If this crime doesn't qualify as "heinous" then I can't imagine what does.
I agree, but Kim and Brooke have both pointed out the difficulties.
1) Under the law, Anything done to Joshua does not count other than as Charli was aware of it and suffered. So she had to be alive and conscious when her baby was stabbbed.
2) Abuse of a corpse is not a crime in Hawai'i and does not count. Charli did not feel what he did to her after he murdered her, although it depends on what you believe happens to the soul. But the law does not allow for post-mortem awareness.
Rivera has to get all twelve jurors convinced that Steven tortured Charli and stabbed her womb while she was alive. But there was no witness as to when he did what, and there was no blood evidence that proves she was alive when he stabbed her.
The forensics said that the blow to her jaw that fractured it occurred at or very near time of death, so it is "possible" that a single blow killed her, and that the rest was done after. I don't think so, but I'm not a juror.
As far as I can make out, second degree murder means he committed acts intended to end her life, and he did in fact cause her death. That's a crime that allows for parole, sadly.
For the enhanced, he needs to have caused her pain, anguish, or suffering through cruel acts that were beyond what was needed to murder her. Overkill. I think he did, but there is no witness, no confession, only holes and slashes in clothing. It could be tough.
This is why Brooke is so mad that Rivera refused to charge him with kidnaping. The kidnaping would have provided the necessary story of her suffering, knowing what he intended as he drove her out there. But Rivera did not really make any claims about what exactly happened.
The family does not consider it to be a slam dunk, from what they write.
I hope he gets the enhanced sentence. I totally believe he should. I think everyone immersed in the crime believes that, but the jury could go either way.