man faces felony homicide count
by cristina silva, globe correspondent | august 5, 2005

a 67-year-old plymouth man has been charged with motor vehicle homicide in allegedly driving drunk and crashing into the car of a pregnant woman, causing the death of her 8 1/2-month fetus, officials said.


Adrien aube was charged this week with felony vehicular homicide while driving drunk and negligent driving after he crashed into several cars while driving on route 25 in bourne in july, seriously injuring a pregnant women whose name has not been disclosed and killing her unborn child, said brian s. Glenny, first assistant district attorney for the cape and islands.


Glenny and other district attorneys in the commonwealth said that while it was rare for the death of a fetus to lead to a vehicular homicide charge, it was not the first time it has occurred.


''i don't think the circumstances have arisen for us to have one in a long time," glenny said. ''but it is definitely something that has happened here before."

glenny was referring to the 1984 cape cod case that led to a state supreme judicial court finding that a fetus could be considered a person in a motor vehicle crime. The court upheld the charge of motor vehicle homicide against a barnstable man who struck a pregnant yarmouth woman with his car, causing the death of her unborn child.


''it's not common, based on the very nature of the circumstances," said geline williams, executive director of the massachusetts district attorneys association, explaining that there have not been many traffic cases in the past decade involving pregnant women. Charges based on the death of a fetus in incidents of violence occur more frequently, williams said.


For a person to be charged with the death of a fetus, a medical official must rule that the fetus was viable, meaning it was sufficiently developed to survive outside the womb, glenny said. Medical officials found that the fetus in the july crash was viable, glenny said.


Aube had been charged with a misdemeanor offense of motor vehicle homicide immediately after the july 17 crash. He pleaded not guilty to an upgraded charge of felony motor vehicle homicide on monday in connection with the unborn child's death, glenny said. He also faces a second charge of operating under the influence, glenny said.