ED MAHON/Spotlight PA：宾夕法尼亚州最高法院拒绝为那些被指控提供致他人过量服用毒品的被告提供新的法律保护。
ED MAHON/Spotlight PA The Pennsylvania Supreme Court declined to add new legal protections for defendants accused of providing drugs that caused a deadly overdose.
这一裁决回应了该州对因过量服用毒品致死案件起诉工作的常见批评：此类起诉往往针对的是普通吸毒者，而非大型毒品贩子。
The decision from the state’s highest court addressed a frequent criticism of overdose death prosecutions in Pennsylvania: that they target fellow drug users instead of high-level dealers.
在周二发布的多数意见中，大法官们维持了两起因提供毒品导致他人死亡的案件的定罪判决。他们指出，该州法律对“提供毒品”的定义范围较广，且并未对毒品贩子与普通吸毒者在提供非法麻醉品的行为上作出区分。
In a majority opinion issued Tuesday, justices upheld convictions in two separate drug delivery resulting in death cases, saying state law has a broad definition of “delivery” and “does not differentiate between drug dealers and co-users for purposes of delivery of illegal narcotics.”
尽管判决结果对被告不利，但大法官丹尼尔·麦卡弗里表示，法庭“不能忽视这样一个事实”：即“这种辩护主张有其合理性——不少人认为毒品贩子理应受到比吸毒者更严厉的惩处。”他还补充道：“不过，这类政策层面的决策权属于州议会，而非法院。”
Despite ruling against the defendants, Justice Daniel McCaffery said the court “cannot ignore the fact that” the “proposed defense makes sense — some believe drug dealers should be punished more harshly than drug users.”“Nevertheless, this type of policy determination is for the General Assembly, not the courts,” McCaffery added.
克里斯汀·多诺霍、凯文·多尔蒂、萨莉·阿普戴克·芒迪以及P·凯文·布罗布森等大法官均支持这一多数意见。
Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, Sallie Updyke Mundy, and P. Kevin Brobson joined that majority opinion.
在附议意见中，大法官大卫·韦希特也区分了法官与州立法者的职责界限。
In a concurring opinion , Justice David Wecht also distinguished between the roles of justices and state lawmakers.
韦希特称：“即便州议会的决定有悖常理，也并不违反宪法。”他接着提到，针对因提供毒品导致他人死亡的这一法律条款，“其立法初衷无疑是针对毒品贩子而非吸毒者。”不过他也指出，“法律的精神实质与其文字表述之间存在明显矛盾”，而“对我们具有约束力的是法律条文本身”。首席大法官黛布拉·托德也认同这一附议意见。
“The General Assembly does not violate the Constitution when it violates common sense,” Wecht said. “It is undoubtedly true that the DDRD statute was meant to target drug dealers, not drug users,” he continued, referring to drug delivery resulting in death. But Wecht said “the spirit of the law is in considerable tension with its text” and “it is the latter that binds us.”Chief Justice Debra Todd joined his concurring opinion.
今年早些时候，Spotlight PA曾报道过这两起案件，它们凸显了宾夕法尼亚州这一极具争议性的社会问题：因向他人提供毒品导致过量服用致死的行为已致使数百人被判入狱。
Spotlight PA reported on the two cases earlier this year that highlighted the emotionally charged issue in Pennsylvania, where supplying drugs in fatal overdoses has led to hundreds of state prison sentences .
宾夕法尼亚州因对这种刑事指控的推行而被称为全国领袖，但Spotlight PA发现，各县的起诉率差异很大，哀痛的家庭也对这些起诉究竟是弊大于利还是利大于弊存在分歧。支持者称这些案件带来了必要的问责，而批评者则认为，担心被判处数十年监禁会让人们在有人过量用药时不敢寻求帮助。
Pennsylvania is known as a national leader for bringing this type of criminal charge, but prosecution rates vary widely between counties and grieving families are divided over whether these prosecutions do more harm than good, Spotlight PA has found. Supporters say these cases bring needed accountability, while critics say the fear of spending decades in prison discourages people from calling for help if someone overdoses.
