Kasey Dischman

A Butler County judge recently denied a court motion filed in the case of a woman who is accused of overdosing on heroin while pregnant.

The motion, which attempted to have charges dismissed against Kasey R. Dischman, 30, was filed July 17 by her attorney Public Defender Joseph Smith. He argued that the criminal statute under which she is charged — the Crimes Against the Unborn Child Act — contains language that expressly exempts pregnant women from prosecution for harming their own unborn children.

Judge William Shaffer delivered the denial in an order filed July 21. The denial states that the “Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and Motion to Prohibit Commonwealth's Criminal Prosecution” was denied without prejudice, allowing the refiling of the argument as an omnibus pretrial motion.

In the filing Smith said he is “dumbfounded” as to why the Butler County District Attorney's Office is trying to use the statute to prosecute Dischman, and why Magisterial District Judge Lewis Stoughton held the charges to court at a preliminary hearing.

Shaffer, in the order, noted that following Dischman's admission to violating the terms of her supervision on an unrelated case, her parole was revoked and she was recommitted to serve the unexpired balance of her sentence.

Dischman admitted to using heroin and overdosing, violating her parole conditions, in a parole violation hearing July 21 before Shaffer. The judge revoked that parole and resentenced her to the remaining six months in Butler County Prison.

Dischman was initially sentenced to six to 12 months in the county facility and 36 months probation on Dec. 20 following a guilty plea to felony retail theft. She was held in the county facility until June 15, when she was released after serving the minimum term. The allegations are that just over a week later, on June 23, she overdosed.

Dischman was 7-months pregnant at the time of the overdose, causing her to undergo a cesarean section and deliver the child prematurely, police said. The baby required life support for at least a week and police said the girl would suffer lasting injuries from her exposure to heroin.

Dischman was later charged with felony aggravated assault of an unborn child.

In the initial habeas vorpus filing, Smith pointed to a 2006 opinion by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in which the justices ruled that while the exemption does mean pregnant women are treated more leniently under the law, it's not unconstitutional because a pregnant woman's connection to a fetus is unique and could create situations where she alone bears increased risk of criminal prosecution — especially, the justices wrote, in situations involving drug addiction or attempted suicide.

Police said the incident began when she injected a bag of heroin found beneath her couch, before overdosing on the floor of her bathroom. She was later found by her boyfriend and children's father, 36-year-old Andrew Lucas. Lucas called emergency personnel claiming Dischman was suffering from a seizure or other injury. He denied any drug activity at the home, police said.

She was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital, where she went into cardiac arrest, before being flown to UPMC Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh and subsequently placed on a ventilator. While there, blood work determined that opioids were in her system. She was then transferred to UPMC Magee-Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh, undergoing the emergency C-section.

Dischman is being held in the Butler County Prison on $500,000 cash bail, and is scheduled for formal arraignment on Aug. 22.

Messages left with the District Attorney's Office and the Public Defender's Office seeking comment were not returned.