WOMEN WINNING

AGNES SCOTT INDICTMENT DISMISSED

In an historic decision, Justice Julius Hellenbrand of the Brooklyn Supreme Court recently dismissed a grand jury indictment charging manslaughter by a Brooklyn woman who had stabbed her husband to prevent him from further beating her and her children.

The grounds for dismissal of the first degree manslaughter indictment brought against Agnes Scott were that important evidence was withheld from the grand jury by the District Attorney. Ms. Scott, a 99-year-old mother of two and a New York City employee with no previous criminal record, was a victim of numerous beatings by her husband for many years. This history of wife abuse by Mr. Scott was withheld from the grand jury despite numerous requests by grand jury members for testimony concerning the decedent's previous brutal conduct. Ms. Scott's state of mind and clear evidence of a defense of justification also were kept from the grand jury. Although she wanted to tell her story, Ms. Scott was not permitted to testify in her own behalf. Justice Hellenbrand found that these irregularities constituted a "substantive prejudicial denial of due process rendering the grand jury proceedings defective," and required dismissal of the indictment.

The Brooklyn District Attorney's office has stated that it intends to appeal the decision. Meanwhile, Ms. Scott remains free on hond and continues to work to support her children,

of wife abuse, as well as about the "law of justification," which defines the degree of physical force permissible in self-defense of another person or persons. By withholding these matters, the District Attorney prejudiced the grand jury's deliberating.

The dismissal of the indictment is heing hailed by attorneys Margaret Ratner and William Kunstler as an important victory for civil liberties and the right to a fair trial. "This kind of clearly abusive conduct by the prosecution rarely surfaces," stated attorney Ratner,

Ms. Scott is supported by an active Defense Committee consisting of many women's groups and individuals from all over the United States. In thanking those who support her, Ms. Scott reiterated

her plea that her children remain protected from harmful publicity. "It is not right," she said, "that they continue to be victimized.'

The Agnes Scott Defense Committee is several hundred dollars in debt. Anyone who can spare a dollar or two should send it to the Committee at C 4900, Brooklyn, New York 11202. Ms. Scott herself is still in debt personally for her bail as well as having lost a month's work as a result of the case. Anyone wishing to send her some money should send it to Working Feminists, c/o LT, 1305 Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10028. Please make these checks payable to Agnes Scott,

--Agnes Scott Defense Committee

MARLA PITCHFORD ACQUITTED

The prosecution's case was so outrageous that the jury took less than an hour to decide for acquittal.

The defendant, Marla Pitchford, burst into tears. A guilty verdict would have meant a 10 to 20-year sentence for the 22-year-old Kentucky woman. Her "crime"..self-inducing an abortion.

Pitchford and her lawyer, Flora Stuart, described the events leading up to the August 30 verdict in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The trial, one of the first of its kind in the U.S., stemmed from a 1974 Kentucky law requiring second trimester abortions to be performed in a hospital by a licensed physician. Pitchford's ordeal began almost nine months ago when she found herself unexpectedly pregnant. Her discovery was followed by several weeks of indecision, but when her fiance deserted her she tried to obtain a legal abortion.

By that time, however, her pregnancy was in its second trimester. A Louisville, Kentucky clinic refused to treat her and there are no facilities in the entire state for abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy.

"There wasn't anyone I could talk to," Pitchford said softly, exhaustion evident in her voice after the ordeal of her trial. "I was confused." Finally she reached for a knitting needle and, risking her life, pierced herself with it. "I didn't think about the consequences then," she said.

On June 9 she miscarried and began hemorrhag ing severely. She was taken to a hospital where an emergency room doctor treated her and then called the police.

The police interrogated Pitchford in the hospital only six hours after she had been admitted. “I was sick, I had almost died, I was sedated," she recalled. "But they took a confession anyway.'

Five days later a grand jury indicted her for manslaughter and for performing an abortion without a license. (The first charge was later dismissed because a fetus is not legally a person.)

The statute under which Pitchford was charged "was intended for quacks, not women needing an abortion," said attorney Stuart. "The female is the victim. I think the jury realized the inhumaneness of the law."

The defense arguments never challenged the facts of the case. But Stuart stressed that Pitchford acted "during a moment of panic." and that it was unconstitutional to charge her under the restrictive

statute.

"What we really need," said Stuart, "is to make abortions available to women so they don't have to risk their lives."

"I couldn't believe all the support I got, commented Pitchford on the national publicity generated by her case. "When the people are behind you, Stuart concluded. "That's how you can change the law."'

Donna Lamb The Guardian September 13, 1978

Ms. Scott and her children had been in hiding from Mr. Scott for seven years. Every time he discovered her whereabouts, she had been forced to move to escape his beatings. As recently as last October, Mr. Scott was ordered by a Criminal Court judge to stay away from Ms. Scott.

On March 30, Ms. Scott returned home from work and found Mr. Scott there, in a rage. He first assaulted her with his belt, and then went after the children, whom he dragged into the bedroom. Ms. Scott stabbed him in the shoulder with a kitchen knife, intending only to protect herself and her children. During the 45-minute wait for the ambulance which Ms. Scott had called, Mr. Scott bled to death.

In dismissing the indictment, Judge Hellenbrand found that the District Attorney bad failed adequate ly to inform the grand jury about the previous history

THE MOUNTAIN-MOVING Day IS COMING.

I SAY SO, yet OTHERS DOUBT. Only A While the MOUNTAIN SLEEPS. In the PAST

ALL MOUNTAINS MOVED IN FIRE. yet you May Not Believe it. ÓH MAN,THIS ÁLONE BELIEVE, ALL SLEEPING Women now aWAKE and Move.

-YOSANO AKIKO

1678-1942

Peg Averill/ENS

October. 1978/What She Wants Page 3