Is it murder?

[BIGSTIC]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352621,00.html

INDIANAPOLIS — A pregnant bank teller lost the twins she was carrying when she was shot in an Indianapolis bank robbery, a prosecutor said Friday.

Katherin Shuffield, who was five months pregnant, was critically wounded in the robbery Tuesday morning at a Huntington Bank branch. Police have been searching for the gunman.

Had a nice long discusion with some coworkers today about this story and just wanted to get a feel for others thoughts.

[BRP]

Uh, I'm pretty sure by law it is.

[BIGSTIC]

Try telling that to a right-wing pro-life person who keeps comparing it to an abortion

[thestalkmore]

Try telling that to a right-wing pro-life person who keeps comparing it to an abortion

Except she didn't choose to abort her children. This "person" of yours is an idiot.

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

Try telling that to a right-wing pro-life person who keeps comparing it to an abortion

I was actually going to say that lol. The only difference is the mother doesn't condone the murder of her unborn child.

[Shuemue]

Looks pretty human to me, going with murder.[attachment=0:2jmun89b]fig17baby5mos.jpg[/attachment:2jmun89b]

[Ace-o-fire]

Anything over 3 months = murder in my book

[Senoska]

Anything over 3 months = murder in my book

this, sorta, if she wanted to keep the baby then yes.

[Venture]

Was wondering how many hours it would take for someone to catch this news.

It's murder in my book for robbing the woman of her future children against her will. It's just current abortion laws will get in the way, and most people, including the legal system, are incapable of seeing the shades of gray necessary to make these kind of calls.

[Tricen]

Why can't there be an "I don't care" option :<. It's a big can of worms and ethical debates. We all now where it leads.

[Bartylby]

legally isn't it only murder if the baby takes a breath before he dies? or am i watching too much law and order

[Demosthenes11]

lol @ pro-choice people saying this is murder

lol

[BerenTebogo]

Why can't there be an "I don't care" option :<. It's a big can of worms and ethical debates. We all now where it leads.

[Kurp]

Why can't there be an "I don't care" option :<. It's a big can of worms and ethical debates. We all now where it leads.

I think the 'Backspace' key works for this.

[Demosthenes11]

so if someone forces a miscarriage on someone it's ok?
What if the father intentionally killed the unborn child?

[Keno]

This should not be considered murder; if he gets double homicide for this I'll flip my lid.

[Tricen]

http://www.uk.pg.com/images/pringlesPack_IL.jpg


Once you pop, the fun don't stop?

[Khamsin]

Now, I'm NOT comparing these activities to murder or abortion, but I'm just trying to get a feel of where the law draws the line:

What charge would someone get if they...

...drove recklessly down a residential street at 80mph and accidentally hit a couple kids.

...drove down a residential street intending to hit a couple kids.

...drove down a residential street aiming for a woman, but accidentally hit a couple kids with her.

...shot at a woman, but missed and hit a kid instead.

Assume in each case, intent and motive could be proven. Also, it's obvious that in each case the guy would be charged with something between manslaughter and homicide, but where in the spectrum does each case fall, and in the case of multiple victims, what charge would he receive for each death (e.g. homicide and 2x manslaughter in the third case)?

And yes, in each of those cases, the kid is out of the womb. I don't care about that, I'm just looking for what level of murder the law would consider it.

[Tricen]

Now, I'm NOT comparing these activities to murder or abortion, but I'm just trying to get a feel of where the law draws the line:

What charge would someone get if they...

...drove recklessly down a residential street at 80mph and accidentally hit a couple kids.

...drove down a residential street intending to hit a couple kids.

...drove down a residential street aiming for a woman, but accidentally hit a couple kids with her.

...shot at a woman, but missed and hit a kid instead.

Assume in each case, intent and motive could be proven. Also, it's obvious that in each case the guy would be charged with something between manslaughter and homicide, but where in the spectrum does each case fall, and in the case of multiple victims, what charge would he receive for each death (e.g. homicide and 2x manslaughter in the third case)?

And yes, in each of those cases, the kid is out of the womb. I don't care about that, I'm just looking for what level of murder the law would consider it.

Reckless driving and involuntary manslaughter
Premeditated murder
Premeditated murder - the person planned on murdering someone, it just so happens the wrong person.
Murder

Would be my guess, degrees vary <_>?

[Keno]

Now, I'm NOT comparing these activities to murder or abortion, but I'm just trying to get a feel of where the law draws the line:

What charge would someone get if they...

...drove recklessly down a residential street at 80mph and accidentally hit a couple kids.

...drove down a residential street intending to hit a couple kids.

...drove down a residential street aiming for a woman, but accidentally hit a couple kids with her.

...shot at a woman, but missed and hit a kid instead.

Assume in each case, intent and motive could be proven. Also, it's obvious that in each case the guy would be charged with something between manslaughter and homicide, but where in the spectrum does each case fall, and in the case of multiple victims, what charge would he receive for each death (e.g. homicide and 2x manslaughter in the third case)?

And yes, in each of those cases, the kid is out of the womb. I don't care about that, I'm just looking for what level of murder the law would consider it.

Hitting kids on accident while driving recklessly would get him vehicular manslaughter (which you can't spell without "laughter").
Intending to hit a couple kids would be first degree murder.
Third scenario would be second degree murder. And attempted murder for trying to hit the woman.
Fourth scenario would be attempted murder on the woman and second degree murder on the kid.

And yes, I believe I have the technical legal terms correct here, but if someone is more informed than me, please feel free to correct me.