B6 LATIMES.COM
Low H▲
Pressure: L Warm Front Cold Front Jet Stream Trough◗
HighTemps –0 0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 100+ Rain T-storm Snow IceTaken at 3 p.m. FridayVENTURA CO.LOS ANGELES CO.RIVERSIDE CO.SAN BERNARDINO CO.SANTA
BARBARA CO.Good Moderate Unhealthful for: Sensitive people All Not Available
South Coast Air Quality Management District forecasts air qualityAir quality
SAN DIEGO CO.ORANGE CO.Today in Southern California Today in North America
5-day forecasts
High/low temperatures are average forecasts for entire zone.
L.A. Basin Valleys Beaches Mountains DesertsU.S. cities
Surf and sea
Santa Barbara Co.
Height Period DirectionHeight Period DirectionHeight Period DirectionHeight Period DirectionHeight Period DirectionVentura Co.Los Angeles Co.Orange Co.San Diego Co.POINT CONCEPTION TO MEXICOWind speed in knots; wave heights in feet/intervals in seconds;
temperatures for sea/airCalifornia cities
Tides
Almanac
UV index
Sun and moon
City Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo Hi Lo City Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo Hi Lo City Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo Hi LoStation Time Wind Waves TempL.A. Outer Harbor, in feet.Friday downtown readingsMinutes to burn for
sensitive peopleTemperature Los Angeles Fullerton Ventura Today’s rise/setLast QuarterNew MoonFirst QuarterFull MoonNov. 26Dec. 3Nov. 19Los Angeles County Nov. 12Orange CountyVentura CountyCity Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo SkyWorld
Key:Susunny;Pcpartly cloudy;Cycloudy;Fg
foggy;Prcpprecipitation;Drdrizzle;Hz;hazy
Shshowers;Tsthunderstorms;Rrain;Snsnow;
Sfsnow flurries;Iice;Rsrain/snow;Wwindy;
Trtrace.Notes:National extremes are for NWS
stations; excludes Alaska and Hawaii.
Missing data indicated by “xx”.Santa
Barbara
VenturaOxnardOjaiCamarilloSanta PaulaWestlake
Village Woodland
Hills
Santa MonicaTorranceLong
Beach Newport
BeachSanta AnaLaguna
Beach San
ClementeMission ViejoIrvineOceansideEscondidoPowayRamonaSan DiegoTemeculaHemet Palm
SpringsFullertonChino
RiversideOntarioPomona/
Fairplex San BernardinoYucca ValleyHesperiaWhittier
HillsLA DowntownUCLASimi Valley
ChatsworthBurbank
MonroviaSanta ClaritaAnaheim 92 54 -- 90 54 83 51
Avalon/Catalina 83 66 -- 80 66 74 58
Bakersfield 80 47 -- 79 48 77 47
Barstow 82 47 -- 81 46 80 46
Beaumont 82 54 -- 83 46 80 45
Big Bear Lake 62 29 -- 61 24 61 25
Bishop 76 30 -- 75 30 76 35
Burbank 90 52 -- 89 53 83 51
Camarillo 80 45 -- 85 51 76 50
Chatsworth 91 51 -- 88 54 85 52
Chino 92 47 -- 92 47 86 46
Dana Point 74 53 -- 79 53 71 52
Death Valley xx xx xx 87 52 87 56
Del Mar 66 56 -- 77 55 71 54
Escondido 87 50 -- 88 50 81 47
Eureka 53 47 Tr 54 45 58 45
Fallbrook 90 48 -- 87 47 78 44
Fillmore 93 46 -- 90 53 85 52
Fresno 80 49 -- 78 47 77 48
Fullerton 91 54 -- 90 54 83 53
Hemet 88 44 -- 88 46 85 46
Hesperia 79 45 -- 79 39 77 43
Huntington Beach 77 50 -- 80 56 73 56
Idyllwild 76 50 -- 72 51 71 51
Irvine 81 57 -- 85 55 77 54
L.A. D’ntown/USC85 55 -- 89 57 82 56
L.A. Int’l. Airport 78 56 -- 82 59 75 58Laguna Beach 77 53 -- 79 58 72 57
Lancaster 81 34 -- 80 35 78 34
Long Beach 86 53 -- 87 56 77 55
Mammoth Lakes 64 15 -- 65 21 65 24
Mission Viejo 87 50 -- 86 57 79 54
