PUBLISHER'S NOTE: "I have taken on the them of criminalizing reproduction - a natural theme for a Blog concerned with flawed science in its myriad forms and its flawed devotees (like Charles Smith), as I am utterly opposed to the current movement in the United States and some other countries - thankfully not Canada any more - towards imprisoning women and their physicians on the basis of sham science (or any other basis). Control over their reproductive lives is far too important to women in America or anywhere else so they can participate equally in the economic and social life of their nations without fear for loss their freedom at the hands of political opportunists and fanatics. I will continue to follow relevant cases such as Purvi Patel and Bei Bei Shuai - and the mounting wave of legislative attacks aimed at chipping away at Roe V. Wade and ultimately dismantling it."
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, says Alabama leads the country in mothers charged with crimes related to pregnancy. But she said this case was unique. “This is the first time the idea that fertilized egg or fetal personhood has provided the basis for arrest of a woman because she was pregnant, and she herself was the victim of a criminal act,” Paltrow said. “Alabama has indicted Ms. Jones, claiming it is a crime for a woman to be unable to protect her own life and health.”
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SECOND QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Randall Marshall, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, said the state “is one of the most dangerous places in the country for a black woman trying to carry her pregnancy to term, and this prosecution is just one more attack on the basic human rights and dignity of black women in our state.”
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "In a Friday statement, the office of District Attorney Lynneice Washington said they have not decided whether Jones will be prosecuted for manslaughter, face a lesser charge or be cleared in the death of her fetus. A grand jury looked at actions by both women and declined to indict Ebony Jemison, the woman who fired the shot, prosecutors said. The jurors instead returned an indictment for Jones."
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PHOTO CAPTION: "A 27-year-old Birmingham woman was indicted on manslaughter charges Wednesday in the loss of her pregnancy, even though, police say, another woman pulled the trigger. The East Thomas neighborhood is shaken with the question of who is to blame. "
STORY: A bullet, a miscarriage and an unthinkable question: Who's the victim, and who is to blame," by Gheni Platenburg and Michael Brice-Saddler, published by The Washington Post on June 29, 2019.
GIST: "As she recovered in a hospital bed on a chilly December night,
Marshae Jones could only think about what she’d lost. The
27-year-old was five months pregnant when she was involved in a fight
that, authorities say, prompted a woman to fire a gun in self defense.
The bullet tore through Jones’s abdomen and caused a miscarriage,
anguishing the young mother — and the historic East Thomas neighborhood
of central Alabama, where her family has lived for generations. “As
her pastor, I would ask whoever to prayerfully consider the heart of
this young lady," said Rev. George Robinson Jr., the pastor of First
Baptist of East Thomas, where Jones and her family attend church.
“Marshae is not the person that has been pictured or painted of her.
She’s not that young lady.”
Robinson said he prayed with Jones in the hospital that night, and in the weeks leading up to Wednesday, when a grand jury indicted her on a manslaughter charge for the death of her own fetus. The
complex case has divided those seeking to place blame in the fetus’s
death, a tension augmented by the abortion debate in Alabama and the
state’s broad manslaughter law, which makes it a felony to “recklessly”
cause the death of another person. “She was
really sorrowful about everything that actually transpired up to this
point," Robinson told The Washington Post, speaking of the woman’s
reaction in the aftermath of the shooting. “Her words to me were she
could not believe she lost the baby.” In a
Friday statement, the office of District Attorney Lynneice Washington
said they have not decided whether Jones will be prosecuted for
manslaughter, face a lesser charge or be cleared in the death of her
fetus. A grand jury looked at actions by both women and declined to
indict Ebony Jemison, the woman who fired the shot, prosecutors said.
