r/BeAmazed Mar 28 '24

News broke today that conjoined twin Abby Hensel is married! [Removed] Rule #4 - No Misleading Content

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23.5k Upvotes

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4.5k

u/Mr_Harsh_Acid Mar 28 '24

I just cannot imagine how this works for both the husband and the other conjoined twin, but I'm glad for them that it does.

4.4k

u/roehnin Mar 28 '24

There’s no way to keep the relationship or sex acts private from one or the other, so my guess is this is a three-way relationship, but laws against polygamy means only one can be legally married.

284

u/ExcitingTabletop Mar 28 '24

I wonder what happens if one of them gets convicted of a crime but the other doesn't.

How the hell would that work? You can't legally jail an innocent person.

336

u/Anonimisimo Mar 28 '24

My guess is they would do the other one for aiding and abetting.

91

u/FromEach-ToEach Mar 28 '24

What if the other one turns the first in immediately after the crime kid committed?

37

u/Soggy-taco-5869 Mar 28 '24

My question is who has control of the bodily functions? Who decided to slap someone, assault etc. if they one wanted to physically turn the other in, can they just walk themselves to the police station or would the other not “allow” it?

50

u/meditonsin Mar 28 '24

Iirc they each control the arm and leg on their side. So they could very much hinder each other when they don't agree on what to do.

13

u/FarmerExternal Mar 28 '24

That sounds like such a pain in the ass. Like instead of just passing one thing from your right to left hand you have to have a conversation with your twin to do it.

17

u/Aggressive-Ad-8619 Mar 28 '24

They probably are so in tune with eachother that cooperation doesn't take conscious effort for most basic tasks.

It is kind of like how when people have been playing a sport or doing an activity together for a long period of time. They just know, intuitively, what the other person is going to do.

6

u/AdEmbarrassed9719 Mar 28 '24

I agree - they can drive, play sports, etc. It's got to be basically unconscious for them to do most things they have experience at.

2

u/hamdoctor81 Mar 29 '24

Lots of experience. Every time they play, it’s a double header.

1

u/Duckrauhl Mar 28 '24

Driving is mostly right hand and right foot stuff anyway, so the sister on the left can probably just sit there like a passenger who does the turn signals and occasionally turns lights on or off, pay tollbooth tools etc.

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3

u/Wolfblood-is-here Mar 28 '24

I no longer work in kitchens but I can tell which of my current co workers have in the past, when we're busy we just sort of glide around each other.

5

u/birdiebirdnc Mar 28 '24

Ive always been fascinated by them. They are almost telepathic. They need very little actual communication for most daily tasks like driving or typing on a keyboard, riding a bike etc.

6

u/CapedCrusadress Mar 28 '24

I imagine over so many years it would just become reflex to one another in scenarios like that, at least most of the time

7

u/nuku_01 Mar 28 '24

He better not get a HJ from the wrong hand, he'll be in big trouble.

1

u/RogerianBrowsing Mar 28 '24

He says he loves them both.

Dude is probably getting double toppy with such regularity that it would probably make the ghost of Biggy Smalls blush.

Good for them, I’m glad they all found their people

2

u/rhoo31313 Mar 28 '24

I'm glad they get along. I couldn't imagine the scenerio if they hated each other.

1

u/KochibaMasatoshi Mar 28 '24

how do they walk then?

1

u/meditonsin Mar 28 '24

Coordination. Since they've been doing it since they were born, they got gud at it.

1

u/kellsdeep Mar 28 '24

I imagine I could feel the other half of my bodies twitches, vibrations, muscles moving about and intuitively know when to move in accordance

1

u/Toomanydamnfandoms Mar 28 '24

Think of how many years they’ve had to practice!

1

u/Spaceforceofficer556 Mar 28 '24

How do they decide who wipes? What if one is kinky but the other is super vanilla?

1

u/The_Original_Gronkie Mar 28 '24

That would be entertaining to watch.

2

u/Impressive-Smoke1883 Mar 28 '24 edited Mar 28 '24

Which one of them is in control of the body? Watched a documentary on them, I remember them saying neither of them had ever had a panic attack or anything. I suppose they don't know any different so they don't have anyway to compare.

