such cases as problematic, in part be-
cause jurors may be reluctant to hold
anyone except the drug user account-
able. In a recent Wisconsin case, some
prospective jurors declared that they
were “uncomfortable” with the idea of
prosecuting, given that “the person who
died made the decision to take heroin.”
In North Carolina, in 2016, Louise Vin-
cent, the mother of a teen-ager who fa-
tally overdosed, initially wanted to “pun-
ish” the person who had provided her
daughter with drugs. Vincent, who also
had an addiction, later decided that over-
dose-homicide prosecutions were al-
lowing politicians to skirt responsibil-
ity for their own failure to curb the
opioid crisis. In 2018, Vincent, who di-
rects a nonprofit called the Urban Sur-
vivors Union, launched #Reframethe-
blame, a campaign that urges users to
sign a “Do not prosecute” document.
The “directive” reads, in part, “If I die
of an untimely accidental overdose I
ask that you do not use my accidental
overdose as a tool of your drug war to
blame and charge others with murder
or homicide.”
Although O’Brien is a Republican
in a city that he describes as “lock-stock-
and-barrel Democrat,” he is respected
by members of both parties. A lanky,
soft-spoken Ohio native, he was elected
chief prosecutor in 1996; before that, he
served as the city attorney of Colum-
bus. When the sheriff ’s office pitched
him the idea for the hope task force,
he was facing reëlection. Despite his
misgivings, he endorsed overdose-ho-
micide prosecutions, having been per-
suaded that the detectives’ investigation
of Jamie Maynard had yielded an “air-
tight” case.
Jamie was indicted in August, 2015.
In addition to involuntary manslaugh-
ter, she was charged with trafficking, as
well as with a lesser-known felony called
“corrupting another with drugs,” which,
in Ohio, carries a mandatory minimum
sentence of two years in prison. Alto-
gether, Jamie faced up to twenty and a
half years. Her parents decided that
they couldn’t afford Mark Collins, and
instead hired the only lawyer who
showed up at the arraignment, Clay
Lopez, a former Franklin County pros-
ecutor who was now in private practice.
Jamie pleaded not guilty. The case
became a top story in the local news
media. Zach Scott, Franklin County’s
sheriff at the time, appeared on TV, de-
claring that “drug dealers” were now
being held to a tough new standard
of accountability. Courtney’s parentspraised the overdose-homicide initia-
tive; her father said that defendants like
Jamie deserved to be charged with mur-
der. Network affiliates aired footage of
Jamie at her arraignment, wearing jail
khakis and looking unwell. The Ohio
media hailed the prosecution, in almost
victorious tones: the Fox station in Co-
lumbus declared, “Investigators say it
can actually be pretty challenging to
connect the addict who dies to the dealer
who gave them the drugs, but tonight
for the first time detectives say they’ve
done it—and this is only the beginning.”
Jamie accepted that she had partic-
ipated in the drug trade but not that
she had “corrupted,” much less killed,
Courtney. At the time, an overdose-
homicide prosecution was largely un-
tested at trial, and in the end Jamie de-
cided not to risk more than two decades
in prison. She pleaded guilty to traffick-
ing and to involuntary manslaughter.
After her arrest, she had briefly been
sober, then relapsed; in the spring of
2016, she got clean again, after learning
that she was pregnant. She was dating
Jeremy Faust, a plumber and an old high-
school friend who was also in recovery.
Twelve days after their daughter, Joey,
was born, Jamie appeared for her sen-
tencing, in the Franklin County Court
of Common Pleas. A family friend spoke
for the Penixes, declaring that society
should be on “a mission” to “hold street-
level dealers accountable and responsi-
ble” in fatal overdoses; people like Jamie
were “predators” who targeted the “help-
less minds of good people.”
Jamie stood and asked Courtney’s fam-
ily for forgiveness. She was deeply sorry
for her role in Courtney’s death, and
ashamed that she hadn’t been “strong
enough to say no” to heroin the first time
she was offered it. She assured the Pe-
nixes that Courtney had hated addiction
and hadn’t wanted “to live like that.” Jamie
told them, “We had many conversations
about both of us wanting to quit, and get
our lives back. The reality is, it’s not easy.”
The judge, Chris Brown, called the
case “an undeniably tragic situation,”
noting that if Jamie hadn’t given Court-
ney heroin someone else probably would
have. Nevertheless, he faulted Jamie for
having “provided her the means,” and
sentenced her to a term of four years
and eleven months.
Jamie was sent to a women’s prison,“I wrote this next song using your personal
information, so I know you’ll like it.”