommended a sentence of five years with all but time served suspended.

"My take on this is different than the attorneys',"Wefald said, adding that Hildebrand has a "horrendous problem" and has "not gotten the message" from past punishments.

"I'm happy with the sentence that was imposed,"Lawyer said, while declining to comment on the not guilty verdict.

Hildebrand's one-day trial got under way when the jury was seated around 10 a.m. Butman and Officer Tim Bleth testified that they were the first officers to respond to the school parking lot on Sept. 25.

Butman said Hildebrand initially told officers she was in the parking lot waiting for her children to get out of school. When officers informed her that school was not in session in Bismarck that day, she told them she was waiting for her children to get out of school in Mandan, Butman said.

He said she later told them, after officers asked why she would be waiting for her children to get out of school in Mandan at a Bismarck school several blocks from her own home at 10:30 in the morning, that she had been driving around with her son to calm him down .

Butman said he suspected Hildebrand had used methamphetamine recently because of large open sores on her face and hands.

"Her appearance was textbook for meth use," he said.

Butman, Bleth, Detective Paul Olson and Detective Cody Trom testified that burnt foil and pens were found in Hildebrand's car. They explained that both instruments are used in the smoking of methamphetamine.

Trom told jurors that he found methamphetamine in a silver locket in Hildebrand's purse. The purse also contained a baby bottle, he said.

Olson testified that Hildebrand seemed disoriented while he talked to her, did not want to accept responsibility for drugs and drug paraphernalia in the car and seemed to be "crashing" from methamphetamine use.

Lawyer argued in closing statements that Hildebrand had failed to provide proper care for her son, saying the child was found "completely naked, wrapped in a blanket, covered in his own filth."

"The defendant was neglecting her child, and I'm asking you to hold her responsible for that,"she told jurors.

Schmidt said in her closing argument she agrees that Hildebrand did not use good judgment by using methamphetamine. But she said that does not mean Hildebrand was unable to care for her child. Schmidt said none of the six officers involved in Hildebrand's arrest in September took the baby away from her until a relative arrived to take the child.

Schmidt said there was no evidence that Hildebrand was under the influence of methamphetamine, even though she admitted using the drug two to three days before her arrest.

"She should not have taken meth. Iagree with that,"Schmidt said. "She also admitted that."

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)