State v. Wickstrom
405 N.W. 2d 1, 1987 Minn. App. LEXIS 4323 (1987)
Premium Feature
Subscribe to Lexplug to listen to the Case Podcast.
Rule of Law:
A person commits the crime of abortion under Minnesota statute when they perform a willful act, such as a physical assault, that results in the termination of a pregnancy, regardless of whether they possessed the specific intent to terminate that pregnancy.
Facts:
- Donald Wickstrom argued with his former girlfriend, Cynthia Hall, who was eight months pregnant with his child, over money at his mother's home.
- During the argument, Wickstrom assaulted Hall by hitting her, pulling her hair, and kicking her abdomen with hard-toed boots.
- Wickstrom's mother, Gayle Gonsoir, was also struck when she tried to intervene.
- Despite the assault, Wickstrom had previously expressed happiness about the pregnancy, attended prenatal classes with Hall, and both Hall and Gonsoir believed he wanted the child.
- After the assault, Hall went to the hospital where fetal heart tones, initially normal, later showed severe distress.
- An emergency Cesarean section was performed, but the female child was delivered with no signs of life.
- A pathologist concluded that a kick from Wickstrom's boots was sufficient force to cause the placental separation which resulted in the death of the fetus.
Procedural Posture:
- Donald Wickstrom was indicted by a grand jury on charges of second-degree felony murder, first-degree assault, fifth-degree assault, and criminal abortion under Minn. Stat. § 145.412, subd. 3.
- The trial court dismissed the felony murder charge, ruling a fetus is not a 'human being' under the homicide statutes.
- The trial court also dismissed the original criminal abortion charge.
- The court then granted the State's motion to amend the indictment to charge Wickstrom with criminal abortion under a different subsection, Minn. Stat. § 145.412, subd. 1.
- Following a trial to the court, Wickstrom was found guilty on all remaining counts: first-degree assault, criminal abortion, and fifth-degree assault.
- Wickstrom appealed the judgment of conviction to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
Premium Content
Subscribe to Lexplug to view the complete brief
You're viewing a preview with Rule of Law, Facts, and Procedural Posture
Issue:
Does the Minnesota criminal abortion statute, which makes it unlawful to 'wilfully perform an abortion,' require the state to prove a defendant had the specific intent to terminate a pregnancy?
Opinions:
Majority - Mulally, J.
No. The Minnesota criminal abortion statute does not require specific intent to terminate a pregnancy. The statutory term 'wilfully' does not denote a specific intent requirement; it refers to a general intent to do the prohibited act. The statute defines 'abortion' as an act which 'results in the termination of pregnancy,' focusing on the outcome of the act rather than the actor's specific design or purpose. Had the legislature intended to make specific intent an element, it would have used explicit language such as 'with intent to.' Therefore, Wickstrom's willful assault on Hall, which directly resulted in the termination of her pregnancy, satisfies the elements of the criminal abortion statute.
Analysis:
This decision significantly broadens the scope of the criminal abortion statute beyond the context of clinical, consensual procedures. It establishes that a general intent violent crime, such as assault, can be prosecuted as a criminal abortion if the act results in the termination of a pregnancy. This creates precedent for holding individuals criminally liable for fetal death resulting from violence against a pregnant person, even when the perpetrator did not have the specific goal of ending the pregnancy. The ruling effectively links the consequences of an assault to the distinct crime of abortion, expanding prosecutorial options in cases of domestic violence or other attacks on pregnant individuals.