2021年至2025年期间，因涉嫌毒品交付导致死亡而被起诉的案件超过680起，该罪名最高可判处40年监禁。
Cases with a drug delivery resulting in death charge, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 40 years, were filed more than 680 times from 2021 through 2025.
宾夕法尼亚州最高法院审理的两起案件聚焦于这样一个问题：当人们“共同且事实上获取并使用毒品”时会发生什么。大法官们审议了这种情况是否应作为毒品交付导致死亡指控及类似罪行的辩护理由——如果是，那么这种辩护是否足以导致无罪释放，或者是否应使辩方获得一项陪审团指示，以涉及共同持有的问题。
The two cases before the state Supreme Court focused on the question of what happens when people “jointly and constructively acquire and use drugs.”Justices considered whether that should be a defense for drug delivery resulting in death charges and similar offenses — and if so, whether that’s sufficient for an acquittal or entitles the defense to a jury instruction that addresses the issue of joint possession.
这两起案件曾被合并以供宾夕法尼亚州最高法院审理，均涉及约克县发生的起诉。
Both cases, which were consolidated together for Pennsylvania Supreme Court arguments, involved prosecutions that occurred in York County.
约克县地方检察官蒂姆·巴克尔此前曾向《聚焦宾州》表示，这些案件中的证据“远远超出了对药物最低限度‘分享’的任何描述”。巴克尔描述了该办公室在适当时机寻求“康复和分流”的做法，但“将始终追究造成受害者伤害的刑事行为的责任，尤其是当这些行为导致他人死亡时”。
York County District Attorney Tim Barker previously told Spotlight PA the evidence in the cases went “well beyond any characterization of a minimal ‘sharing’ of drugs.”Barker described how the office seeks “rehabilitation and diversion where appropriate,” but “will always seek accountability for criminal conduct that harms victims, especially when the actions cause the death of another.”
被告方律师安东尼·坦布里诺曾主张承认人们使用药物的“常识性现实”，并表示导致死亡的毒品交付法律“并非旨在将所有共同使用者之间的药物交付定为犯罪”。坦布里诺为约克县冲突律师办公室工作，该办公室为因利益冲突无法由当地公共辩护办公室代表的客户提供服务。他一直强调，“我对该问题的看法是我个人的，并不代表”县政府。
Anthony Tambourino, an attorney for the defendants, had advocated for recognizing the “common sense reality” of how people use drugs and said the drug delivery resulting in death law was “not meant to criminalize every drug handoff among co-users.”Tambourino works for the York County Office of Conflict Counsel, which serves clients who can’t be represented by the local public defender’s office due to a conflict of interest. He has emphasized “that my views on the matter are my own and not reflective of” the county government.
C. 梅丽莎·欧文，一名律师兼全国刑事辩护律师协会主席，对法院的裁决表示失望。
C. Melissa Owen, an attorney and president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, was disappointed with the court’s decision.
她对《聚焦宾州》表示：“将共同使用毒品定为杀人罪是不可想象的。”“我们预计这一裁决将进一步阻止人们在过量使用时寻求帮助，从而造成法律本应防止的那种伤害。”过去限制使用导致死亡的毒品交付指控的努力在州议会中进展不大。目前议会中仍有若干法案待决，这些法案将赋予检察官更多时间来提出此类指控。
“It is unthinkable that joint drug use can be made a homicide,” she told Spotlight PA. “We anticipate this ruling will further discourage individuals from seeking help during an overdose, causing the very harm the law purports to prevent.”Past efforts to limit the use of drug delivery resulting charges have not gone far in the state legislature. Some bills currently pending in the General Assembly would give prosecutors more time to file these charges.
此故事最初由《聚焦宾州》发表，并通过与美联社的合作伙伴关系进行分发。
This story was originally published by Spotlight PA and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.