Amanda Nejat wasn't in court Wednesday morning, but her attorney, Louis Goodman, was and he entered a plea for her of "not guilty" to two counts of cruelty to a child by endangering health.
Pleasanton Police arrested after someone noticed in a parked Cadillac Escalade in the Stoneridge Mall parking lot.
The witness called police and mall security and, when the mother -- who turned out to be Nejat -- returned, she was arrested. The infants were 11-week-old twins.
Nejat is due back to the Pleasanton courthouse, in department 701, on May 2.
Based on security camera footage, Pleasanton Police officer Larry Cox said the infants were left alone for at least 40 minutes.
Nejat told police initially that she just went in to use the bathroom. Later, police say she admitted she did some shopping and returned some items.
the witness was a mom herself.
"She kind of did a double take when she first heard this," he said. "As a parent, you know the difference between an infant cry and the cry of an older child."
As mall security officers and the witness waited by the car, Nejat came out, Cox said.
"They told her they'd called police, and that she needed to wait there," Cox said. "She didn't try to flee or anything like that."
She admitted to shopping and returning some things, Cox said. She didn't say what she was shopping for.
She was arrested on the spot. Her husband picked up the babies and took them home, Cox said.
