Is this attempted murder?

Is this attemtped murder?

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#1
T

therealUT

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#1
HOLLIDAYSBURG — State police are helping Williamsburg, Blair County, authorities find whomever spiked a pregnant teenage girl’s drink with a drug used to abort pregnancies in cows, a drug they think was stolen from a Williamsburg farm, according to a release.
The pregnant girl’s beverage was tainted with Prostamate sometime between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. March 31 at Williamsburg High School, police said. Troopers are considering the act an aggravated assault upon the girl and her unborn baby, police said.
State police think whomever was responsible was trying to abort the girl’s unborn child, the release indicates.
The drug and a syringe also were reported stolen from a farm in Huston Township, Blair County, police said.
The investigation is continuing.

THE STATE
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Thoughts?
 
#3
#3
Sounds like the kinda case that could get very sticky with abortion rights. How can you murder (or attempt to murder) something that isn't a person under the law? Now, some form of assault is a no-brainer of course.

This could be interesting to follow.
 
#6
#6
not enough info. How far along was she? Who did it and what was the intent?
 
#7
#7
utvolpj said:
not enough info. How far along was she? Who did it and what was the intent?
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It seems pretty obvious to me the intent was to terminate her pregnancy. There is no other way to explain someone going out of their way to get that particular drug. For purposes of determining what crimes to charge this person with, they will need to know how old the fetus was. I agree with you there but my personal beliefs are that this should be murder.
 
#8
#8
obvious to you maybe but how do we know it wasn't some other teen thinking it could be used as a roofie? Maybe a little far-fetched but there seems to be so few facts and too much speculation.
 
#9
#9
utvolpj said:
obvious to you maybe but how do we know it wasn't some other teen thinking it could be used as a roofie? Maybe a little far-fetched but there seems to be so few facts and too much speculation.
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Fair enough pj but it would have to be one hell of a coincidence that this particular drug happened to be the one that was stolen and used.
 
#10
#10
Fact: The drug stolen was used to abort pregnancies in cows not get them loaded so they will be easier to bed.
Fact: Life begins at conception.

No matter who did it, whether it be a jealous boyfriend or the father of the pregnant teen or some mean girl, it does not matter, the clear intent was to terminate her pregnancy.

Yes, attempted murder, no doubt.
 
#11
#11
I think it's attempted murder but I don't think whoever did it will ever be convicted of that.
 
#12
#12
Volnissniss said:
Fact: The drug stolen was used to abort pregnancies in cows not get them loaded so they will be easier to bed.
Fact: Life begins at conception.

No matter who did it, whether it be a jealous boyfriend or the father of the pregnant teen or some mean girl, it does not matter, the clear intent was to terminate her pregnancy.

Yes, attempted murder, no doubt.
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I agree with you 100%.
 
#13
#13
Volnissniss said:
Fact: The drug stolen was used to abort pregnancies in cows not get them loaded so they will be easier to bed.
Fact: Life begins at conception.

No matter who did it, whether it be a jealous boyfriend or the father of the pregnant teen or some mean girl, it does not matter, the clear intent was to terminate her pregnancy.

Yes, attempted murder, no doubt.
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Facts are usually not debatable but yours clearly are. The original use of many drugs was not to get you high but to help people in pain, for mental health, etc. It is not out of the realm of possibilities that some dumb teen did the same. I do believe this was done as an attempt to abort the pregnancy but there are just too many things that could be thrown out to produce reasonable doubt.

Your second fact is also an opinion. There are many definitions as to when life begins and yours is one of them. Personally I don't view a 4-celled zygote to be a child. That is why I said there's not enough info.
 
#14
#14
utvolpj said:
Facts are usually not debatable but yours clearly are. The original use of many drugs was not to get you high but to help people in pain, for mental health, etc. It is not out of the realm of possibilities that some dumb teen did the same. I do believe this was done as an attempt to abort the pregnancy but there are just too many things that could be thrown out to produce reasonable doubt.