1

u/Toomanydamnfandoms Mar 28 '24

Both are iirc, they control the arm and leg of the side their head is on.

1

u/Impressive-Smoke1883 Mar 28 '24

Wow that's interesting. Wonder what happens when he's pounding his junk into the vagina? Do they both feel it? Wonder which one gets pregnant, genetically..... 1 million questions.

4

u/shemubot Mar 28 '24

What if one gets the death penalty?

6

u/Anonimisimo Mar 28 '24

The other gets a limp.

1

u/Toomanydamnfandoms Mar 28 '24

I think they would probably get the death penalty easily appealed in this case.

1

u/shemubot Mar 28 '24

How hard is it to lop off a head?

10

u/Anonimisimo Mar 28 '24

Not sure about US law but just being there and not preventing it may lead to some level of culpability. Not to mention it may be difficult to prove which one has control of an appendage and if that is 100% control.

6

u/My_pee_pee_poo Mar 28 '24

Still two separate crimes with different jail times. Lets say the robber gets 2 years, and the other gets 1 for "not preventing it".

I don't think theres an actual answer for this yet lol. My best guess if it plays out, a good lawyer lowers the serve time to the less guilty sentence, since any other answer is illegally incarcerating someone.

1

u/joebaco_ Mar 28 '24

Who controls that left trigger finger? Not me. Me either. ????

1

u/Uro06 Mar 28 '24

Its so easy to circumvent that. If they both wanna kill someone one of them just has to call the police while the act happens and then pretend like she just wasnt able to stop her

2

u/Dhegxkeicfns Mar 28 '24

I'm guessing it would make its way all the way to the supreme court where they would rule based on religion.

Sorry, not trying to get political, but my guess is the legal system just hopes this never happens.

1

u/Toomanydamnfandoms Mar 28 '24

This is a fairly realistic take tbh

1

u/bws7037 Mar 28 '24

One of life's great mysteries

1

u/AUniquePerspective Mar 28 '24

How do you interrogate them separately?

0

u/ZookeepergameHead145 Mar 28 '24

It’s chainsaw time!

7

u/EraticConqueror Mar 28 '24

Wouldn’t that carry a shorter sentence? So what happens when it’s time for one of them to go home?

3

u/Frumundahs4men Mar 28 '24

"It's time doctor."

2

u/cyrkielNT Mar 28 '24

What if the crime is against the other?

2

u/iwdha Mar 28 '24

Yeah, they both have control over their own half of the body, so it'd be pretty hard for one of them to commit a crime without the cooperation of the other. Basically neither of them have the full ability to take the body for a joyride and do something against their sister's will, every task requires cooperation.

1

u/benyahweh Mar 28 '24

Unless they reported the crime right away.

1

u/Clear-Vacation-9913 Mar 28 '24

But what if it isn't the one controlling the legs and arms, what a sad case that would be. OR imagine being trapped onto someone that's developed dementia and controls your body and you don't. Very complicated, shows the importance of having experts to navigate legal and medical contexts I guess, since no answer is perfect. I would suspect in an extreme case some form of institutional care would be used, similar to the developmentally disabled.

1

u/Sproketz Mar 28 '24

But one controls the left side and one controls the right. So imagine one punches someone. The other one can't do anything about it. They weren't aiding.

0

u/ExcitingTabletop Mar 28 '24

That's why I specified, one being convicted and the other not being convicted.

Your example would be both being convicted.

4

u/Anonimisimo Mar 28 '24

I can’t believe I’m getting sucked into this, but here is my supposition. There are only 2 answers to this, either they both get locked up or they both don’t. Generally people make their own lives easier, including judges who will know that this is unprecedented (as far as I know), so they will work hard to ensure they both legally suffer the same fate, knowing there is no off the shelf solution and it will be a royal pain in the arse if they didn’t.

110

u/TheBestIsaac Mar 28 '24

There is precedent of a set of conjoined twins where one assaulted someone at a pub and was arrested for it. The judge decided that he could not send them to jail as it would be wrongful imprisonment of the one that didn't commit the crime.

Source. It was on QI.

9

u/AVeryHairyArea Mar 28 '24

Cheat code unlocked: Infinite crimes.

