Hughes v. State
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals
868 P.2d 730 (1994)
Treva LaNan Hughes (defendant) drove intoxicated into oncoming traffic and struck a car driven by nine-months-pregnant Reesa Poole, causing severe injury to and immediate delivery of Poole's unborn fetus, who was born with an extremely slow heartbeat but was otherwise brain dead with no blood pressure or respiratory function, and died shortly after. Hughes was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and DUI causing personal injury; she appealed, arguing Oklahoma's traditional "born alive" rule barred the manslaughter conviction because the fetus, though technically born with a heartbeat, was never truly "alive" in any functional sense.
Whether Oklahoma abandons the "born alive" rule in favor of a rule that a viable fetus is a "human being" for purposes of imposing criminal liability for manslaughter.