State v. McKnight, 352 S.C. 635

Summary

The Supreme Court of South Carolina affirmed Regina McKnight's conviction for homicide by child abuse arising from the stillbirth of a viable fetus following maternal cocaine use. The court held that sufficient evidence supported causation and extreme indifference, that the homicide-by-child-abuse statute could apply to a viable fetus, and that the defendant's due process, privacy, Eighth Amendment, and Fourth Amendment claims did not warrant relief. Several arguments were held unpreserved, and the court rejected suppression of the forensic urine sample because McKnight consented to testing.

Holdings

1. The trial court properly denied a directed verdict because expert testimony and other evidence constituted sufficient evidence from which the jury could find that cocaine exposure caused the fetus's death and that McKnight acted with extreme indifference to human life.
2. The homicide-by-child-abuse statute applies to the death of a viable fetus, and its plain language does not exempt viable fetuses from the statutory definition of child abuse or neglect.
3. Applying the homicide-by-child-abuse statute to McKnight did not violate due process because the statute and controlling precedent provided fair notice that knowingly ingesting cocaine during pregnancy could constitute child abuse resulting in the death of a viable fetus.
4. The prosecution did not violate McKnight's right to privacy because the court had previously rejected a fundamental privacy right encompassing the use of crack cocaine during pregnancy.
5. McKnight's twenty-year sentence, suspended upon service of twelve years, was not grossly disproportionate to the homicide-by-child-abuse offense and did not violate the Eighth Amendment.
6. The court did not reach the merits of McKnight's equal protection argument comparing the criminal abortion statute with the homicide-by-child-abuse statute because that theory was not preserved for appellate review.
7. The trial court properly denied suppression because McKnight voluntarily consented to the forensic urine test after being informed that she could refuse and that the test could be used for legal purposes; alternatively, any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to deny a directed verdict because the State failed to prove causation, criminal intent, or fetal viability.
2. Whether the homicide-by-child-abuse indictment should have been dismissed because the criminal abortion statute was more specific, the homicide statute did not apply to the facts, or the Legislature did not intend it to apply to viable fetuses.
3. Whether applying the homicide-by-child-abuse statute violated due process because McKnight lacked fair notice.
4. Whether prosecution under the statute violated McKnight's constitutional right to privacy.
5. Whether McKnight's sentence violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
6. Whether applying the homicide-by-child-abuse statute violated equal protection.
7. Whether the forensic urine sample was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment and should have been suppressed.

Disposition

affirmed