Intent key to charges in miscarriage case

Proving beyond a reasonable doubt that well-known Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial artist Quinton “Rampage” Jackson caused a Huntington Beach woman to miscarry her baby boy after he allegedly sideswiped her car two weeks ago would be tough to prove, even if it were true, legal experts said Monday.

“There are lots and lots of reasons a woman can miscarry. Lots,” said Jennifer Keller, a criminal defense attorney for nearly 30 years. “I’m just not seeing this materialize for them.”

On July 15, California Highway Patrol officials say Jackson was driving about 45 mph in the median lane of the southbound 55 Freeway when he sideswiped two cars, one driven by a four-month’s pregnant Holli Griggs, 38. Jackson continued driving, weaving in and out of traffic, onto sidewalks and into head-on traffic on Newport Boulevard, all on three good tires before eventually being arrested on Balboa Boulevard in Newport Beach, police said.

Griggs, who was stuck in the 55 Freeway’s lunch-hour traffic in her 2007 Cadillac Escalade, was taken to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian for minor injuries, CHP officials said. From there, doctors referred her to pregnancy specialists at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Anaheim, said Bill Krebs, her fiance.

Kaiser physicians noticed a significant reduction of fluid in her womb, a pattern that continued until the baby died last week, Krebs said. While the timeline may point to culpability by Jackson, proving it is another matter, Keller said.

Friends at Jackson’s home Monday declined to comment.

Given what details police have released about the incident and what little is known about Jackson’s mental state at the time of the arrest, prosecutors are likely looking at second-degree murder charges or vehicular manslaughter charges if they want to prosecute him for the miscarriage, Keller said.

In California, murder charges can be applied to the killing of a person or a fetus. Without expressed intent, Jackson could possibly be charged with second-degree murder if prosecutors argue he knew what he was doing was dangerous to human life and did it anyway — what lawyers typically call “implied malice.”

It’s a fine line, Keller said. A man speeding on the freeway who crashes and kills someone would probably not be charged with murder, rather vehicular manslaughter because he did not think his actions could kill someone, Keller said. But for example, if someone were shooting out windows in a building just for the fun of it, knowing full well someone may be killed, and did it anyway, that could be second-degree murder, she said.

There’s also questions of how far along a baby must be before someone can be found criminally responsible for causing a miscarriage, Keller said.

According to state law, vehicular manslaughter can only be against a person; a fetus is not listed as a potential victim, though there may be legal precedents that have changed that, Keller said.

Outside of Jackson’s mental state, medical experts and prosecutors would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Griggs lost her baby due to the crash. In civil trials, liability is much easier to prove and only depends on a preponderance, or 51%, of the evidence to show guilt, Keller said.

Darren Aitken, Griggs’ attorney, said he will wait for results from the baby’s autopsy before commenting.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.