Your second fact is also an opinion. There are many definitions as to when life begins and yours is one of them. Personally I don't view a 4-celled zygote to be a child. That is why I said there's not enough info.
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One day if you are lucky enough to see your wife carrying your child and you have a doctor do an ultrasound four weeks from the day you impregnanted her, you will EAT YOUR WORDS. Trust me. You have no idea what you are talking about. Yes, it is my opinion, it also just happens to be the right opinion.

And the fact is stated that the drug is used to abort pregnancies in cows. I do see what you are saying about drugs originally used to help mental patients now being used to get high, however, in this situation the intent had to be to kill her baby. I can tell you, losing a baby is not physically comfortable. The drug would never be used to get high.
 
#15
#15
Volnissniss said:
One day if you are lucky enough to see your wife carrying your child and you have a doctor do an ultrasound four weeks from the day you impregnanted her, you will EAT YOUR WORDS. Trust me. You have no idea what you are talking about. Yes, it is my opinion, it also just happens to be the right opinion.
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While I agree with your sentiment as I alluded in an earlier post sentiment isn't law. Right now abortion is legal, and that's killing a fetus. If we're talking about killing a fetus here you are going to have a heck of a time legally proving attempted murder by committing an act performed, legally, all the time. It may matter a lot how far along she was. As I also said earlier this could be an interesting case to follow.
 
#16
#16
Considering that the only drug reported stolen is a drug known for aborting pregnancies, and considering that it was used to spike the drink of a known pregnant teenager, I think you can establish intent to abort the pregnancy without the mother's consent.

I think you could pursue attempted murder there...but, (and I know you'll all be shocked to hear this) I'm not an attorney.
 
#17
#17
Jaytrain5 said:
Considering that the only drug reported stolen is a drug known for aborting pregnancies, and considering that it was used to spike the drink of a known pregnant teenager, I think you can establish intent to abort the pregnancy without the mother's consent.

I think you could pursue attempted murder there...but, (and I know you'll all be shocked to hear this) I'm not an attorney.
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Everyone is assuming the girl had nothing to do with it.
 
#21
#21
It is most definitely an interesting case. If the pregnant girl had nothing to do with the spiking of her drink, then I would have to say that, in my opinion, the perp should be charged with attempted murder.

I want to say there are degrees of attempted murder just as their are degrees of murder. While, PJ, you could be correct in that the intent was not to kill the unborn child, I still think one would have to argue for second degree or at least attempted manslaughter (does that exist?)

However, someone already said it: that option will most likely not be pursued. It will be easier for a prosecutor to get a conviction of assault/aggravated assault, then to swing a jury in what would turn in to a highly politicized circus trial...
 
#22
#22
Florida has a fetal homicide law. Without actually looking up the statute or delving into further facts of the case, this would seem to fall under it (spiking someone's drink with a drug would fall under the "injury to the mother" provision.) On the surface, this does look like attempt.

It is always a good idea to look up the law before deciding whether it has been broken. A summary of Florida's, as well as the Fetal Homicide statutes of 34 other states, can be found here:

Fetal Homicide Laws


EDIT: I have no idea why I thought this was in Florida. It is not--it is in Pennsylvania, which also has a Fetal Homicide Law. The summary isn't as specific, though, and I don't know whether this would fall under that statute or not.
 
#23
#23
cotton said:
It is always a good idea to look up the law before deciding whether it has been broken. A summary of Florida's, as well as the Fetal Homicide statutes of 34 other states, can be found here:
.
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My impression was that the thread starter was asking our personal opinion as to if it was murder.
 
#24
#24
allvol123 said:
My impression was that the thread starter was asking our personal opinion as to if it was murder.
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Perhaps. But I don't know why one would want to exclude the reality of what the law may or may not actually do about it. It also looks like, depending on what the investigation turns up, there could be some serious recourse from the PA laws.
 
#25
#25
hndog609 said:
Perhaps. But I don't know why one would want to exclude the reality of what the law may or may not actually do about it. It also looks like, depending on what the investigation turns up, there could be some serious recourse from the PA laws.
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Agreed.
 
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