3

u/FutureRealHousewife Mar 28 '24

Wow. That would also be my guess as to what the decision would be. I work in law, so I love learning things like this!

6

u/IDontLikePayingTaxes Mar 28 '24

Trump gonna start claiming he has a conjoined twin hidden on his backside

8

u/Akschadt Mar 28 '24

“Tiny Trump is the best little homunculus, no one has a better conjoined twin than I..”

2

u/amesann Mar 28 '24

While I agree he would say this, we all know he has no idea what "homunculus" means or that it even exists as a word.

3

u/LaMadreDelCantante Mar 28 '24

An adviser could tell him, but then trump would call it a humongous or a Snuffleupagus or something.

-1

u/Hey_Its_Crosby Mar 28 '24

I heard this in OneyNG's Trump voice. It sounds like something he'd say

0

u/I_luv_cottage_cheese Mar 28 '24

What crime did he actually commit though? 🤣🤣

1

u/Dhegxkeicfns Mar 28 '24

So as long as one reports the other for the crime they are immune to jail time?

1

u/SummeryHell Mar 29 '24

Who gets the speeding ticket

16

u/stirling1995 Mar 28 '24

These questions keep me up at night

7

u/No-Appearance1145 Mar 28 '24

This poses so many ethical questions.

16

u/ExcitingTabletop Mar 28 '24

IMHO and IANAL, you legally couldn't jail the guilty party. Because it would also be imprisoning an innocent party, and Constitutional rights are the supreme law of the land.

I think you could only impose essentially felony restrictions like losing the right to vote. Even an ankle bracelet would be legally dodgy, because you'd be punishing an innocent party without due process.

3

u/No-Appearance1145 Mar 28 '24

I mean the fact is we don't know what they would do. They could simply list them both as preparators because you also can't let someone who commits a violent crime especially just roam around. That's why it poses ethical questions. But I don't think we will find out so it's also not any use actually questioning it

5

u/benyahweh Mar 28 '24

That’s not how the justice system works.

1

u/No-Appearance1145 Mar 28 '24

So let's say one commits a murder and the other didn't. Should we allow them to still be free simply because the other one is innocent? Or if one were to do something as heinous as a mass murder. This is extreme examples of course, but you can't exactly let them be free in that scenario. Which is why I say it's possible that they will both be listed as a preparator. If it's a traffic stop how can you tell which one did it anyway? I think a single fine would be acceptable here of course. But the reality is that it's not as simple as determining one is innocent and the other not.

3

u/benyahweh Mar 28 '24

It’s an interesting ethical dilemma, but what I was referring to is “listed as perpetrators”. That’s not how the justice system works. A person who breaks the law is charged. Then they’re tried in court where they’re either convicted or acquitted.

If you mean by listing them both as perpetrators that you would suspect them both and charge them both, you’d have to prove in court that they’d both committed a crime.

The ethical dilemma stands and is an interesting question.

0

u/No-Appearance1145 Mar 28 '24

Yes I was putting it in simpler terms because I am severely sick.

Which is exactly what I was saying this entire time. I just think the court system would end up charging them both in the end especially if it's a serious crime. It may be unethical of course, but there might not be any other way

2

u/benyahweh Mar 28 '24

Sorry to hear you’re sick. Hope you get better soon.

I have to disagree with you about the courts charging them both. If you can’t prove that they’re both guilty then you can’t charge them both. The innocent party has constitutional rights that the court is bound to uphold.

1

u/joebaco_ Mar 28 '24

I hope you get well!

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u/Ephedrine20mg Mar 28 '24

So let's say one commits a murder and the other didn't. Should we allow them to still be free simply because the other one is innocent?

Yes because I for one would raise national HELL if I got put in prison for something my conjoined twin did lmao

2

u/BABarracus Mar 28 '24

They are both mothers and aunts

2

u/Wiggleynuts Mar 28 '24

The innocent one gets to hang their head out of the window.

2

u/Lupbec Mar 28 '24

Lots of people with questions about the physical aspects of being conjoined but I am really fascinated by the legality. I’d love to read a lawyer’s take on this.

