Based on that it could easily have been an accident that she tried to cover up. Perhaps the jury will struggle with the premeditation piece.
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Just discussed this with my husband (attorney). If a reasonable person would expect that their actions could/would cause death (like drugging and duct taping the mouth) then even if the intent wasn’t death, it would still be premeditation according to the law.
So, by that standard, casey’s actions are premeditation to murder.
That’s interesting, though it still might be a struggle for the jury to “work through”, so to speak. Maybe she did it before - drugging, duct tape over the mouth (not nose), etc. and her past experience leads her to believe the baby wouldn’t die. Of course, that would not negate your point about a reasonable person. A reasonable person could certainly expect that this would cause death.