Belief in "Faith Healing" Results in Criminal Conviction for Oregon Couple
An Oregon couple was convicted of criminally negligent homicide on Tuesday after a jury decided that prayer and anointing oils were not sufficient treatment for the couple’s son, who died from a congenital urinary tract blockage. The couple belongs to a church known as Followers of the Church of Christ and as such adheres to the view that doctors are to be eschewed in favor of faith healing. Stories where parents forego medical treatment in favor of faith healing practices have become increasingly common, and such practices have spawned many criminal trials. In fact, this couple’s own granddaughter had passed away under similar circumstances, but her parents were acquitted of manslaughter. The couple in this case was not so lucky. They reportedly face up to sixteen months in jail for the criminally negligent homicide charge under Oregon law. Criminally negligent homicide is a Class E Felony in Tennessee and carries a penalty of one to six years in jail.
The most obvious issue presented by this case is the conflict between protecting and criminalizing legitimately held religious beliefs. However, that issue is extremely complex and could not be treated in a blog format. Instead this case will just have to suffice for our purposes to illustrate the use of a statutorily recognized mitigating factor found in Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-113(3) which says that where substantial grounds exist tending to excuse or justify the defendant's criminal conduct, though failing to establish a defense, the defendant can use such grounds as a mitigating factor.
In this case, the activity of failing to provide a child with medical treatment is illegal, and religious beliefs do not provide an absolute defense. Such beliefs can, however, be used during the sentencing phase of trial to argue for a reduced sentence for the defendants.
The theory behind such an argument would be that the parents meant no harm or ill will toward their son, although they did intentionally deny him medical treatment, because they sincerely believed that their faith healing practices provided the best method for healing their child. Although this argument was unsuccessful in defending against a criminally negligent homicide charge, it very well may give the sentencing judge grounds to reduce the defendants’ sentences. Like all mitigating factors, when used successfully it can provide a big break for defendants during the sentencing phase.
Source: http://www.michie.com/tennessee/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=tncode
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