Judge throws out poisoning charge for man in abortion pill case

One of the charges against a Massachusetts man who allegedly tricked his girlfriend into taking abortion pills has been dismissed.

Key Takeaways:

• In 2024, Robert Kawada found out his ex-girlfriend was pregnant and tricked her into taking what appears to have been misoprostol (the second drug in the abortion pill regimen).

• He was arrested and charged with poisoning, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a pregnant person, and assault and battery on a household or family member.

• Middlesex Superior Court judge Keren Goldenberg dismissed the poisoning charge because the pills were not mixed with anything.

The Backstory:

Robert Kawada met his victim on a dating app, and the two dated for a few months.

After breaking up, the victim learned she was pregnant; Kawada seemingly did not want a baby, and tricked her into taking abortion pills by telling her they were iron pills or other supplements.

“He would provide the victim with pills that he informed her were iron pills or other vitamins,” prosecutor Jacob McCrindle said. “The defendant would also check the victim’s mouth by pulling on the victim’s cheek to make sure she had consumed the pills.”

It is believed Kawada gave the victim misoprostol, the second pill in the chemical abortion regimen. At least one call was made to an online pharmacy that sells misoprostol from Kawada’s phone, and cell phone searches were found with phrases like “9-week aborted fetus pics,” “telephone voice changer,” and “chewing Misoprostol.”

Kawada also allegedly faked a phone call from a nurse telling the victim that she needed to take iron pills.

After taking the pills, the woman “was cold, shivering and she felt very uneasy,” McCrindle said. “She went to sleep and had very bad cramps.” Her preborn baby later died, and Kawada asked her to send pictures of the baby's body, seemingly as proof that he had succeeded in killing her child.

Kawada was arrested and arraigned in Waltham District Court, pleaded not guilty, and was ordered held on $100,000 bail. 

The Details:

Brookline News reported that the poisoning charge has been dismissed by Middlesex Superior Court judge Keren Goldenberg. Kawada's attorney successfully argued that prosecutors did not provide sufficient evidence to uphold the poisoning charge, as Massachusetts law requires the poison to be “mingled with food, drink and medicine.” 

Evidently, lying to someone about the content of a medication does not count as poisoning in Massachusetts.

“Absent evidence of mingling the Misoprostol with food, drink, or medication, the Commonwealth has not met its burden,” Goldenberg wrote in the ruling.

Kawada also asked that the charge of assault and battery on a family or household member be dismissed, saying the two were not in a "substantive dating relationship."

On this, Goldenberg disagreed, writing, “While these facts do not overwhelmingly suggest a serious dating relationship, it is enough to satisfy the probable cause standard. It will be for the factfinder at trial to determine whether they had a ‘substantive dating relationship.'"

The Bottom Line:

Kawada's trial is scheduled for October, and in the meantime, prosecutors said they are appealing Goldenberg's dismissal of the poisoning charge to the state Supreme Court.