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Manslaughter Charge Dropped Against Alabama Woman Who Was Shot While Pregnant

Prosecutors in Alabama said on Wednesday that they were dropping a manslaughter charge against a woman over the death of the fetus she was carrying when she was shot in the belly, in a case that stirred national outrage.

The woman, Marshae Jones, was accused of beating up a co-worker who ultimately drew a gun and fired it, wounding Ms. Jones in the stomach and killing her five-month-old fetus. A grand jury in Jefferson County, convened by District Attorney Lynneice Washington, dismissed charges against the co-worker, saying she had acted in self-defense. But it indicted Ms. Jones for “initiating a fight knowing she was five months pregnant.”

Under Alabama law, a fetus is considered to have the same rights as a child who has already been born. The grand jury sought to hold someone accountable for its death and Ms. Jones was arrested last week. The charges against her quickly drew national attention.

On Wednesday, Ms. Washington, who had signed the indictment, said in a brief news conference that she had weighed the evidence and decided to dismiss the case.

“I have determined that it is not in the best interest of justice to pursue prosecution of Ms. Jones on the manslaughter charge for which she was indicted by the grand jury,” she told reporters. “No further legal action will be taken against Ms. Jones in this matter.”

The decision, a reversal, came after her office was flooded with angry calls and messages about the injustice of arresting a woman who was shot, while allowing the person who fired the weapon to walk free.

Ms. Jones’s arrest came just weeks after Alabama lawmakers passed a law effectively banning abortion at any stage of pregnancy, even in cases of rape and incest. The state has some of the strictest abortion laws in the country.

Reproductive rights activists saw Ms. Jones’s arrest as an illustration of the legal ramifications of treating a fetus as a person in a court of law. Some also said it was a cautionary tale of how pregnant women could be arrested and prosecuted in cases where they are seen to have endangered the unborn. Alabama state law recognizes a fetus at any stage of development as a person and potential victim for criminal homicide or assaults.

Ms. Washington, the first black female district attorney in Alabama’s history, appeared surprised and stung by the vehemence of the criticism, some of which centered on the notion that Ms. Jones, a working-class black woman, was being treated in a way that no wealthy white woman would have been. Over the weekend, Ms. Washington defended herself before a mostly black audience at a play in Birmingham, according to Al.com.

“There was a barrage of insults — desecration of my integrity, my character, my name,” she was quoted as saying. “I am a black woman in black skin. So, don’t tell me how I don’t appreciate the sensitivity of a woman and the rights of women.”

Moments after news broke that Ms. Jones would not be prosecuted, lawyers from the firm White Arnold & Dowd, who had taken up Ms. Jones’s case, issued a statement: “We are gratified the district attorney evaluated the matter and chose not to proceed with a case that was neither reasonable nor just.”

Despite the angry national reaction, many in Alabama and Pleasant Grove, a city of 10,000 people where the shooting occurred, defended the grand jury’s decision, saying that they agreed with the laws protecting the unborn and that women who endanger them should face legal consequences. But the prosecutor’s decision was welcomed by reproductive rights advocates in Birmingham.

[Read: Why many in Alabama defended the arrest of Ms. Jones.]

Shante Wolfe-Sisson, a founder of a health and wellness organization called BLK Pearl, said the decision gave her hope for women’s rights in Alabama, adding, “We could use a lot of hope right now.”

Both prosecutors and the police have sought to distance themselves from the charges in the wake of the national outcry. Police officers in Pleasant Grove arrested Ms. Jones’s co-worker, Ebony Jemison, after the Dec. 4 shooting, but made statements to reporters that Ms. Jones was to blame for the fight and that her actions would be presented to the grand jury to determine whether she should be charged with a crime.

“When a five-month-pregnant woman initiates a fight and attacks another person, I believe some responsibility lies with her as to any injury to her unborn child,” Lt. Danny Reid of the Pleasant Grove Police Department said at the time. “That child is dependent on its mother to try to keep it from harm, and she shouldn’t seek out unnecessary physical altercations.”

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Marshae Jones in a photo provided by her family.

The actions of both women were presented to the grand jury, using evidence from the police. Prosecutors were on hand at the time to answer the grand jury’s legal questions. The grand jury indicted Ms. Jones, and Ms. Washington signed the indictment in May.

On Wednesday, Ms. Washington said the decision not to move forward with the case was in no way a criticism of the grand jury. “The citizens took the evidence presented them by the Pleasant Grove Police Department and made what they believed to be a reasonable decision to indict Ms. Jones,” she said.

She added that they had heard hundreds of cases in a matter of days. “The members of the grand jury took to heart that the life of an unborn child was violently ended and believed someone should be held accountable. But in the interests of all concerned, we are not prosecuting the case.”

Valerie Hicks Powe, the chief assistant district attorney, said it was not the first time that Ms. Washington had declined to bring a case to trial after a grand jury indictment.

“It’s not rare that the district attorney — not just this district attorney, but any district attorney — uses discretion regarding cases that come off the grand jury,” she said.

Several factors go into deciding whether to bring a case to trial, she said, including whether it is worth the resources, whether the facts support the charge, whether a jury is likely to convict, and whether a prosecution would serve “the cause of justice.”

Mark White, one of several lawyers who assembled a team to defend Ms. Jones, said she had burst into tears when she heard the news that she would not be prosecuted.

“She cried,” he said. “We both cried. Then she said, ‘Thank you.’”

Mr. White also said that investigators working with his law firm had found on Wednesday morning a cellphone video of the fight, which showed Ms. Jones backing away at the time Ms. Jemison fired the gun.

“The investigators have been working around the clock,” he said. “We also got all of her medical records. The video and the medical records 100 percent substantiate that she was in retreat when the woman shot her.”

Mr. White’s account contradicts an account given by the police, which indicated that witnesses had described Ms. Jemison being pinned inside her car, taking blows.

Ms. Powe said that neither the district attorney nor the grand jury saw the cellphone video, and that it was not a factor in the decision to drop the case. She also expressed doubt about its contents.

Jenny Carroll, a professor at the University of Alabama School of Law said that the prosecution of Ms. Jones was part of a dangerous trend in Alabama.

“You are opening up a Pandora’s box of whenever a pregnant woman puts her fetus at any risk, they can seek an indictment,” Professor Carroll said. “A jury can ultimately say that the risk wasn’t great enough to convict, but in the meantime, this woman was arrested, she was put in jail.”

The uproar over the indictment of Ms. Jones was not the first time that the application of Alabama’s fetal-rights laws has attracted criticism and concern.

Alabama has prosecuted hundreds of women for using controlled substances while they are pregnant, under a 2006 “chemical endangerment” law, according to an investigation by ProPublica and Al.com. Doctors have argued that such prosecutions discourage pregnant addicts from seeking the treatment that they and their fetuses need.

Although many in Alabama felt Ms. Jones had acted irresponsibly and deserved to be punished for endangering her unborn baby, many in Pleasant Grove also expressed sympathy for her loss and felt she deserved mercy. Kristina Poole, 34, a caregiver for the disabled and elderly, said prison was not an appropriate punishment for Ms. Jones.

“She lost a baby,” she said. “She’s been punished enough.”

A correction was made on 
July 5, 2019

An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of a founder of a health and wellness organization called BLK Pearl. She is Shante Wolfe-Sisson, not Wolf-Sisson.

How we handle corrections

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Pregnant Woman Shot in Fight Won’t Stand Trial for Fetus’s Death. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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