Today's story by Baltimore Sun police reporter Justin Fenton on a 17-year-old charged with second-degree murder in the death of her grandmother raises some interesting legal questions, which will no doubt be raised as this case goes to trial.

Police say Jabreria Handy was arguing with her grandmother, 69-year-old Eunice Taylor, over photos hanging on her wall when the girl allegedly held her down on the bed by her wrists. Taylor died of a heart attack after being freed, and the state Medical Examiner's Office ruled her death a homicide.

Police and prosecutors then charged the girl as an adult with second-degree murder. Medical Examiners rule a "death at the hands of another" as a homicide. It's up to police and prosecutors to do decide whether the homicide was committed legally (such as self-defense), accidentally or with some element of intent, hence murder.

In 1994, an 86-year-old, who was the mother of Mercy Medical Center's chief doctor, died after being mugged in the hospital's garage. Police at the time said she suffered head and neck injuries when the purse was snatched from her arm, though she didn't fall down. The terminally-ill cancer patient died a day later, and her death was ruled a homicide. A hospital spokeswoman said at the time that Mary Goodman was in such frail health that "even a sneeze" could have had an adverse effect.

I checked today and Baltimore police have not made an arrest in the case.

The case involving Handy and Taylor raise even more questions. Can a heart attack, even if you can prove it was induced by an assault, be considered murder? The FBI, which sets strict rules on how local police agencies categorize crime, seems to disagree. According to the U.S. Justice Department:

"A Criminal Homicide is defined as "the willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another." The policy governing the classification of criminal Homicide is contained on page 6 of the UCR Handbook. The applicable provision reads as follows: "Situations where a victim dies of a heart attack as the result of a robbery or witnessing a crime do not meet the criteria for inclusion in the Criminal Homicide classification. A heart attack cannot, in fact, be caused at will by an offender. Even in instances where an individual is known to have a weak heart, there is no assurance whatever that an offender can cause sufficient emotional or physical stress to guarantee the victim will suffer a fatal heart attack."

I talked with Baltimore defense attorney Margaret Mead, who is not handling this latest case, and she said prosecutors are wrong to call this one a murder.

"Defense lawyers have an excellent argument here," she said. "This started as an argument between a granddaughter and a grandmother, which isn't terribly surprising. It happens in every family. While what happened is very tragic, I don't think it warrants compounding this tragedy with charging this young girl with second-degree murder."

Mead said the standard is whether a person's actions are "likely to result in death. Here we have a typical physical altercation. This young woman did not plan for her grandmother to die. It doesn't satisfy the criteria for second-degree murder. I don't think it satisfies the criteria for manslaughter."

She offered this example: "You and I have an argument on the sidewalk. I push you, you fall down and hit your head on the curb. You get up, cuss me out, go home, go to bed and die. Is it murder?"

Prosecutors would not comment on the specific case but did note that second degree murder requires them to prove the defendant knew the risk to the victim and acted with "extreme disregard." They argue that the girl knew or should have reasonably known that her grandmother had heart problems and therefore any altercation, no matter how minor, could have caused serious harm. The girl is now charged with an adult. But if the charges are eventually reduced to manslaughter, the law allows her to be convicted as an adult but sentenced as a juvenile.

Assistant State's Attorney Julie Drake, who is not prosecuting this cases, described the law on what is called "depraved heart" murder:

"That form that prosecutors often rely on is sometimes known as 'depraved heart' second degree murder. An intent to kill is not an element of depraved heart second-degree murder. It's the killing of another person while acting with an extreme disregard for human life. It's sometimes described as a killing that occurs in the course of actions that demonstrate 'wanton and willfull disregard of human life.'  The jury instructions include three elements: that the conduct of the defendant caused the death of the victim, secondly, that the defendant's conduct created a high degree of risk to the victim, and thirdly, that the defendant, conscious of such risk, acted with extreme disregard.Even though it's not premeditated, the behavior was so outrageous and risky to the victim."