Louisiana § RS 14:32.8 - Third degree feticide

§ RS 14:32.8. Third degree feticide

            A. Third degree feticide is:

            (1) The killing of an unborn child by criminal negligence. The violation of a statute or ordinance shall be considered only as presumptive evidence of such negligence.

            (2) The killing of an unborn child caused proximately or caused directly by an offender engaged in the operation of, or in actual physical control of, any motor vehicle, aircraft, vessel, or other means of conveyance whether or not the offender had the intent to cause death or great bodily harm whenever any of the following conditions exist and such condition was a contributing factor to the killing:

            (a) The offender is impaired by alcoholic beverages as determined by chemical tests administered under the provisions of R.S. 32:662.

            (b) The offender's blood alcohol concentration is 0.08 percent or more by weight based upon grams of alcohol per one hundred cubic centimeters of blood.

            (c)(i) The offender is impaired by any other drug, combination of drugs, or combination of alcohol and drugs.

            (ii) As used in this Section, the term "drug" means any substance or combination of substances that, when taken into the human body, can impair the ability of the person to operate a vehicle safely.

            (d) The offender is impaired by alcoholic beverages.

            (e) The operator's blood has any detectable amount of any controlled dangerous substance listed in Schedule I, II, III, or IV as set forth in R.S. 40:964, or a metabolite of such controlled dangerous substance, that has not been medically ordered or prescribed for the individual.

            (f), (g) Repealed by Acts 2024, No. 662, §3.

            B. Whoever commits the crime of third degree feticide shall be fined not less than two thousand dollars and shall be imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than five years.

            Acts 1989, No. 777, §1; Acts 2001, No. 781, §1, eff. Sept. 30, 2003; Acts 2001, No. 1163, §5; Acts 2006, No. 131, §1; Acts 2008, No. 451, §2, eff. June 25, 2008; Acts 2012, No. 662, §1, eff. June 7, 2012; Acts 2024, No. 662, §§1, 3.

NOTE: Section 6 of Acts 2001, No. 781 provides that the provisions of the Act shall become null and of no effect if and when Section 351 of P.L. 106-346 regarding the withholding of federal highway funds for failure to enact a 0.08 percent blood alcohol level is repealed or invalidated for any reason.