Ariel Castro and his circuitous path to a death penalty.

Yeah I suspect that this is not going to be actually hard to do.

The murder case prosecutors hope to bring against accused Cleveland abductor Ariel Castro, who police say induced several miscarriages by beating and starving one young woman, will be complicated by a lack of physical evidence and medical records, legal experts say.

The case consequently could hinge on whether Castro’s three victims, whom he is accused of holding captive for nearly a decade, take the stand and testify that victim Michelle Knight was pregnant and miscarried, according to Thaddeus Hoffmeister, a law professor at the University of Dayton in Ohio.

Even if it would look hard to do on paper.  The basic problem for the prosecution is, as I understand it, that ‘merely’ kidnapping three women and repeatedly raping them in your basement for a decade is technically not subject to the death penalty. But lots of people want this guy to get a needle; actually, lots of people want this guy hanged and/or electrocuted, on the grounds that it’s likely to hurt more.  If all it takes is just some he beat me until I lost my baby testimony… I can see a jury solemnly accepting that without corroboration and never be troubled by that for a moment.

Just the way that the world works sometimes, folks.

Moe Lane

PS: For all I know, the prosecution will be able to put together a beyond-reasonable doubt, evidence-based case for the aggravated murder charges. Even if they don’t, they’ll probably still convict Ariel Castro for it.  And I can’t say that I’m all that upset about that; I’ll probably just pretend to myself that they’re giving him the needle for the rapes and kidnappings.

PS: If you don’t like fetal homicide laws, THIS IS THE ABSOLUTELY WORSE CASE IN THE WORLD FOR YOU TO MAKE YOUR STAND.