‘Person’ definition

The Senate on Wednesday approved legislation that would include an unborn fetus under the definition of a “person” in the aggravating circumstances in Arkansas’ criminal code.

The Senate voted 34-0 to send the governor House Bill 1646, by Rep. Joe Cloud, R-Russellville.

The bill was written in response to an Arkansas Supreme Court decision last year to overturn the death sentence of Brad Hunter, a Cleveland County man convicted of killing Cherrish Allbright, whom he believed to be pregnant with his child.

While the prosecutor in that case had pointed to Allbright’s pregnancy as an aggravating circumstance warranting the death penalty, the Supreme Court said that the section of the code dealing with aggravating circumstances did not include an unborn fetus under the definition of “person,” even though that definition was included elsewhere in the code.