Manslaughter charges dropped in case of woman who was shot and lost her foetus

Charges against Marshae Jones have been dropped. Photo / AP

An Alabama district attorney said on Wednesday (US time) she is dropping charges against a woman who was indicted for manslaughter after she lost her foetus when was shot during a fight.

Marshae Jones was arrested last week after a grand jury concluded she intentionally caused the death of her foetus by initiating a fight, knowing she was pregnant.

Jones was five months pregnant when 23-year-old Ebony Jemison shot her in the stomach during a December argument over the foetus's father, authorities said.

Jemison was initially charged with manslaughter, but a Jefferson County grand jury declined to indict her after police said an investigation determined Jones started the fight, and Jemison ultimately fired in self-defense. Jones, 28, was indicted by the same grand jury and arrested.

But Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney Lynneice O. Washington said Wednesday that she would not pursue the case.

Lawyers defending Jones filed a motion to dismiss Monday morning, arguing that in issuing the charges, the state used a "flawed and twisted rationale" that "ignores the law and ignores reason."

The idea that Jones intentionally caused the death of her foetus by initiating the fight is a "tortured," "irrational" theory which "defies the most basic logic and analysis," the filing asserts.

Alabama is one of dozens of states that have foetal homicide laws allowing criminal charges when foetuses are killed in violent acts, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Jones' arrest sparked outrage across the country, with advocates for women's rights calling it another attempt to charge women for crimes related to their pregnancies. Legal scholars said the arrest raises questions about what other scenarios — such as driving a car or swimming in a pool — could constitute putting a foetus in danger.

It comes after the state passed the nation's most hardline anti-abortion legislation. It would make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by 10 to 99 years or life in prison for the provider. The law makes no exception for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. The only exception would be when the woman's health is at serious risk.

- AP