 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Farner12/11/2001
to adopt a co-perpetrator rule as the defendant suggests.
By relying upon the co-perpetrator rule, the defendant is essentially urging that the negligence of a victim co-participant in a drag race is a complete defense if the victim's negligent conduct is a proximate cause of the victim's death. The Court of Criminal Appeals recognized that some state courts have accepted this argument and have refused to imposed criminal liability upon a defendant for the death of a co-participant in a drag race. See Velazquez v. State, 561 So. 2d 347 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1990) (refusing to uphold the defendant's conviction for vehicular homicide for the death of his co-competitor in a drag race and stating that the victim's death was caused by his own conduct rather than the defendant's participation in the drag race); Thacker v. State, 117 S.E.2d 913 (Ga. Ct. App. 1961) (dismissing an indictment for involuntary manslaughter on the basis that the indictment failed to allege that the defendant caused the death of his co-competitor in a drag race and stating that the victim's conduct in losing control of his car was the independent cause of his death); State v. Peterson, 526 P.2d 1008 (Or. 1974) (adopting the dissenting opinion of an intermediate appellate court judge which reversed the defendant's conviction for manslaughter upon finding that the defendant's conduct did not cause the death of the victim, a passenger in the vehicle of the defendant's co-competitor in a drag race, because the victim was a "knowing and voluntary participant" in the reckless conduct); Commonwealth v. Root, 170 A.2d 310, 314 (Pa. 1961) (reversing the defendant's conviction of involuntary manslaughter on the basis that the defendant's conduct "was not a sufficiently direct cause of the competing driver's death to make him criminally liable therefore").
However, as the Court of Criminal Appeals recognized, the better-reasoned cases reject this approach and uphold homicide convictions when the victim is a co-participant in a drag race. These courts have emphasized that the central causation issue is a matter for a jury's determination, that the victim's negligence is not a complete defense but may be considered in determining whether the defendant's conduct is a proximate cause of the victim's death, and that a jury's determination of causation should not be disturbed on review by an appellate court unless the evidence is not sufficient to support the finding.
For example, in State v. Melcher, 487 P.2d 3 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1971), a jury convicted the defendant of six counts of vehicular manslaughter. The deaths occurred when the automobile with which the defendant was racing collided with a third vehicle, killing the co-competitor in the drag race and five persons in the third vehicle. The trial court granted the defendant a new trial, but the Arizona Court of Appeals reversed and reinstated the jury's verdict. In so doing, the Arizona Court rejected the defendant's argument that he could not be found guilty because his car did not collide with the other vehicle, stating " t is obvious that the defendant can be criminally responsible for the death of the other racing party . . . if the racing was the proximate cause of that other party's death." Id. at 162.
In State v. McFadden, 320 N.W.2d 608 (Iowa 1982), the defendant was convicted of two counts of involuntary manslaughter. His convictions arose from a drag race in which the motorist racing the defendant lost control of his car and struck a third vehicle. A passenger in the third vehicle and the defendant's co-competitor died as a result of the collision. The defendant argued that the evidence was insufficient to establish causation since his car was not physical
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Tennessee DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|