Grand Jury does NOT indict Brittany Watts for her miscarriage

[Nevilledog]

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Laura Hancock
@laurahancock
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BREAKING: The grand jury has decided NOT to indict Brittany Watts. She's the Warren Ohio woman facing charges after miscarriage.
11:29 AM · Jan 11, 2024

[hlthe2b]

1. I wish, instead, they could indict the prosecutor for those charges, the Republican lawmakers who

created this horrific law and circumstances, the Governor, AG, and anyone else involved in its passage/conduct and her persecution.

[LiberalFighter]

8. At a minimum they should pay for any attorney costs

And for the mental anguish caused.

[onecaliberal]

2. Thank God.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. There are intelligent people in Ohio.

[asiliveandbreathe]

4. A grand Jury in the state of Ohio ..says NO to indictment ..now

Ohio..listen ..vote out these evil, disgusting people in power..take back your state..protect your citizens from further trauma...you have already demonstrated you get it!!!

[appleannie1]

17. We think alike.

[calimary]

36. Yes we definitely do!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. This is good news of the highest sort. The Grand Jury got it right! nt

[getagrip_already]

6. Sadly, she is likely still thousands in debt

Due to legal fees. And her reputation is destroyed since every employer and anyone who googles her will turn up the original charges.

What should have been a private matter is now a permanent public scar, which magats will pick at for the rest of her life.

[spooky3]

38. True. She does have a GoFundMe, which helps financially. Nt

https://www.gofundme.com/f/justice-for-brittany-watts

[Demovictory9]

57. 240k..excellent

[Demovictory9]

58. Gofundme is 240k and theyll think twice before prosecuting the next woman

[Wounded Bear]

7. Good news, but she shouldn't have had to go through all that...

[malaise]

9. Great news

Rec

[LetMyPeopleVote]

10. The grand jury did the right thing here

[JoseBalow]

11. This is what passes for news today

Thanks, republicans

[BlueIdaho]

12. Sweet Jebus

A moment of sanity…

[prodigitalson]

13. was the prosecutor actually asking for an indictment?

[Butterflylady]

16. So so happy for her.l

[bluesbassman]

18. Yes, publicly stated he was "obligated" to.

Vile POS.

[ProfessorGAC]

22. Which, Of Course, Is Nonsense

Prosecutors exercise discretion as to which cases will brought to a GJ every day, in every jurisdiction.
What he meant was not "legally obligated" but rather "politically obligated". A display of moral cowardice.

[bluesbassman]

27. A feature, not a bug in today's GOP.

Spineless worms, the lot of 'em.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

42. Today's GOP is CCCP -- Corrupt, Cowardly, Chaos, Putin

[Nevilledog]

31. It's a prosecutor's discretion to present a case to a Grand Jury.

You bet your ass they wanted an indictment. If not, it would never have been heard by a Grand Jury.

[appleannie1]

14. The jury got it right.

[Sky Jewels]

15. Yabbut she's still guilty...

…of being one of those icky, inferior, penis-lacking wimminfolks…

[Bluethroughu]

19. Republicans are disturbingly hell bent on making women 2nd class citizens.

Vote these Neanderthals out of office.

I don't mean to disparage the Neanderthals, seriously.

[NNadir]

20. It's fucking insane that it went to a Grand Jury.

[Warpy]

21. Good, she has been through enough

I wish there was a way to go after the "caregiver" who ratted her out and the DA who took the case for gross misconduct.

[Diamond_Dog]

53. I, too, am curious about the person at the hospital who called the police.

Catholic hospital, of course.

[Warpy]

55. Ugh, that means no dismissal.

The name gets published anywhere, the licensing board might have a few things to say about it.

[MOMFUDSKI]

23. So I am WAY past my regular period and

assuming I am pregnant with my second. Then at work I start having cramps and go to the restroom to check stuff out. Spotting and then out comes a HUGE clot into the toilet. I instantly assume this was an early miscarriage, flush, and go back to my desk. Something like 20 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage. Nature’s way of ridding an imperfect embryo. Life went on. I told a few friends and promptly got pregnant the very next month. I wasn’t prosecuted.

