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People v. Hall4/10/2000
nowledge and the awareness that a reasonable person with Hall's background would have had support the inference that Hall consciously disregarded the risk he created by acting despite his awareness of the risk.
Although the risk that he would cause the death of another was probably slight, Hall's conduct created a risk of death. Hall's collision with Cobb involved enough force to kill Cobb and to simulate the type of head injury associated with victims in car accidents. Even though it is a rare occurrence, the court heard testimony that two skiers in the past eleven years died on Vail mountain alone from skier-to-skier collisions. Based on the evidence presented at the preliminary hearing, a reasonable person could conclude that Hall's conduct involved a risk of death.
Thus, interpreting the facts presented in the light most favorable to the prosecution, we hold that a reasonably prudent and cautious person could have entertained the belief that Hall consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk that by skiing exceptionally fast and out of control he might collide with and kill another person on the slope.
Obviously, this opinion does not address whether Hall is ultimately guilty of any crime. Rather, we hold only that the People presented sufficient evidence to establish probable cause that Hall committed reckless manslaughter, and the court should have bound Hall's case over for trial. V. CONCLUSION
The prosecution provided sufficient evidence at the preliminary hearing to induce a person of reasonable prudence and caution to entertain the belief that Hall consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk that he might collide with and kill another skier. A court must inquire into the specific facts of each case to determine whether a risk was substantial and unjustified based on the likelihood of the risk, the potential magnitude of the harm, and the nature and purpose of the actor's conduct. In most instances, "skiing too fast for the conditions" does not create a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death, but the facts in this case are sufficient to lead a reasonable person to determine that Hall consciously disregarded such a risk. Although a reasonable person would not necessarily conclude that the evidence proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Hall committed reckless manslaughter, the evidence is sufficient to meet the limited purpose and low threshold at a preliminary hearing to establish probable cause. Thus, we remand this case to the district court for trial.
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