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From: geb@cadre.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.religion,net.politics,net.legal
Subject: Vet kills his baby.
Message-ID: <319@cadre.ARPA>
Date: Sat, 16-Feb-85 18:42:23 EST
Article-I.D.: cadre.319
Posted: Sat Feb 16 18:42:23 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 18-Feb-85 05:25:06 EST
Organization: Decision Systems Lab., Univ. of Pgh.
Lines: 37
Xref: watmath net.religion:5653 net.politics:7638 net.legal:1407
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Reply-To: geb@cadre.ARPA (Gordon E. Banks)
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Organization: Decision Systems Laboratory, University of Pittsburgh
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Excepted from the NY Times, Feb 15:

The murder trial of an Illinois veterinarian ended in a mistrial
after the jury deadlocked 10 to 2 in favor of conviction.  The
slaying occurred in the delivery room of the hospital, where the
vet's wife had just given birth to a baby with cleft palate,
webbed fingers, "dislocated" heart, and missing testicles.
The autopsy report was not given in the article, but there
was mention of the possibility of trisomy 13, a fatal defect.
Doctors said the child would not have been expected to live more
than three months.  When the baby was born it was not breathing.
The veterinarian noted the child's deformities, and asked the
physicians not to use "heroic measures" to save the child.  They
explained that this was against hospital policy, and continued
to resusitate the child, whereupon the vet seized the infant
and smashed its head into the floor.  His defense was temporary
insanity.

How would you have voted if you were on the jury?
(OK, OK, I know this isn't enough information to decide,
but let's do it in the hypothetical, so we can discuss the
issues).

I'll start by saying I would have voted to acquit.


Any takers on this issue?