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ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.26.2009
Arizona Court of Appeals has reversed the felony conviction of a Tucson woman whose newborn son was buried in a bucket in her backyard.
A Pima County jury convicted Regina Lockwood in February 2008, of conspiracy to abandon or conceal a dead human body and she was sentenced to three years’ probation.
Lockwood’s attorney, Natasha Wrae, appealed the conviction.
The defense attorney argued the state was not able to prove Lockwood’s child was alive when it was born, therefore it was a fetus and the statute doesn’t extend to fetuses.
In his written opinion, Judge Garye L. Vásquez wrote “We recognize fetal remains are indisputably of human origin and not alive. Therefore, the legislature’s use of the terms ‘dead human body’ and ‘dead human remains’ arguably supports the intuitive conclusion that the statute encompasses fetuses. However, such an interpretation could lead to absurd and potentially unconstitutional results.”
The statute does not specify “a gestational age of fetal development” at which the statute can be applied, Vásquez notes, and “we can not presume the legislature intended to criminalize a woman’s failure to report a miscarriage to the authorities in the very early stages of pregnancy.”
Judges Peter J. Eckerstrom and J. William Brammer Jr. concurred.
In addition, the judges stated they did not see the need to answer the question of when life begins.
Wrae had not yet spoken with her client on Friday, but said she is personally pleased with the decision. Lockwood will no longer have a felony record, Wrae noted.
David Berkman, Pima County’s chief criminal deputy county attorney, said his office will be consulting with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office about a possible appeal.
Lockwood and her friend Nicholi Grimm were arrested in November 2005 after Tucson police, acting on a tip, found the baby buried six inches under ground in a water-filled bucket placed inside another bucket.
The Pima County medical examiner told authorities the 4-pound baby was almost full-term, but he could not tell whether the baby was stillborn or died after birth.
The couple was charged with conspiracy to abandon or conceal a dead human body because doctors were unable to determine a cause of death.
Wrae told jurors Grimm buried the remains in the yard because Lockwood wanted to keep her baby’s remains close to her. Had she really wanted to conceal the remains, she would have just thrown them in the trash, the defense attorney said.
During Lockwood’s sentencing hearing, Deputy Pima County Attorney Bunkye Chi asked Pima County Superior Court Judge John Leonardo to send Lockwood to prison, saying she acted with the same guilty frame of mind as someone convicted of first-degree murder.
Wrae told the judge Chi is just “bitter” because she could not pursue a murder charge against Lockwood.
Lockwood, a recovering methamphetamine addict, turned her life around while waiting for trial, and no purpose would be served by sending her to prison, Wrae said.
Had Leonardo allowed her to argue the fetus was not human, Lockwood might never have been convicted, Wrae said then.
During Lockwood’s trial, Chi told jurors Lockwood told several friends she did not want the baby, not only because the father was not involved in her life anymore, but because her health would be compromised if she went full-term.
Over the next several months, Lockwood tried to abort the baby using homeopathic methods, Chi said.
According to police records, Lockwood told detectives she did not have insurance, hated doctors and “hospitals kill people,” so she felt she had no choice.
Lockwood also said the fetus, which she called “corpsie,” had not moved for at least a month before she gave birth.
Chi told jurors even after Lockwood began telling friends that the baby had died, they noticed her abdomen continued to grow. One witness even testified he saw the baby kick months after he supposedly had died.
Court documents indicate Lockwood told a pre-sentence report writer a friend of hers secretly performed a sonogram confirming the baby was dead in the weeks before she gave birth.
Grimm pleaded guilty to attempted abandonment or concealment of a human body and was placed on three years’ probation.
I am not sure what to make of this. it seems as if the court is saying yes it is human but if it dies its not human remains? Keep in mind this is a child almost full term.
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.26.2009
Arizona Court of Appeals has reversed the felony conviction of a Tucson woman whose newborn son was buried in a bucket in her backyard.
A Pima County jury convicted Regina Lockwood in February 2008, of conspiracy to abandon or conceal a dead human body and she was sentenced to three years’ probation.
Lockwood’s attorney, Natasha Wrae, appealed the conviction.
The defense attorney argued the state was not able to prove Lockwood’s child was alive when it was born, therefore it was a fetus and the statute doesn’t extend to fetuses.
In his written opinion, Judge Garye L. Vásquez wrote “We recognize fetal remains are indisputably of human origin and not alive. Therefore, the legislature’s use of the terms ‘dead human body’ and ‘dead human remains’ arguably supports the intuitive conclusion that the statute encompasses fetuses. However, such an interpretation could lead to absurd and potentially unconstitutional results.”
The statute does not specify “a gestational age of fetal development” at which the statute can be applied, Vásquez notes, and “we can not presume the legislature intended to criminalize a woman’s failure to report a miscarriage to the authorities in the very early stages of pregnancy.”
Judges Peter J. Eckerstrom and J. William Brammer Jr. concurred.
In addition, the judges stated they did not see the need to answer the question of when life begins.
Wrae had not yet spoken with her client on Friday, but said she is personally pleased with the decision. Lockwood will no longer have a felony record, Wrae noted.
David Berkman, Pima County’s chief criminal deputy county attorney, said his office will be consulting with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office about a possible appeal.
Lockwood and her friend Nicholi Grimm were arrested in November 2005 after Tucson police, acting on a tip, found the baby buried six inches under ground in a water-filled bucket placed inside another bucket.
The Pima County medical examiner told authorities the 4-pound baby was almost full-term, but he could not tell whether the baby was stillborn or died after birth.
The couple was charged with conspiracy to abandon or conceal a dead human body because doctors were unable to determine a cause of death.
Wrae told jurors Grimm buried the remains in the yard because Lockwood wanted to keep her baby’s remains close to her. Had she really wanted to conceal the remains, she would have just thrown them in the trash, the defense attorney said.
During Lockwood’s sentencing hearing, Deputy Pima County Attorney Bunkye Chi asked Pima County Superior Court Judge John Leonardo to send Lockwood to prison, saying she acted with the same guilty frame of mind as someone convicted of first-degree murder.
Wrae told the judge Chi is just “bitter” because she could not pursue a murder charge against Lockwood.
Lockwood, a recovering methamphetamine addict, turned her life around while waiting for trial, and no purpose would be served by sending her to prison, Wrae said.
Had Leonardo allowed her to argue the fetus was not human, Lockwood might never have been convicted, Wrae said then.
During Lockwood’s trial, Chi told jurors Lockwood told several friends she did not want the baby, not only because the father was not involved in her life anymore, but because her health would be compromised if she went full-term.
Over the next several months, Lockwood tried to abort the baby using homeopathic methods, Chi said.
According to police records, Lockwood told detectives she did not have insurance, hated doctors and “hospitals kill people,” so she felt she had no choice.
Lockwood also said the fetus, which she called “corpsie,” had not moved for at least a month before she gave birth.
Chi told jurors even after Lockwood began telling friends that the baby had died, they noticed her abdomen continued to grow. One witness even testified he saw the baby kick months after he supposedly had died.
Court documents indicate Lockwood told a pre-sentence report writer a friend of hers secretly performed a sonogram confirming the baby was dead in the weeks before she gave birth.
Grimm pleaded guilty to attempted abandonment or concealment of a human body and was placed on three years’ probation.
I am not sure what to make of this. it seems as if the court is saying yes it is human but if it dies its not human remains? Keep in mind this is a child almost full term.
