Manslaughter Charge Dropped Against Alabama Woman Who Was Shot While Pregnant
By Farah Stockman
July 3, 2019
Prosecutors in Alabama said on Wednesday that they were dropping a manslaughter charge against Marshae Jones over the death of the fetus she was carrying when she was shot in the belly.
The case stirred outrage across the country in late June after a grand jury indicted Ms. Jones, who was accused of starting a fight that resulted in the shooting. The state recognizes a fetus at any stage of development as a “person” for criminal homicide or assaults.
The same grand jury declined to charge the woman who fired the shot, Ebony Jemison, finding that she had fired in self-defense during an altercation with Ms. Jones on Dec. 4. The police have said that Ms. Jones, 28, who was five months pregnant, started the fight and failed to remove herself and her fetus from harm’s way.
“We are gratified the district attorney evaluated the matter and chose not to proceed with a case that was neither reasonable nor just,” the law firm representing Ms. Jones, White Arnold & Dowd, said in a statement.
Lynneice Washington, the district attorney for part of Jefferson County, said in a news conference, “After viewing the facts of this case and the applicable state law I have determined that it is not in the best interest of justice to pursue prosecution of Ms. Jones on the manslaughter charge for which she was indicted by the grand jury. Therefore, I am dismissing this case and no further legal action will be taken against Ms. Jones in this matter.”
more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/03/us/charges-dropped-alabama-woman-pregnant.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes
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