Court to baby killer: That was no accident
The Massachusetts Appeals Court today upheld the life sentence of a man convicted of slamming a baby into a crib railing so hard she died.
In appealing his second-degree murder conviction for the 2003 death of his girlfriend's seven-month old daughter, Michael Moran of Halifax argued in part that her death was an accident, "comparable to the holding of the firearm, the accidental hitting of her head comparable to the accidental pulling of the trigger."
The court rejected that as nonsense:
Throwing, at least in this case, however, is not comparable to holding. Rather, the throwing of the child was an intentional act comparable to the pulling of a trigger. Indeed, the evidence was undisputed that the defendant intended to throw Gail. At oral argument, the defendant clarified that he was arguing that the accident here falls into the category of an unintended consequence of a defendant's act. The defendant further explained that had the jury found this type of accident, they could not have convicted him of second degree murder.
It is still not clear what consequence the defendant is arguing was unintended. His argument could be construed to mean that he intended to slam Gail into her crib, by which we take him to mean onto the mattress in the crib, but that the hitting of her head on the crib railing was unintended. Or, he could mean that Gail's death was unintended. In either event, our analysis is the same.