Monrovia 89 53 -- 83 58 78 56
Monterey 61 47 -- 64 46 64 47
Mt. Wilson 74 56 -- 73 46 70 45
Needles 88 57 -- 86 52 85 51
Newport Beach 72 57 -- 79 56 72 57
Northridge 93 51 -- 90 54 87 54
Oakland 64 52 -- 66 47 66 48
Oceanside 76 49 -- 86 44 77 42
Ojai 94 40 -- 88 54 81 52
Ontario 92 54 -- 90 55 85 50
Oxnard 71 48 -- 78 55 73 54
Palm Springs 94 60 -- 92 61 91 60
Pasadena 92 57 -- 89 58 84 55
Paso Robles 87 38 -- 85 36 82 37
Pomona/Fairplex 88 53 -- 90 52 84 50
Poway 90 45 -- 85 53 78 51
Redding 83 39 -- 82 47 84 53
Rialto 88 61 -- 88 53 84 51
Riverside 92 49 -- 87 39 85 39Sacramento 80 42 -- 79 44 77 44
San Bernardino 91 49 -- 89 50 85 50
San Clemente Pier 70 55 -- 80 52 72 50
San Diego 73 58 -- 80 57 74 55
San Francisco 62 51 -- 65 49 65 50
San Gabriel 93 52 -- 90 57 85 55
San Jose 69 52 -- 71 47 73 48
San Luis Obispo 71 49 -- 83 47 79 48
Santa Ana 82 60 -- 86 58 77 57
Santa Barbara 75 45 -- 79 49 73 48
Santa Clarita 87 52 -- 89 53 85 52
Santa Monica Pier 77 52 -- 83 55 75 54
Santa Paula 93 46 -- 89 52 81 52
Santa Rosa 71 45 -- 75 38 77 42
Simi Valley 89 64 -- 89 53 86 50
Tahoe Valley 63 22 -- 66 27 65 26
Temecula 90 50 -- 89 45 84 43
Thousand Oaks 89 65 -- 87 54 82 51
Torrance 77 54 -- 83 55 75 55
UCLA 83 58 -- 85 56 78 54
Van Nuys 91 51 -- 91 54 86 51
Ventura 73 53 -- 77 53 71 53
Whittier Hills 93 47 -- 90 56 83 54
Woodland Hills 92 46 -- 92 54 88 52
Wrightwood 63 43 -- 67 44 68 43
Yorba Linda 92 53 -- 89 53 84 49
Yosemite Valley 75 43 -- 73 44 72 44Sunny and clear:Weak offshore flow and a strong inversion will largely prevent low clouds from
developing at the coast this morning. Offshore flow in wind-prone passes will be similar to Friday’s
conditions. Gradients will turn onshore on Sunday, but not as strongly as previously forecast. Sunday
is still likely to be cooler, and some marine-layer clouds may return on Monday.Sunny 82/56
Sunny 80/56
Sunny 82/57
Partly sunny 78/58Sunny 83/53
Sunny 84/58
Sunny 85/57
Partly sunny 80/54Sunny 75/54
Sunny 75/55
Sunny 77/55
Partly sunny 74/58Sunny 61/25
Sunny 63/25
Sunny 63/26
Partly sunny 62/24Sunny 91/60
Sunny 91/62
Sunny 89/60
Partly sunny 84/60Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny SunnyLos Angeles Basin:Sunny
and warm today and
Sunday. Clear tonight.
Valleys/canyons:Sunny
and warm today and
Sunday. Mostly clear
tonight.
Orange County:Sunny andwarm today and Sunday.
Clear tonight.
Ventura/Santa Barbara:
Sunny and warm today and
Sunday. Clear tonight.
San Diego County:Mostly
sunny and mild. Clear
tonight. Mostly sunny andseasonable on Sunday.
Local mountains:Sunny
today and Sunday. Breezy
this afternoon. Clear
tonight.
High desert:Sunny and
warm today and Sunday.
Clear and chilly tonight.Low desert:Sunny and
warm today and Sunday.
Clear tonight.
San Francisco Bay Area:
Low clouds in Marin and
Sonoma counties;
otherwise, sunny. Clear to
partly cloudy tonight.Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
WednesdayTodayCold surge:Most of the nation will be dry, and the central Plains
will turn warmer, but an Arctic front will bring unseasonable cold
and snow to the northern Plains by tonight. There will be snow
showers in Michigan and showers and storms in southern Florida.High95 in Thermal, Calif.
