1971 Washington Court Case Study

379 Words2 Pages
The conduct of the defendant’s in the 1971 Washington Court of appeals case, State v. Williams, while neither advisable nor necessarily admirable, was justified given their valid concerns about losing possibly losing custody of their son if they sought medical help due to their Native American heritage. Walter Williams and Bernice Williams made the fateful decision to not take their 17-month old son, who was thought to only have minor tooth-ache, to the hospital due to concerns that such hospital visit would result in them losing custody of their son. Unfortunately, for the co-defendants, their son’s illness was much more severe than initially thought and their decision not to seek care resulted in both the son’s death and a manslaughter conviction