Pro-Life/Pro-Baby ping!
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Posted on 03/04/2006 7:27:33 AM PST by wagglebee
SUFFOLK — The defense attorney for a woman accused of shooting herself in the stomach and killing her unborn child says an abortion charge won’t hold up in court.
Suffolk’s lead prosecutor says his office is still investigating the crime.
Tammy Skinner, 22, is charged with inducing an abortion and filing a false police report. Prosecutors have already said they plan to drop a firearms charge because it doesn’t apply.
Virginia Beach lawyer Kevin Martingayle, who met with Skinner on Friday, said he doesn’t think the abortion charge applies either.
“All of the provisions of the law are aimed at third parties, not at pregnant mothers,” Martingayle said. “We do not read laws broadly to express outrage. We don’t assume anything is illegal.”
Commonwealth’s Attorney Phil Ferguson said he won’t make a final decision until all the evidence is in.
“I have said from Day One, there are a lot of technical, legal issues that need to be looked at,” Ferguson said Friday. “We are investigating all of those things. This is a stretch. Whatever we feel is appropriate, we’ll move ahead with.”
Skinner’s next court appearance is Friday.
If prosecutors go forward with the abortion charge, it will be the first time in this area and probably the first time in the state.
Police arrested and charged Skinner the day after she got out of the hospital, where she underwent a Caesarean section to deliver the baby and surgery for the bullet wound.
Skinner, who has two other children, called police at 4 a.m. Feb. 23. She told them she had been shot in the stomach but said she couldn’t remember where she was shot or who shot her.
The baby girl, who was expected to be born that day, died.
Prosecutors have previously said that the state’s fetal homicide law, adopted in 2004, does not apply because of the way it’s worded. It refers to taking the life of the “fetus of another.”
The abortion law that Ferguson is using doesn’t apply either, Martingayle said. Eventually, he said, the incident could change some state laws, but they can’t be applied retroactively.
“This is an unusual situation,” Ferguson said. “It involves a statute that has other ramifications to it. We may be making the law.”
Marie Walls, senior assistant commonwealth’s attorney, said prosecutors are striving to make certain that charges will stand up all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The baby’s funeral will be at 1 p.m. today at New Mount Joy Food for Living Ministries.
In her obituary, she’s referred to as “Little Angel.”
“I understand that people feel moral outrage over this,” Martingayle said. “And there is likely to be some criminal punishment. But perhaps she’s been punished enough.”
Her baby was murdered by her. A few days of "regret" is not punishment!
Please FReepmail me if you would like to be added to, or removed from, the Pro-Life/Pro-Baby ping list...
Ping.
Update about woman in Suffolk, VA who murdered her unborn baby.
Interesting that this was in the People's Republic of New York. In any other situation I think it would be pretty safe to say that she would have the book thrown at her for having a gun in this socialist paradise. But since she used the gun to murder her child it's all a non issue.
Oh, Suffolk, VA. I just woke up and though that it was Suffolk County, NY. I really need some coffee!
Huh? It's in Virginia. And we are generally tough on criminals.
You're right on top of things this morning! You pinged before I pinged you.
Just to make sure, how about 12 years in prison? That's about what someone else would be charged for murdering her baby.
The liberal mindset is astonishing. With this logic you only have to "FEEL BADLY", suffer a little mental anguish and cold blooded premeditated murder MUST be forgiven by the state.
here's a similar case, but 2 were involved:
Teen Gets Probation for 'Baseball Bat Abortion'
October 01, 2005
Teen Gets Probation for 'Baseball Bat Abortion'
A Michigan teen charged with using a baseball bat to hit his girlfriend in the stomach to cause her to miscarry, at her request, has been sentenced to probation and community service at a pregnancy crisis center.
The 17-year-old was prosecuted as a juvenile and pleaded no contest to "intentional conduct against a pregnant woman that results in a miscarriage or still birth."
http://crime.about.com/b/a/206923.htm
Yeah, I remember that travesty.
:) Amazing, considering I haven't had coffee yet.
I manage to get by on about three cups of coffee a YEAR! -:)
Ah, yes; if I shoot the baby, it's murder, if the mother shoots the baby, it's a legal exertion of "choice".
This is sickening, obviously. My question, though, is why on earth would a mother kill her own child just before it was to be delivered anyway? At that point, even the pathetic "quality of life" excuse (read: convenience) doesn't apply; the pregnancy has already been "endured," and the mother could simply put the child up for adoption. Yeah, sure, she's been punished enough...
Thanks for the update!!
'Ah, yes; if I shoot the baby, it's murder, if the mother shoots the baby, it's a legal exertion of "choice".'
Hey, it's HER BODY after all, right? I mean, who cares if the baby has its own heart and brain and nervous system and fingers and toes? That's not a body -- just a mere extension of the mother's body, and therefore fair game for execution and dismemberment.
Amazing what rationales people will concoct, if unconsciously, to justify murder for convenience.
see my post 5
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