Low–8 in Black River Falls, Wis.Innerwaters:Winds mostly northwest
at 10-20 knots. Wind waves and swell at
1-4 feet.
Surf zone:The potential for strong rip
currents is moderate at beaches in
Ventura and L.A. counties, and low
elsewhere in the forecast area.
Morro Bay 4p NNW6 2/10 62/66
Santa Barbara 4p WSW4 1/10 63/74
Ventura 4p W6 1/10 64/72
Zuma Beach 4p W6 1/12 64/73
Marina del Rey 4p W4 1/10 64/75
Hermosa Beach 4p W4 1/10 64/73
Cabrillo Beach 4p W4 1/10 65/75
Hunt’n. Beach 4p W4 1/12 66/74
Newport Beach 4p W4 1/12 65/74
Dana Point 4p W4 1/12 65/73
San Clemente 4p W4 1/12 65/74
Oceanside 4p W4 1/12 64/72
Solana Beach 4p WNW4 1/12 65/74
Mission Beach 4p WNW4 1/12 64/71
Avalon 4p W4 1/10 65/77High/low 85/55 91/52 73/53
High/low a year ago 75/58 79/59 79/54
Normal high/low for date 75/54 74/52 72/49
Record high/date 93/1956 96/2016 96/1956
Record low/date 40/1888 44/2011 42/195224-hour total (as of 4 p.m.) 0.00 0.00 0.00
Season total (since Oct. 1) 0.00 0.00 0.00
Last season (Oct. 1 to date) 0.57 0.85 0.14
Season norm (Oct. 1 to date) 0.88 1.13 1.11
Humidity (high/low) 86/18 87/10 89/58Friday Today Sunday Friday Today SundayFriday TodayFriday Today SundayForecasts provided by
AccuWeather, Inc.©2019Today 7:10a 5.4 Hi 12:50a 1.0 Lo
7:32p 4.5 Hi 1:34p 0.8 Lo
Sun. 7:30a 5.7 Hi 1:15a 1.2 Lo
8:09p 4.4 Hi 2:05p 0.4 LoPrecipitationSun 6:20a/4:54p
Moon 3:45p/3:30aSun 6:18a/4:53p
Moon 3:44p/3:29aSun 6:24a/4:57p
Moon 3:49p/3:34aLas Vegas, 45
Los Angeles, 45
Phoenix, 45
San Francisco, 45Albuquerque 58 36 -- 64 39 Pc
Amarillo 55 34 -- 75 41 Su
Anchorage 44 39 .02 38 32 Pc
Atlanta 53 45 .30 56 39 Su
Atlantic City 45 37 .14 47 40 Su
Austin 51 44 .09 71 46 Su
Baltimore 45 35 .02 47 33 Su
Billings 68 35 -- 55 30 Pc
Birmingham 50 40 .03 59 37 Su
Boise 60 32 -- 58 38 Pc
Boston 39 33 .06 42 35 Su
Brownsville 59 52 Tr 68 59 Pc
Buffalo 32 27 Tr 39 33 Pc
Burlington, Vt. 30 24 .14 39 29 Pc
Casper 62 30 Tr 59 31 Pc
Charleston, S.C. 64 57 .39 59 39 Su
Charleston, W.Va. 37 28 Tr 50 34 Su
Charlotte 52 46 .48 53 31 Su
Chicago 32 16 -- 45 33 Pc
Cincinnati 37 22 -- 47 34 Pc
Cleveland 38 27 Tr 43 35 Pc
Colo. Springs 62 24 -- 69 37 Su
Columbia, S.C. 60 55 .76 57 31 Su
Columbus 38 22 -- 44 34 Pc
Concord, N.H. 35 25 .05 40 21 Pc
Dallas/Ft.Worth 54 41 -- 67 48 Su
Denver 70 25 -- 71 37 Su
Des Moines 40 18 -- 55 33 Pc
Detroit 39 22 -- 42 35 Pc
Duluth 299-- 3721Sn
El Paso 59 44 -- 71 53 Pc
Eugene 67 29 -- 56 45 Cy
Fairbanks 18 3 Tr 15 3 Su
Fargo 34 18 -- 35 17 Cy
Flagstaff 58 23 -- 61 25 Su
Grand Junction 63 30 -- 64 30 Su
Grand Rapids 33 23 .01 41 34 Pc
Green Bay 25 9 -- 39 29 Cy
Hartford 38 28 .04 42 27 Pc
Helena 44 22 -- 53 32 Cy
Honolulu 85 72 -- 85 71 Pc
Houston 55 52 .02 67 45 Su
Indianapolis 34 18 -- 46 34 Pc
Jacksonville, Fla. 68 62 .31 66 44 Pc
Kansas City 45 17 -- 63 40 Su
Las Vegas 80 52 -- 78 49 Su
Little Rock 47 30 -- 58 40 Su
Louisville 39 25 -- 51 38 Su
Medford 69 34 -- 67 41 Pc
Memphis 46 30 -- 55 41 Su
Miami 88 74 -- 80 71 Ts