[Johnny2X2X]

25. In a Republican future America

If they get their way, they'd monitor all of that and you'd be facing jail for doing this without first getting a panel of old whte men to give you permission to flush the toilet.

They are absolutely that sick.

[MOMFUDSKI]

39. There ya

go. Crazy people.

[MerryBlooms]

46. A fine screen, like in a sink drain, installed in women's toilets.

🤔🧐🤬

[ShazzieB]

24. Hurray!

Sounds like that GJ was made up of actual humans, rather than reptilian monsters like the prosecutor who decided to charge her.

This news is a breath of sanity in these troubled times. There are still sane people in the world, praise be!

[Jilly_in_VA]

26. Which is great, BUT

they should indict the prosecutor for bringing false charges, or some such, and make him pay her attorney fees.

[Nevilledog]

32. Prosecutors have immunity.

[Jilly_in_VA]

47. They shouldn't

Not when they're vile assholes like this one.

[Nevilledog]

48. Neither should cops.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

28. I was once on a federal grand jury

When prosecutors, sensed a jury was likely not to indict, they would just shut the whole thing down and take it to a different grand jury. I wonder if that can be done here Or if the fact that they voted on indictment means it can’t be taken to a different grand jury. Any lawyers here that can answer those questions?

[irisblue]

29. From the WaPo

https://wapo.st/3Sefp0R

Entire article at 3:15 pm, local time.

An Ohio grand jury has declined to indict Brittany Watts, the 34-year-old woman charged with abusing a corpse after experiencing a miscarriage at home in a case that drew national attention to the ways women may be criminalized for their pregnancy outcomes in a post-Dobbs landscape.

The Trumbull County grand jury that had been investigating Watts’s case for a month on Thursday returned what’s known as a “no bill” for felony abuse of a corpse charges; as a result, charges against Watts will be immediately dismissed.

Trumbull County prosecutor Dennis Watkins did not immediately comment following the grand jury’s decision but said through a spokesperson he plans to address the outcome within the next day. Watkins was widely criticized for pursuing the case against Watts and was last month urged by medical and legal professionals to drop the case.from the WPO

[littlemissmartypants]

30. It was reported that they literally took her toilet as evidence.

God help us all.

[Freethinker65]

33. Can she sue the state for pain and suffering, defamation, lost income, legal fees???

[TSExile]

34. Bless you, grand jury.

At least there are some sane people in my state.

[sop]

35. Ohio voters just passed constitutional protections for abortion access and other reproductive rights.

(AP) - "The amendment declared an individual’s right to 'make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions' and passed with a strong 57% majority. It was the seventh straight victory in statewide votes for supporters of abortion access nationally since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned constitutional protections."

The Ohio constitutional amendment was supposed to take effect in December, but Republicans there are doing everything they can to prevent that from happening. Meanwhile existing abortion-related cases are still moving through the courts, even after voters decided the issue. Apparently, the people sitting on this grand jury agree with the majority of Ohio's voters.

[Nevilledog]

40. The illegally gerrymandered legislature is trying to nullify this right now.

[SouthernDem4ever]

62. I don't understand how the Ohio legislature thinks they have the right to override the state constitution

WTF is that all about?

[sop]

64. After Florida restored felons' voting rights in 2018, the legislature passed a bill requiring convicted felons to

pay "fines and fees" to the State before they would be allowed to vote again, supposedly as reimbursement for fines and legal costs involved in their original prosecution. Civil rights groups sued and a federal judge ruled that it was "akin to an unconstitutional poll tax for Florida to require that people with serious criminal convictions pay court fines and fees before they can register to vote."

