The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Dale and Leilani Neumann were properly convicted of homicide in their daughter’s death today.
Leilani and Dale were both convicted of second degree reckless homicide in separate trials. Both were sentenced to six months in jail. They have not served their time yet.
Kara Neumann was 11 years old when she died in 2008 from complications related to untreated juvenile diabetes.
The Newumann’s lawyers appealed the convictions. The attorneys argued that Wisconsin’s child abuse laws grant immunity to parents who used faith-healing instead of science for their children’s medical care.
"If I was advising a parent on faith healing, I'd say there is no privilege. They pretty much gutted it." Steven Miller, Dale Neumann’s attorney, told the Associated Press .
State attorneys countered that the protection does not apply in cases where the parents realize that child might die.
The court ruled in a 6-1 decision that the state law that protects faith-healing parents only applies to child abuse.
Leilani and Dale prayed for their daughter despite Leilani’s mother’s suggestion that they take Kara to a doctor for help.
According to
the Supreme Court decision , a pediatrician told the court “that, if treated, diabetic ketoacidosis has a 99.8% survival rate