Milwaukee 30 15 -- 43 33 Pc
Minneapolis 33 15 -- 41 26 Pc
Nashville 44 30 -- 56 38 Su
New Orleans 60 57 Tr 64 50 Su
New York 40 33 .01 42 38 Pc
Oklahoma City 51 31 -- 69 46 Su
Omaha 47 20 -- 61 34 Su
Orlando 84 72 .02 76 58 Sh
Philadelphia 42 35 .02 44 34 Pc
Phoenix 88 63 -- 87 63 Pc
Pittsburgh 36 23 -- 43 33 Pc
Portland, Maine 36 28 .08 39 29 Pc
Portland, Ore. 62 38 -- 56 47 Cy
Providence 38 32 .08 41 29 Su
Pueblo 65 22 -- 71 33 Su
Raleigh 52 45 .18 53 31 Su
Rapid City 64 16 -- 64 28 Pc
Reno 72 31 -- 71 37 Su
Richmond 47 39 .03 50 32 Su
St. Louis 39 21 -- 58 44 Su
Salt Lake City 62 33 -- 62 37 Su
San Antonio 53 45 .15 69 50 Pc
San Juan, P.R. 86 77 .11 88 76 Pc
Santa Fe 62 32 -- 63 29 Su
Seattle 58 39 -- 55 49 RSpokane 48 30 -- 46 35 Pc
Springfield, Mo. 44 19 -- 62 46 Su
Tallahassee 67 65 .04 67 39 Su
Tampa 84 73 -- 76 59 Pc
Tucson 79 57 -- 83 58 Pc
Tulsa 50 25 -- 67 48 Su
Washington, D.C. 45 38 .01 48 37 Su
Wichita 47 21 -- 70 39 Su
Yuma 90 61 -- 88 55 SuAcapulco 93 77 .05 88 78 Ts
Amsterdam 50 37 -- 50 35 Pc
Athens 78 59 .15 72 63 Pc
Baghdad 85 55 -- 85 53 Su
Bangkok 90 77 -- 90 72 Pc
Barbados 86 80 .10 86 78 Sh
Beijing 61 34 -- 61 44 Cy
Berlin 48 39 .29 45 32 R
Buenos Aires 72 61 -- 72 65 Pc
Cabo San Lucas 93 73 -- 92 74 Pc
Cairo 81 69 -- 84 67 Su
Calgary 54 45 -- 29 9 Sn
Cancun 88 70 .15 84 75 Ts
Copenhagen 48 43 .29 47 40 R
Dublin 47 37 -- 46 37 R
Edinburgh 43 34 -- 43 29 Pc
Frankfurt 46 37 .24 47 33 Pc
Geneva 46 41 .23 48 34 Sh
Havana 88 72 -- 84 69 Pc
Ho Chi Minh City 91 74 .01 88 73 Cy
Hong Kong 82 66 -- 78 68 Su
Istanbul 75 61 -- 72 58 Su
Jerusalem 77 61 -- 76 62 Su
Johannesburg 85 63 .02 79 57 Pc
Kabul 63 32 -- 62 29 Su
Kingston 90 79 -- 89 76 Pc
London 48 32 .16 45 41 R
Madrid 56 42 -- 54 40 Sh
Manila 88 80 -- 90 77 Sh
Mecca 94 73 -- 97 74 Su
Mexico City 74 54 -- 72 51 Pc
Montreal 32 23 .08 37 32 Sf
Moscow 39 36 Tr 41 40 Cy
Mumbai 86 77 .31 88 75 Pc
New Delhi 83 63 -- 83 59 Su
Oslo 29 21 .36 31 26 Sf
Paris 50 37 -- 49 39 Pc
Rio de Janeiro 81 73 .06 82 74 Cy
Rome 64 50 .39 64 46 Sh
Seoul 55 32 -- 61 39 Su
Stockholm 39 32 .41 40 34 Sh
Sydney 87 65 -- 67 58 Su
Taipei City 77 68 .10 77 64 Cy
Tehran 64 48 -- 66 46 Su
Tokyo 64 57 -- 61 51 Pc
Toronto 32 21 Tr 39 34 Cy
Vancouver 50 37 Tr 51 44 R
Vienna 52 45 .03 49 35 R
Winnipeg 28 12 .06 27 8 Sf
Zurich 39 38 1.03 46 29 Sh79/4988/5477/5378/5589/5285/5188/55 92/5483/5587/56
79/5679/58
80/5286/4488/5085/5380/5789/4589/4586/5785/5586/5883/55 90/56
90/5492/4788/46
92/6187/3989/5785/5689/53 88/5489/5389/53 83/5879/3990/52 90/55 89/5079/501-3’ 10 sec W2-4’ 10 sec W2-4’ 10 sec W1-3’ 12 sec SW1-3’ 10 sec W(^89) / (^5788) / (^5583) / (^5561) / (^2492) / 61
Las Vegas
78/49
Las Vegas
78/49
Seattle
55/49
Seattle
55/49
Los Angeles
89/57
Los Angeles
89/57
Denver
71/37
Denver
71/37
Houston
67/45
Houston
67/45
Miami
80/71
Miami
80/71
New York
42/38
New York
Chicago 42/38
45/33
Chicago
45/33
Anchorage
38/32
Anchorage
38/32
tially located at 6th and
Spring streets and later
