Marathon County District Attorney Jill Falstad described Leilani Neumann as a religious zealot who let her daughter, known by the nickname Kara, die as a test of faith.There appear to be some strenuous objections to the State's characterization of the defendant as a religious extremist.
But when your 11-year-old daughter is suffering from a fatal disease, and instead of seeking medical attention you e-mail some fruitcakes at AmericasLastDays.com for prayers, I reckon that counts.
"Religious extremism is a Muslim terrorist," Linehan said. "They are saying these parents were so far off the scale that they murdered their child. The woman did everything she could to help her. That is the injustice in this case."
ReplyDelete-- Yikes.
He's catching a lot of heat for that comment. She did everything she could, that is, she couldn't call a doctor.
ReplyDeleteHere's what one of her other daughters testified to the court:
"Why should we diss him [God] and think a doctor would be more powerful than God or trust a doctor more than God?"
In their view, seeking medical attention is tantamount to "dissing God," and their beliefs prevent them from doing that.
I'm assuming that was behind the defense's reasoning when he made his remarks during the closing argument.