Two Weston [WI] parents convicted of homicide for using prayer instead of conventional medicine to treat their dying daughter in 2008 will ask a judge this month for new trials.
Dale and Leilani Neumann say their trial attorneys made errors that caused jurors to be confused about the law and did not adequately present the couple’s defense at their 2009 trials, according to documents filed by their appeals attorneys.
A hearing is scheduled Monday for Leilani Neumann and Feb. 22 for Dale Neumann with Marathon County Circuit Judge Vincent Howard, who oversaw the cases.
Dale, 49, and Leilani, 42, were found guilty of second-degree reckless homicide after they were accused of failing to seek proper medical care for their 11-year-old daughter, Madeline Kara Neumann, who died March 23, 2008, from complications of undiagnosed diabetes.
(Snark alert!) Considering the time it takes for the appeal process, and considering the judge was kind enough to let these guys go free after murdering their child out of pure superstition, one may conclude that the Neumanns have enough time to get pregnant again and it is entirely possible to have a replacement child in the meantime. Hopefully it will be diabetes free!
Since it was “god’s will” the child died, they get cut a break. I mean, it seems like it won’t be long before “the bible” will legally justify stuff like murder and armed insurrection just like back in the crusades. Hey! It’s the 11th century all over again!
Of course, death/murder/war in the name of some god is nothing new.
People who claim that prayer can cure disease are nothing more than snake-oil-selling charlatans. That’s why the 11 year old daughter died. If prayer can cure disease, then there should be no disease. There is no evidence that prayer can do that. There is plenty of evidence to the contrary. People who heal after being prayed over either one, they didn’t really have the sickness in the first place, or two, they had a chance of getting well on their own. They prayed and prayed and…crickets.
So, if you’re the Neumanns and you think prayer is sufficient treatment, you would have scratch your head and wonder why the daughter isn’t healthy today. The girl was prayed over and then lapsed into a diabetic coma and died – which is what will undoubtedly happen without emergency medical attention.
Whether or not these people win their appeal on the grounds they have, this case provides irrefutable empirical proof that a god does not exist. The Neumanns themselves proved it through prayer.
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