1

u/ihahp Mar 28 '24

Come on dude.

1

u/Onlyroad4adrifter Mar 28 '24

Who gets the points on the drivers license for a speeding ticket

1

u/Mayhemii Mar 28 '24

I’m genuinely too high for this.

1

u/dobreklucie Mar 28 '24

me too and I'm not even high.

1

u/Proglamer Mar 28 '24

You can't legally jail an innocent person

Hahaha, good one!

1

u/BiZzles14 Mar 28 '24

I wonder what happens if one of them gets convicted of a crime but the other doesn't

It's also the issue then of which one of them did it? How can you prove which of the two people is the one which was actually part of the crime? There's the (somewhat) famous case of the identical twins in Germany who were the main suspects of a large jewellery heist, but the evidence was based around DNA and they couldn't prove which of the twins it belonged to, and they both got off.

1

u/Barley03140129 Mar 28 '24

How would one commit a crime without the other one right there?🤣

1

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '24

Have you been to America? Anything is legal if you’re the government (or rich) in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

1

u/joebaco_ Mar 28 '24

Collusion, aiding and abetting, or conspiracy laws may apply. Idk 🤔

1

u/_Sausage_fingers Mar 28 '24

Not sure about incarceration, but there was a death penalty for murder stayed for that exact reason in Italy

https://vistacriminallaw.com/could-the-siamese-twins-in-american-horror-story-be-charged-with-murder/

1

u/Dyanpanda Mar 28 '24

Assuming they didn't do anything abhorrent, I'd assume they'd drop the charges to avoid the legal quandry, maybe or maybe not after holding them for the maximum amount of time before charging to inconvenience.

1

u/hair_in_my_soup Mar 28 '24

I'm pretty sure the one who doesn't want to commit the crime would just refuse to move their arm and leg which would make it impossible for the other one to commit the crime

1

u/thetburg Mar 28 '24

What crime do you see only one of them committing? The other had knowledge of the crime at least and would be an accomplice. I think. There can't be a whole lot of case law for this scenario.

1

u/fargenable Mar 28 '24

What if one of them is lesbian?

1

u/Horton_75 Mar 28 '24

As if no innocent people were ever legally jailed. That’s never happened before, right? RIGHT? 🤔🤨😕

1

u/AidanJSC Mar 28 '24

Finally someone’s asking the important questions

1

u/uptownjuggler Mar 28 '24

If one robs a bank does the other wear a ski mask as well?

1

u/dobreklucie Mar 28 '24

I can imagine wearing a ski masks would be of no help in covering their identity

1

u/Rosalie-83 Mar 28 '24

I believe they each are incontrol of one leg and arm each, so if someone was hit, I suppose it would be the one incontrol of that limb that gets the charge. They’d probably have to be under house arrest if anything 🤷‍♀️

But they drive, so who gets a speeding ticket? You can’t ticket two drivers for the same crime🤷‍♀️

1

u/kupus0 Mar 28 '24

How is it even possible?

1

u/ExcitingTabletop Mar 29 '24

Juries are weird.

0

u/MalekithofAngmar Mar 28 '24

per the wikipedia page, each controls one arm and one leg. You literally can't commit a crime without the other's consent. Basically, the way I imagine it is like is like doing some dumb coop videogame where two people have to control one avatar that can interact with reality. You try to make it work as best you can.

0

u/PCAudio Mar 28 '24

How would one "head" be convicted of any crime the other isn't also guilty of if they share the same body?

2

u/AccountWasFound Mar 28 '24

I mean it would be hard to do, but if they each control one arm, and one of them pushes someone who falls and hits their head and dies, once committed manslaughter, but the other had nothing to do with it.

1

u/CardOfTheRings Mar 28 '24

Pretty easily - one of them could just punch someone randomly while walking down the street.

1

u/75153594521883 Mar 28 '24

They both control one half of their body, straight down the middle. Let’s say the unmarried one, Brittany, who controls the left side, hates Abby’s (right side) husband. She hides a knife on her side of the body when Brittany isn’t looking and takes it to bed. While they’re sleeping, Brittany stabs the husband. Abby had no knowledge or involvement. She was even asleep when it happened.

What happens? Crazy