Posted on 10/31/2011 3:52:02 PM PDT by jazusamo
A Clackamas County judge sentenced the couple found guilty of second-degree manslaughter in their infant son's death to more than six years in prison, rejecting their entreaties for mercy and saying their son's fate could have been easily avoided.
A jury in September unanimously found Dale and Shannon Hickman, of the Followers of Christ church, guilty in the death of their son, David Hickman, who lived for less than nine hours. He was born approximately two months premature and weighed less than four pounds.
After standing and hugging each other, both Hickmans were led out of the courtroom in handcuffs as supporters sobbed. Close to 100 people packed Judge Robert Herndon's courtroom, nearly all of them believers in the Followers of Christ church, an Oregon City congregation that shuns medicine in favor of faith-healing and has a lengthy history of child deaths. About 30 more supporters milled outside the room.
The Hickmans were sentenced to 75 months in prison, the mandatory minimum under Measure 11 sentencing guidelines. Herndon also gave them three years of probation.
Herndon's tone, which steered clear of harshest admonishment, almost contrasted with the sentence he doled out, the longest ever given to a Followers of Christ couple for failing to seek medical care for a child.
"As the evidence unfolded and the witnesses testified, it became evident to me and certainly to the jury … that this death just simply did not need to occur," said Herndon, referencing that the jury had come back with a verdict in a "stunningly" short time.
Defense attorneys pleaded for leniency under a Measure 11 religious exemption statute that would have allowed the judge to avoid giving the mandatory minimum, but Herndon rejected the notion that this case qualified. The exemption was eliminated by the legislature after the Hickmans' indictment.
(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...
Your post wins the thread.
As I have stated before, In my view doctors who perform abortions and women who have abortions should be charged with murder.
Conservatives cheering on a whackjob judge is NO helpful.
No one is cheering a couple of “parents” who let their child die.
You are so right. The masses are hopelessly brainwashed and the new God is materia medica and it’s dispensaries.
That hardly seems like a sound basis for putting them in prison for six years. Particularly since the law would have been just fine with it if they had had a murderous intent towards their child and had it aborted the day before.
The contrast is rather stark. A couple who wants to kill their child just makes a legal contract with a government sanctioned killer, the deed is done, and they go on their merry way. A couple who wants their child but is mistrustful of doctors or, at worst, naively believes that God's will precludes them from acting are punished with a six year prison term.
Would the same judgement apply to a wealthy couple who could afford the best neonatalist in the country but instead went to an unacclaimed obstetrician who charged the lowest rate to be found and things went wrong?
Here’s an excerpt from the article written on the testimony by the pediatrician on the stand under oath. I’m not posting this for argument, only for information about what was said.
____________________________________________________________
The Hickmans took “a real and avoidable risk” with their child’s life, Dr. Joseph Kaempf, a neonatologist and prosecution witness, said Monday in Clackamas County Circuit Court.
Kaempf said that of the almost 1,100 infants born two months early and treated at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, 11 died. And none died from respiratory distress, which took David’s life.
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2011/09/baby_in_faith-healing_case_nev.html
I understand. Now, how many of them were born in the hospital? How far were these parents from the hospital? What prior indications, if any, were there that there might be complications in this pregnancy?
Receiving medical care is only one factor and it would seem the only one considered in the statistical analysis and that analysis was the factor the judge cited for his decision to apply the harshest sentence available to him.
I am not arguing that they did the smart or responsible thing but I can't build an argument that the judge was smart or responsible either.
According to the article, the sentence was the mandatory minimum under state law (passed by referendum) that he could impose after the jury found the couple guilty of the charges.
§ 137.700¹ Offenses requiring imposition of mandatory minimum sentences
Notwithstanding ORS 161.605 (Maximum prison terms for felonies), when a person is convicted of one of the offenses listed in subsection (2)(a) of this section...the court shall impose, and the person shall serve, at least the entire term of imprisonment listed in subsection (2) of this section. The person is not, during the service of the term of imprisonment, eligible for release on post-prison supervision or any form of temporary leave from custody. The person is not eligible for any reduction in, or based on, the minimum sentence for any reason whatsoever under ORS 421.121 (Reduction in term of incarceration) or any other statute. The court may impose a greater sentence if otherwise permitted by law, but may not impose a lower sentence than the sentence specified in subsection (2) of this section.2) The offenses to which subsection (1) of this section applies and the applicable mandatory minimum sentences are:... (E) Manslaughter in the second degree, as defined in ORS 163.125 (Manslaughter in the second degree)..................... 75 months
Defense attorneys pleaded for leniency under a Measure 11 religious exemption statute that would have allowed the judge to avoid giving the mandatory minimum, but Herndon rejected the notion that this case qualified. The exemption was eliminated by the legislature after the Hickmans' indictment.
Tough?! Perhaps you missed this from the article:
"The Hickmans were sentenced to 75 months in prison, the mandatory minimum under Measure 11 sentencing guidelines."
The baby was 2 months early and 4 pounds. I thoroughly enjoyed taking my born-12-weeks-early-at-less-than-2-pounds, now healthy, vibrant 3-year old treak-or-treating last night. Getting tough with them would be shooting them. Which is too good for them.
I knew a man who believed like these people, that it’s a sin to go to a doctor.
His wife got pneumonia, rather than going to a doctor he prayed for her to get better...she didn’t, she died. He as much as killed her.
I knew another guy who also felt this way, his wife was pregnant, complications arose, (they gave birth at home, rather than in a hospital-she was 42, so it was a high-risk birth) and rather than calling an ambulance they prayed that she survive.
She didn’t survive, she died...I also consider that to be murder.
These people are notorious, so much blood is on their hands from their children dying from simple illnesses that a shot of antibiotics or doctor’s care could have solved...something needed to be done, and I’m glad Oregon’s finally beginning to prosecute these homicides.
And I am VERY pro-life! The two have nothing to do with each other.
Ed
I haven’t missed much of anything in these cases because I’ve followed them. As was stated in post 32, “The exemption was eliminated by the legislature after the Hickmans’ indictment.”
The judge’s sentence may possibly be appealed because of that, we’ll see soon.
There was talk that they could be sentenced to probation and if sentenced to jail time it could be as little as 18 months.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy the judge did sentence them to 75 months and like you say, more time than that would have been better but I don’t think shooting them is appropriate.
I fully believe that baby would have survived had they taken him to a medical facility after birth.
P.S.
Thank God and modern medicine your child survived!!
I apologize. My initial post to you was harsh, without cause. As you can tell, the article brought up a personal interest. You noted that an exemption existed that the judge could have used and it was the longest sentence handed down in a case like this, so it was tough. Again, I apologize for my tone.
Or if the government decided the child was in a vegetative state, and withheld food and water, then it would be ok. Just wrong when private citizens try to exercise their rights.
This country is making criminals out of everyone.
No need to apologize, FRiend. I fully understand the emotions these articles can bring out, and you have every right to be on the emotional side from your own experience.
Once again, I can’t tell you how happy I am that your ordeal worked out so well.
Some years back an aunt had preemie twins, I believe they were born at about 5 1/2 months. The boy passed but the girl survived, it was a very sad experience for everyone.
Fregards
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.