Public defenders, legal advocates and lawmakers say a cascade of failures across multiple city and state agencies led to a woman giving birth in a Brooklyn arraignment court Friday night.

They argued that the NYPD arrested Samantha Randazzo on a low-level drug charge that should have been resolved with a desk appearance ticket, that the Brooklyn district attorney's office should have declined to prosecute, that the arraignment judge should have dismissed the case, and that the Office of Court Administration should never have allowed arraignments to operate without medical staff in the courthouse.

Randazzo, 33, who was nine months pregnant, gave birth to a boy around 11:50 p.m. while in NYPD custody. Public defenders and legal advocates said she remained restrained during parts of the ordeal, though court officials disputed whether she was still handcuffed at the time of the birth. A court officer, not a doctor or paramedic, assisted with the delivery before EMS arrived.

EMS arrived about 15 minutes later, according to court officials. Hours earlier, Randazzo had been discharged from Coney Island Hospital despite being in NYPD custody and in the final weeks of her pregnancy.

It was the latest incident involving people in custody awaiting arraignment. Three people have died while in custody awaiting arraignment this year, according to public defenders and advocates rallying outside the courthouse Monday.

The NYPD issues desk appearance tickets at about half the rate of other police departments in New York state, according to court data, which means more people have to show up and wait for backed-up courts.

Public defenders are demanding investigations of the NYPD, the Brooklyn district attorney, OCA, and NYC Health and Hospitals.

The Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys, UAW Local 2325, rallied outside the courthouse Monday afternoon. And state legislators are pushing a bill that would prohibit restraining pregnant people in custody.

Jen Kovacs, a Legal Aid Society staff attorney working the late shift in the arraignment part on Friday night, said she went home shaken.

"I felt so upset for this woman and the lack of dignity and respect that she received at every single step of the way," Kovacs said. "From her first encounter with the police, to her treatment in the hospital, to the decision by the DA's office not to decline to prosecute."

According to an NYPD timeline, officers arrested Randazzo and another woman around 6 p.m. Thursday on the roof of a public housing building in Brooklyn after observing them on the roof with what police say were drugs.

Randazzo was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and trespassing, both low-level offenses generally eligible for desk appearance tickets.

But Randazzo was not eligible for a ticket because she was wanted on an open burglary and petit larceny charge from 2023 for allegedly stealing merchandise from a fish store her family owns, according to police.

She was held overnight. By 3:30 a.m. Friday, Randazzo told officers she was pregnant and feeling ill, the NYPD said.

She was taken to Coney Island Hospital and discharged at about 8 p.m. that evening, then transported back to Brooklyn Central Booking.

In a statement, the NYPD said Randazzo was wearing baggy clothes at the time of her arrest, did not inform officers she was pregnant and declined medical attention.

Department policy directs officers to consider less restrictive forms of restraint for prisoners they believe to be pregnant. An NYPD spokesperson said Randazzo's rear cuffs were permitted under the policy.

A spokesperson for NYC Health + Hospitals did not respond to questions about why Randazzo was discharged.

A spokesperson for the Brooklyn district attorney's office declined to say why prosecutors moved forward with the charges rather than declining to prosecute, but confirmed they dismissed Randazzo's charges on Sunday.

Public defenders said it should have been dismissed before she was ever brought into the courtroom. Randazzo's defense attorney did not return phone calls seeking comment.

"You should be given a DAT," said Conrad Blackburn, a former public defender in the Bronx who rallied outside the courthouse Monday. "So why are people coming through arraignments with low-level offenses?"

Inside the courtroom, Kovacs said, Randazzo waited on the bench in rear cuffs.

Around 11:30 p.m., court officers noticed something was wrong. One of them, Robert Winckler, called for EMS and began to clear spectators, though court staff from elsewhere in the building remained in the room, Kovacs said.

The judge stayed on the bench. The court reporter stayed on the bench. Winckler asked colleagues for gloves, towels and scissors.

More than 20 minutes elapsed between the first signs of distress and the arrival of medical professionals, Kovacs estimated. By then, Winckler had delivered the baby, who was not breathing at first. According to court officials, he performed light compressions on the infant's chest and wrapped him in T-shirts to keep him warm.

In a statement, court spokesperson Al Baker said court officers "acted with swift professionalism to ensure the safety and sanctity of life for all individuals in Court on Friday." He said the mother and baby were well. Baker also said officers removed Randazzo's restraints after realizing she was in labor.

Kovacs and other public defenders said the response, while heroic, masked a deeper problem: there were no medical professionals in the courthouse to handle the emergency.

"Arraignments have become a place where people now die in cuffs and give birth in cuffs," said Lisa Ohta, president of UAW Local 2325. "Without systemic change, these violations will continue and more New Yorkers will suffer or die."

EMS no longer routinely staffs city courthouses because of staffing shortages, according to FDNY officials.

State Sen. Julia Salazar is sponsoring a bill that would bar the use of restraints on incarcerated people during labor and for eight weeks after delivery, with limited exceptions.

It was introduced in January 2025 and has not moved out of the Senate's Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee.

"What happened to Ms. Randazzo is inhumane, shameful, and a clear example of how our justice system treats New Yorkers, particularly New Yorkers of color, without basic dignity and respect," Salazar said. "At nine months pregnant, there is no reason why Ms. Randazzo needed to be handcuffed and at court in the first place, especially for such low-level charges."

Salazar said her bill could have prevented Randazzo from being restrained while in labor. "It's unfathomable that this bill is even necessary," she said, "yet here we are."

A spokesperson for Mayor Zohran Mamdani's office did not respond to a request for comment.

"I felt so angry," Kovacs said. "Because this is so preventable."