Ohio prosecutor says he’s duty bound to bring miscarriage case to a grand jury

By JULIE CARR SMYTH
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio prosecutor says it’s not within his power to drop a criminal charge against a woman who miscarried at her home, regardless of the pressure that national attention is bringing to her case. Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said in a news release late Tuesday that prosecutors are “duty bound” to present the felony abuse-of-corpse charge against 33-year-old Brittany Watts, of Warren, to a grand jury. Watts was charged after she miscarried Sept. 22 and the 22-week-old fetus was found clogging her toilet. She pleaded not guilty. The hospital where she sought care before and after the miscarriage called police.