The jurors instead returned an indictment for Jones. Robinson
and others close to Jones, who has a young daughter, say it’s difficult
to picture the “lovable and caring” mother as an aggressor. They say
Jones may have been caught up in the heat of the moment on the afternoon
of Dec. 4, 2018, when police and prosecutors allege she initiated a
fight with Jemison outside a Dollar General. In
a phone interview late Thursday, Jemison’s mother, Earka, told The Post
that her daughter was cleared by the grand jury because evidence and
testimony was presented to suggest that Jones started the fight, causing
Ebony to fire a warning shot out of fear. Jones worked at the same
company as Ebony Jemison and the fetus’s father, and tension developed
between the two women, according to Jemison’s mother. She
said things boiled over in December when Jones, who was driving with
friends at the time, spotted Jemison and leaped out of the vehicle to
attack her. Jones’s friends left the car soon afterward and began to
move toward the scuffle, she said. “Ebony was
afraid for her life and reached in her purse for the gun,” her mother
said, adding that her daughter had a license to carry the weapon. “She
tried to fire a warning shot to get away from her.” But
the shot — which Jemison’s mother says was aimed at the ground —
ricocheted into Jones. Earka Jemison told The Post that her daughter
received threats after the indictment. “If they
weren’t sitting in the courtroom, let them talk,” the mother said about
the people threatening her daughter. “I saw the evidence. I saw the
evidence.” Jones was released on $50,000 bond
Thursday. In a statement Friday, Jones’s attorneys said their client was
facing “unprecedented legal action” that had tarnished the reputation
of both Jones and the state of Alabama. The law firm White Arnold &
Dowd said it would fight vigorously for her exoneration to prevent a
“grave injustice.” “This
young mother was shot in the stomach while five months pregnant and
lost her baby as a result. She lost her home to a fire and lost her
job,” the firm said. “Now, for reasons that defy imagination, she faces
an unprecedented legal action that subjects this victim of violence to
further distress and harm.” In front of a
modest blue home in Birmingham on a hot, sunny day, Jamal Jones
identified himself as Marshae Jones’s second cousin. He told The
Washington Post that Jones and Jemison had feuded in the past but that
Jones has always been a quiet, soft-spoken person. “She’s
a good mom,” the 37-year-old said of Jones, who has a young daughter.
“Her daughter is with her everywhere. She makes sure she gets her to
school every day, picks her up, feeds her. She don’t try to put her off
on anybody.” He added: “She’s a good person. I’m not just saying that because she’s my cousin. She gets along with anybody.” Jones’s mother, who declined to give her first name, said she was turning to her faith amid a trying time for her family. Jones “is a fun-loving mom, churchgoing, a hard-working lady,” Jones’s mother said. “My child just doesn’t bother anybody.” Speaking with AL.com, Jones’s grandmother, Patrice Jones, echoed those sentiments. “It’s not fair,’’ the grandmother said. “Marshae didn’t have a gun. How did they turn it around on her?” "We
feel sympathy for the families involved, including Ms. Jones, who lost
her unborn child,’’ the district attorney’s office said. “The fact that
this tragedy was 100 percent avoidable makes this case Alabama is among 38 states with laws that classify fetuses as victims in homicide or assault, according
to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Alabama, a
“person” includes embryos and fetuses at any stage of development. And
rights groups say those laws are ensnaring pregnant women. Lynn
Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women,
says Alabama leads the country in mothers charged with crimes related to
pregnancy. But she said this case was unique. “This
is the first time the idea that fertilized egg or fetal personhood has
provided the basis for arrest of a woman because she was pregnant, and
she herself was the victim of a criminal act,” Paltrow said. “Alabama
has indicted Ms. Jones, claiming it is a crime for a woman to be unable
to protect her own life and health.” Randall
Marshall, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of
Alabama, said the state “is one of the most dangerous places in the
country for a black woman trying to carry her pregnancy to term, and
this prosecution is just one more attack on the basic human rights and
dignity of black women in our state.” Rev.
Robinson, the pastor at Jones’s church, said he did not see young woman
as a criminal. He called the situation “shocking” and said the 200 or
so members of his tight-knit congregation are equally concerned about
the case. As they struggle to answer
unthinkable questions, the East Thomas community waits for a prosecutor
to decide whether Jones should be held accountable for her lost
pregnancy."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/06/29/bullet-miscarriage-an-unthinkable-question-whos-victim-who-is-blame/?utm_term=.2bd39b98ed9c&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