moved near Pershing
Square before the 1994
Northridge earthquake dev-
astated the building where it
was housed. So it moved
again before Krinke finally
grew weary of the commute
and opened shop in an in-
dustrial park in Monrovia.
But wherever he went, his
customers followed.
Adam Gilbert, a profes-
sor at USC’s Thornton
School of Music, discovered
the shop in 2006 when he was
looking for a pen that might
help him improve his draw-
ing. He settled on a 1920s
fountain pen that Krinke
told him would probably
hold up for the rest of his life.
“When I stepped into the
shop, it was like a refuge,”
Gilbert said.
By the 1950s, it appeared
fountain pens would go the
way of sealing wax and vinyl
records. The ballpoint pens
were cheap, efficient, dis-
posable and unlikely to leave
a stain on a shirt pocket or a
puddle in the bottom of a
purse.
Still, for some, the foun-
tain pen was a more elegant
tool, something with charac-
ter and often a long history.
Krinke and his forebears
made a point of never throw-
ing away any parts, be it a
screw, a nib (the tip of the
pen) or one of the bladders
that held the ink in older
pens.
“We have parts for and
can repair fountain pens
was a museum, repair shop
and retail outlet squeezed
into one room, its glass cases
filled with curiosities that
attracted collectors, in-
vestors and those who pre-
ferred the free flow of ink.
With a ballpoint pen, a user
could say something. With a
fountain pen, they could sing
it. Stylophiles seem to agree
on that.
“The fountain pen slows
you down, and makes you
think,” said John C. Ma-
loney, a frequent customer
at the Fountain Pen Shop.
Born Jan. 30, 1928, Krinke
was raised in Pasadena and
dreamed of becoming a mu-
sician until it became clear
he would be unable to es-
cape the long shadow of the
fountain pen. His grand-
father sold them, his father
sold them, and he would too.
Krinke was a student at
what then was Pasadena
Junior College when World
War II broke out, stripping
the pen shop of most of its
hired help. So Krinke
squeezed his classes into the
morning hours and then
hopped aboard a Pacific
Electric Red Car and headed
downtown to repair broken
fountain pens.
After he served in the
Army Air Forces, his father
offered him a choice — edu-
cation or pens.
“I said, ‘Well, I’m having a
good time repairing pens,’ ”
he told the Monrovia Weekly
in 2016. His future was set.
The little shop was ini-
made before World War I,” he
told The Times in 1986. “We
are frequently called upon to
do so.”
Those who walked into
Krinke’s shop said they felt
as if they were stepping into
a different time.
There were breather
tubes, plungers, ink blad-
ders, filler units, nibs and
pens in every possible color
— orange, turquoise and
blue with delicate laces of sil-
ver. There was a pen built in
1851 that came with an eye-
dropper for dripping ink into
a central tube, and even a
homemade brew for
cleaning up ink stains called
Fred’s Secret Sauce.
