Point-of-View

Like so many victims of violent crimes, Lisa Dyke and her son, = Julius, were=20 just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

On January 26, 1993, Lisa, age 18, was with Julius, babysitting at a = friend's=20 apartment in Wilton Manors (Broward County). Ronnie Keith Williams - a = convicted=20 knife-murderer, recently released because of prison overcrowding - came = to the=20 door looking for someone who wasn't there. Williams took out his = displeasure on=20 Lisa and Julius. He stabbed them a total of 18 times with a 15-inch = knife. He=20 also raped Lisa and repeatedly bit her.

Bleeding profusely, Lisa pretended to be dead until Williams left, = then=20 managed to call 911. She suffered greatly for 19 days before she = died.

The doctors saved Julius' life, but for 11 years he has suffered from = profound disabilities resulting from the crime. He is dependent on a = respirator=20 and a feeding tube. He cannot walk. He moves his eyes, but does not = speak. His=20 grandmother, Margaret Coakley-Dyke, loves Julius dearly and has devoted = her life=20 to his care.

Recently, a Broward County jury convicted Williams of the murder of = Lisa=20 Dyke. (An earlier conviction was reversed on a technicality.) "Jurors in = Williams' trial were not allowed to learn about Julius because he was = not=20 legally a victim of the crime and his presence might have prejudiced = them,"=20 reported the Miami Herald.

Julius was "not legally a victim of the crime" - because when = Williams=20 launched his frenzied attack with that terrible blade, Julius Dyke was = still an=20 unborn child. He was born two days after the attack.

The legal invisibility of Julius Dyke illuminates the debate that is = rapidly=20 intensifying in Congress and in the halls of many state legislatures. It = centers=20 on this question: When a criminal attacks a pregnant woman, injuring or = killing=20 both her and her unborn child, has he claimed one victim, or two?

Twenty-nine states recognize an unborn child as a crime victim in at = least=20 some circumstances, but some of these laws have wide gaps. Under Florida = law,=20 for example, if Williams had killed Julius outright, it would have been=20 manslaughter, but this law did not apply to Julius because he = survived.

It is even worse under federal criminal law, in which an unborn child = is=20 simply not recognized as a crime victim at all. Federal criminal laws = apply to=20 federal lands, tribal lands, military bases, and maritime jurisdictions. = They=20 also cover a host of specific acts, including acts of violence = associated with=20 interstate stalking, major drug activity, and terrorist attacks.

Under a bill soon to be voted on in the U.S. Senate, the Unborn = Victims of=20 Violence Act, a criminal who injures or kills a "child in utero" during=20 commission of a federal or military crime will be charged separately for = the=20 harm he does to this second victim. (The House of Representatives passed = the=20 bill on February 26, 254-163. President Bush supports the bill.)

The bill explicitly exempts abortion. Nevertheless, abortion-rights = advocacy=20 groups assert that it conflicts with Roe v. Wade. U.S. Senators = Bill=20 Nelson and Bob Graham support Roe, but it appears that neither = senator=20 yet has taken a definitive position on the bill. They should = consider:

None of the 29 state fetal homicide laws have had any impact on = abortion.=20
Federal and state courts across the nation have upheld these laws = against=20 all legal attacks.=20
In three national polls, about 80% of the public supports fetal = homicide=20 charges.

The abortion - rights advocacy groups insist there is really only one = victim=20 - the pregnant woman. They are backing a "substitute" bill sponsored by = Senator=20 Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), which would increase penalties for crimes = against=20 pregnant women, but also write into federal law the doctrine that the = pregnant=20 woman is the only victim.

This "single-victim" doctrine has been sharply challenged by members = of=20 families who have lost loved ones - born and unborn - in crimes of = violence. For=20 example, Sharon Rocha, whose daughter Laci Peterson and unborn grandson = Conner=20 were killed in a crime that has become the focus of enormous national = attention,=20 wrote, "There were two bodies that washed up in San Francisco Bay, and = the law=20 should recognize that reality."

In effect, a vote for the Feinstein Substitute would be a vote to say = that=20 there is no such thing as an unborn victim - and therefore, that Ronnie = Keith=20 Williams claimed only one victim on January 26, 1993.

Before Senator Nelson and Senator Graham vote to write that cold = doctrine=20 into federal law, however, they should think long and hard about Julius = Dyke,=20 who bears on his body the marks of Williams' blade, but whom neither the = law nor=20 the jury could see.

Johnson (legfederal@aol.com) is=20 legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee in = Washington, D.C.=20 (http://www.floridabaptistwitness.com/www.nrlc.org). = An=20 abridged version of this article first appeared in the March 7, 2004, = edition of=20 The Miami Herald.

Copyright =A9 2001-2004, Florida Baptist = Witness,
All=20 rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is=20 prohibited.