COUPLE INDICTED OVER IGNORING SON'S HEROIN ADDICTION

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A couple showed "conscious disregard" for their
18-year-old son by ignoring the heroin use that killed him, a grand jury
said in a manslaughter indictment that legal experts say raises questions
about parental liability.

Criminal law experts said the indictment handed up Tuesday is "very
unusual" because Mary and Lewis Hockenbury are not accused of selling or
giving drugs to their son. Leonardo DiPasquale died of an overdose at the
couple's home last year.

"Criminal law doesn't prosecute a failure to act. It only prosecutes acts,"
said George Thomas, professor of law at Rutgers School of Law in Newark, N.J.

Prosecutor Katharine Errickson said the Lebanon Township parents were not
presented as possible defendants to the grand jury. "But after the hearing
all the evidence, jurors decided on their own they wanted to consider a
charge of manslaughter against the parents," she said.

The grand jury saw evidence of "conscious disregard" by the couple for
their son, Errickson said. She did not elaborate.

The Hockenburys didn't return phone calls Thursday from The Associated
Press. They could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Three friends of DiPasquale were also indicted, accused of giving him drugs.

Sandra Guerra Thompson, a law professor at the University of Houston Law
Center, said prosecutors will have a tough time proving that the couple
knew DiPasquale's heroin use would contribute to his death.

"Relatives living in the same home may have a legal duty to rescue each
other if in trouble, like choking, for example," Thompson said. "But people
who take heroin don't normally die."

In recent years, some states have passed laws that hold parents liable for
a child's crimes. But Thompson said courts have consistently declared those
laws unconstitutional.