“People would go into the
shop with a question and
he’d give them an hourlong
history lesson,” said Ma-
loney, whose 24-year “addic-
tion” to fountain pens began
when he and his wife wan-
dered into the Fountain Pen
Shop while visiting antique
stores downtown. “He was
like the cool dad who could
fix anything.”
Though Krinke was fond
of the bright, dazzling pens
that were in vogue during
the Roaring ’20s, his weapon
of choice was a more sturdy
pen made decades later.
“I wouldn’t trade this pen
for love or money,” he told
The Times in 1998, grinning
as he held the 1950 Ester-
brook skyward. “It’s not for
sale.”
Krinke is survived by his
wife, Margaret, and five
daughters.
FRED KRINKE, 1928 - 2019
L.A.’s king of fountain pens
there have been about 900 [Krinke,from B1]
additional cases.
Many of the cases either
did not result in a conviction
or were overturned, she said,
in part because it’s difficult
to prove what causes a mis-
carriage or stillbirth.
“No woman can guaran-
tee a healthy birth out-
come,” she said. “That’s a
medical impossibility.”
Philip Esbenshade, an
assistant district attorney in
Kings County, said the D.A.’s
office is aware of legal ex-
perts’ concerns.
“As prosecutors, we fol-
low the law,” he said in an
email. “Taking into account
the totality of the circum-
stances, including the inves-
tigation, Ms. Becker’s prior
history with the courts and
drug treatment and the
forensic pathologist’s find-
ings, we feel that the charge
filed is appropriate under
California law.”
But state courts have dis-
missed similar cases in the
past.
Rosann Juarigue, 36, of
Gilroy was charged with
murder in San Benito
County in 1992 after her still-
born baby’s death was at-
tributed by authorities to co-
caine use. The case was re-
ported as the first attempt in
California to prosecute a
woman for murder on
grounds she had recklessly
ingested illegal drugs that
led to her child’s death.
A judge dismissed the
charges months later, ruling
that the murder statute did
not clearly authorize them
and noting there was no evi-
dence the Legislature in-
tended the law be used in
such circumstances.
The following year,
Lynda Jones, 36, was
charged with murder in
Siskiyou County after she
gave birth prematurely and
the infant died. Authorities
said that methamphet-
amine use caused the pre-
mature birth.
A motion to dismiss that
case was granted about a
year later.
Still, some women have
ended up serving jail terms
in the death of their stillborn
infants.
Another Hanford woman
— Adora Perez, then 29 —
was charged with murder in
January 2018 after delivering
a stillborn baby. Staffers at
Adventist Health Hanford
hospital called the coroner
because the baby’s placenta
had detached from the uter-
ine lining, court documents
state. The documents note
that the condition is com-
mon in mothers who habitu-
ally use methamphetamine;
other risk factors include
high blood pressure, smok-
ing, abdominal trauma and
certain infections.
A doctor estimated that
the child had died 12 to 18
hours earlier. Perez eventu-
ally admitted to using meth
about two days before the
birth, records show.
She pleaded no contest
to a charge of voluntary
manslaughter as part of a
plea agreement. About a
month later, she tried to
withdraw her plea, saying
she hadn’t understood what
she was doing and that her
court-appointed attorney
had neither investigated her
baby’s death nor discussed
any potential defenses with
her.
The court denied the mo-
tion, and Perez is now serv-
ing an 11-year sentence.
“What prosecutors do is
they pressure these women
to take plea deals,” Goodwin
said. “They start high and
then try to win convictions.”
The fact that Becker’s
and Perez’s cases took place
in the same town less than
two years apart is not sur-
prising, legal experts say.
Such prosecutions tend to
cluster because of the
amount of discretion in-
volved in bringing these
types of charges, said Jody
Armour, a law professor at
USC.
“It becomes a question of
whether you as a prosecutor
think that it’s appropriate to
treat a woman who has a
drug addiction problem as
having enough agency and
choice to act at that level of
extreme indifference to the
well-being of her unborn
child,” Armour said.
“I think a lot of people
might be reluctant to go
there, but some might not.
And apparently this prose-
cutor is one of those who is
willing to attribute that level
of subjective culpability and
blameworthiness to an ad-
dicted mother with respect
to her own unborn child.”
Her baby was stillborn, and
she’s charged with murder
[Baby,from B1]