An appeals court then overturned that decision. The matter is still in the courts, with no resolution in sight. Six years after the people voted to restore their rights, most convicted felons are still disenfranchised in Florida. I imagine the Ohio State Legislature will enact a series of legal/medical obstacles for women to clear before they are granted their right to make their own reproductive choices.

Ohio is doing the same thing with the recreational marijuana law that just passed. Even though marijuana is now legal in Ohio, the House has yet to create a system for people to legally buy it. There are no authorized sellers, and the Division of Cannabis Control isn’t processing retailer applications. From what I've read, they're delaying the process to prevent the sale of marijuana.

[SouthernDem4ever]

65. Yet people still vote for those assholes.

I guess you can't fix stupid.

[lindysalsagal]

37. Good, but this is still insane, and they'll just write another law they GJ can't override.

They want to own the uteri, and they're not backing down.

[Ms. Toad]

66. The law they used has nothing to do with abortion, specifically.

The charges were under the statutes prohibiting abuse of a corpse - for flushing a 22-week fetus (about the size of a sweet potato or papaya) down the toilet.

I think the charges are absurd, but this isn't an abortion law that a grand jury overrode. The grand jury simply recognized that Brittany's actions did not fall within the statute - which is unchanged since 1996.

[AllyCat]

41. So relieved for her but the treatment of Ms Watts

Was despicable. They need to compensate her for the trauma and grief they have caused her.

[Elessar Zappa]

43. The prosecutor should be ashamed for bringing this case to a GJ in the first place.

[Niagara]

44. Splendid outcome!

Miss Watts should sue for malicious prosecution, or some sort of legal grounds that pertain to her case. I'm not a lawyer so I wouldn't know the legal terms or grounds.


All I know, is that I would have frightened, stressed out and a total flipping mess over something that we women can't control.

[spanone]

45. 👍🏼...K&R...👍🏼

[Upthevibe]

49. Nevilledog

This entire situation is beyond belief

Thank God for that Grand Jury.

These types of situations are the talking points, commercials, etc. that we must use moving into the 2024 campaign!

[Fla Dem]

50. Halleuiah!!! Justice served!

[republianmushroom]

51. They got it right, IMO.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

52. Grateful to see a jury understands the hell a woman can be put through in America after Roe was overturned.

Link to tweet

An Ohio grand jury declined to indict Brittany Watts, the 34-year-old woman charged with abusing a corpse after experiencing a miscarriage at home.

Grateful to see a jury understands the hell a woman can be put through in America after Roe was overturned.

Ms. Watt's has been put through hell by politicians who don't even understand abortion and a miscarriage are two different things.

And either way abortion and miscarriages should not be crimes. Both are part of women's healthcare.

Trumbull County prosecutor Dennis Watkins, a Democrat, should never have charged Ms. Watt's with a crime, but he says the Republican state legislators mandated that he did.

Women in America should not have any politicians overseeing their healthcare.

Miscarriage is painful enough without dumbass Republican politicians getting involved in things they have no idea about.

[Solly Mack]

54. K&R

[pfitz59]

56. My mother's first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage into the toilet.

She went on to have 7 kids. She told me this when she was old. Not uncommon. Rarely talked about due to PRIVACY. The root of these fanatical Handmaiden Laws is stripping privacy, dignity and freedom away from women and girls. Abominable.

[niyad]

59. FUCK THE GODDAMNED CHRISTOFASCIST THEOCRATIC WOMAN-HATERS

who created her nightmare.

May all involved receive everything they deserve.

[Grins]

60. Nullification. The jury knew and understood.

And made a statement!!!!!!

[ecstatic]

61. Relieved but sad that this is even happening in this country.

The questions I have now are:

Did Ms. Watts have to pay for her attorneys out of her own pocket? Did good lawyers step up to help pro bono?

Will other women in situations like this get good representation?

Will the State have to reimburse / pay back any of the money?

Are women and men going to do the right thing this year and vote these heartless, privacy-invading motherfuckers out?

[wolfie001]

63. Great News!!!

Those sick republican fucks.