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25 Hastings Const. L.Q. 457 (1997-1998)
Fetal Homicide Laws: Shield against Domestic Violence or Sword to Pierce Abortion Rights

handle is hein.journals/hascq25 and id is 517 raw text is: Fetal Homicide Laws: Shield Against Domestic Violence or Sword to Pierce Abortion Rights? By ALIsON TSAO* Introduction William Owen Dunson of Kansas City, Missouri came home on the evening of March 27, 1996, to find a phone bill that included $281 in charges for 1-900 phone-sex calls.' When he yelled at his children and demanded to know who had made the calls, his twelve-year-old son said Dunson's pregnant daughter might have been responsible. In a fit of rage, William Dunson slapped his daughter's face, knocking her against a metal case, hit her leg with a croquet mallet, picked her up by the shoulders and shoved his knee into her abdomen.2 He then went to play video games.3 His daughter was just thirteen years old and seven months pregnant. The fetus was pronounced dead the day after the beating.4 William Dunson was convicted on December 16, 1996, on numerous counts, including second degree fetal murder.5 The jury recommended a sentence of 103 years.' On September 12, 1996, Airman Gregory Robbins of Ohio, came home to the military base housing complex he shared with his wife.7 He fought with his wife, Karlene, because one of the couple's dogs had made a mess in the house and Robbins blamed his wife for the * B.A., Political Science, U.C. Berkeley. J.D. Candidate, Hastings College of the Law, 1998. I would like to thank the entire CLQ team for its editing efforts. I wish to dedicate this Note to my family for their love and unwavering support. 1. See Christine Vendel, Death of Fetus is Ruled a Homicide; The Fatal Incident Last Month Involved Beating of Mother, 13, KANSAS Crry STAR, Apr. 12, 1996, at Cl; See also Spotlight Story Missouri: Man Convicted of Fetal Murder, 7 AM. POL. NETWORK 104, Dec. 17, 1996. 2. See Vendel, supra note 1, at C1. 3. See id.; see also Spotlight Story Missouri, supra note 1, at 104. 4. See Vendel, supra note 1, at C1. 5. Id. 6. See Spotlight Story Missouri, supra note 1. 7. See Janice H. Morse, Fetal Verdict a First, DAYTON DAILY NEws, Dec. 10, 1996, at B1; see also State Reports Ohio: Man Faces First Ohio Feticide Trial After Beating of Wife, 7 AM. POL. NETwoRK 144 (Feb. 25, 1997).

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