Ohio Prosecutor Claims He's Obligated To Bring Miscarriage Case To Grand Jury

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said Tuesday he's unable to drop a criminal charge against a woman who miscarried in her own bathroom.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio prosecutor says it is not within his power to drop a criminal charge against a woman who miscarried in the restroom at her home, regardless of the pressure being brought to bear by the national attention on her case.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said in a release issued late Tuesday that he is obligated to present the felony abuse-of-corpse charge against Brittany Watts, 33, of Warren, to a grand jury.

“The county prosecutors are duty bound to follow Ohio law,” he wrote, noting that the memo would suffice as his office’s only comment on the matter.

Watkins said it is the grand jury’s role to determine whether Watts should be indicted. Defendants are “no-billed,” or not indicted, in about 20% of the hundreds of cases county grand juries hear each year, he said.

“This office, as always, will present every case with fairness,” Watkins wrote. “Our responsibility carries with it specific obligations to see that the accused is accorded justice and his or her presumption of innocence and that guilt is decided upon the basis of sufficient evidence.”