Monday, December 09, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

DEATH OF FETUS: Las Vegas man faces charges

Viability of fetus to survive outside womb might be key

Manslaughter suspect Jesus Villagomez appears last week in District Court. Villagomez is accused of causing the death of an 18-week-old fetus. Photo by Gary Thompson.

The death of a fetus has resulted in a manslaughter charge filed against a Las Vegas man.

In what officials are describing as an extremely rare case, authorities allege that Jesus Villagomez stabbed his pregnant girlfriend in the stomach during a domestic dispute at a Swenson Street apartment in October.

The stab wound resulted in the termination of the 18-week-old fetus.

Villagomez was originally arrested on an attempted murder charge, but authorities later tacked on a charge of manslaughter of an unborn quick child against Villagomez. Nevada law doesn't define a "quick child," though elsewhere it has been defined as a child that has developed to the point it can move within the uterus.

Villagomez's attorneys question whether their client can even be prosecuted, saying such a charge would be invalid if the child would not have been viable outside the womb.

"It is my opinion that this prosecution is a legal impossibility," said defense attorney Robert Draskovich.

Villagomez's prior attorney, Frank Kocka, said the charge of manslaughter of an unborn quick child is an extremely rare event in Nevada.

"It's a seldom if ever used statute that most defense attorneys will never see," Kocka said.

But Clark County Deputy District Attorney Ravi Bawa said the state is on solid legal ground.

"Whether or not the fetus was killed as a result of the defendant's actions -- that is a fact for a jury to decide," Bawa said.

According to court records, Villagomez and his girlfriend had a history of domestic violence disputes. Kocka said evidence presented at Villagomez's preliminary hearing indicated there was a heated dispute over the pregnancy.

The woman has told authorities that Villagomez subsequently attacked her with a knife, inflicting the injuries.

Kocka said, however, during the preliminary hearing that he pursued the possibility that the woman's stab wounds might have been self-inflicted.

"She thought the baby was to blame (for the argument)," Kocka said.

During a preliminary hearing, Justice of the Peace Ann Zimmerman heard arguments on whether the charge of manslaughter of an unborn quick child was appropriate. She bound Villagomez over to District Court on the manslaughter and attempted murder charges.

The viability of a fetus has long been the center of debate between abortion foes and abortion rights advocates. In general, the viability of a fetus has been viewed as a baby's ability to survive once outside the womb.

A baby traditionally is viewed as viable in the third trimester of pregnancy. Some babies have survived outside the womb just 20 weeks into a pregnancy.

Kocka said in the Villagomez case, the sex of the baby couldn't even be determined. He also said Nevada law doesn't define a "quick child."

"There is a case in Ohio that said it is when the mother feels movement," he said.

But Bawa said he is aware of at least two other Nevada cases in which individuals have been prosecuted in the death of a quick child. And, he said, Nevada statute is clear.

"A person who willfully kills an unborn quick child by an injury committed upon the mother of the child commits manslaughter," Bawa said, reading from state statute.

If convicted of the manslaughter charge, Villagomez faces a possible sentence of one to 10 years in prison.