There might be situations in which a person kills another without meaning to or without premeditation. In certain circumstances, a death might be entirely unintentional, and there might be no criminal liability whatsoever. But if the demise happened due to a person’s dangerous or unlawful conduct, the prosecution may consider bringing involuntary manslaughter charges.
Involuntary manslaughter charges are severe and can significantly affect your life. If you are under prosecution, it is essential to comprehend the law and its nuances, what to expect if found guilty, and the possible defenses you can mount in court to prove your innocence. An attorney can help you through all this.
At CCLG: Los Angeles Criminal Attorney, we have helped defendants facing involuntary manslaughter charges and other violent crimes successfully navigate the legal system. We will evaluate your case facts thoroughly and advise on your legal options. Not only that. We will fight for you, so your case does not have to go to trial. However, if that is impossible and the case must go to trial, we will develop a strong defense strategy to obtain the most favorable outcome. Contact us anytime for a consultation.
The Legal Definition Of Involuntary Manslaughter
To understand the crime of involuntary manslaughter, you first want to understand the general crime of California manslaughter. California law describes manslaughter as the illegal killing of a person without malice aforethought. Malice aforethought is when an individual acts with the premeditated and deliberate intention to cause death or harm to someone else. Essentially, malice aforethought means the culprit consciously thought of and planned on committing the hurtful act, instead of acting accidentally or impulsively.
California law divides manslaughter into three primary categories: involuntary manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, and voluntary manslaughter.
Involuntary manslaughter is described under PC 192(b). This law defines the crime as the unintentional killing of someone else. Put otherwise, you commit this crime when you kill somebody else, although you did not particularly mean to do so, and you did not kill in a way that exhibited a total lack of respect or disregard for human life. Involuntary manslaughter is also at times called accidental homicide or negligent homicide.
The prosecution could charge you with involuntary manslaughter if you accidentally kill someone else while you perpetrate an offense that is in itself not a dangerous felony. Or, you could be charged if you commit an illegal act that could cause death without exercising due caution.
It is essential to make this key distinction: Under PC 192(b), the primary element of the involuntary manslaughter offense is that the jury does not necessitate intent to murder another person. This is different from the crime of murder under 187 PC, which lawfully necessitates malice aforethought. Also, California involuntary manslaughter laws do not include behavior that entails using a vehicle—these are covered under state vehicular manslaughter statutes.
A prevalent instance of PC 192(b) violation includes cases in domestic abuse-related incidents. For example, during a heated confrontation, a wife fetches her firearm to safeguard herself and aims it at her husband, who is threatening her. While the two are struggling over the gun, it unintentionally discharges, leading to the husband’s demise.
A more concrete example is Michael Jackson’s death, where his physician was accused of involuntary manslaughter. Doctor Conrad Murray’s case revolved around his act of excessive prescribing of sedative drugs to the singer. In this case, the prosecution only needed to demonstrate that the doctor acted carelessly or recklessly, not that he meant to kill. The doctor was found criminally liable for prescribing the singer a surgical anesthetic that ultimately killed him. He received a four-year sentence.
The Elements of PC 192(b) Violations and Definition of Key Terms
Involuntary manslaughter elements refer to the facts that the district attorney must demonstrate for an accused person to be sentenced under PC 192(b). For the judge to convict you, the prosecution must prove that:
- You perpetrated a misdemeanor, infraction, or a violation not considered inherently a dangerous felony violation, or a legal act perpetrated illegally.
- You perpetrated the act or crime with criminal negligence
- Your acts led to someone else’s death
The Definition of Crime or Legal Action Illegally
You violate PC 192b only if you do a wrongful act. Freak accidents will not suffice. The wrong or unlawful activity can be any of the following:
- An infraction. This is a lower-level offense punishable by just a fine, for example, disturbing the peace under PC 415 or a traffic offense
- A misdemeanor violation
- A felony not deemed dangerous in itself
- An act not deemed a violation but committed illegally
Should you kill a person while perpetrating a felony offense deemed inherently dangerous, the prosecution will not accuse you of involuntary manslaughter. Instead, it will charge you with voluntary manslaughter.
The Criminal Negligence Definition
Whether the D.A. has accused you of violating PC 192b contingent on an underlying offense or underlying legal act, they must successfully prove you committed the act criminally negligently. Criminal negligence surpasses ordinary carelessness, mistakes in judgment, or inattention. You act with criminal negligence only when:
- You act recklessly, creating a high possibility of great bodily harm or demise, and
- Any sensible party would have realized that acting that way could create that kind of risk
Consider this example: Kimberly leaves her two young sons at home alone and goes to have fun at a bar. After some time, a fire is experienced in her home, killing one of the children. The court cannot find Kimberly criminally liable for involuntary manslaughter. That is because her acts are not deemed criminally negligent. The possibility of there being a fire in her home when she was absent was not high, and there was no reason for her to foresee that injury or a death would be the result of her actions.
Causing Someone Else’s Demise
Your action is deemed to have resulted in someone else’s demise if the person’s demise was the probable, direct, and natural result of your action, and it would never have happened without your actions. That means any reasonable individual would have had to notice that the passing away was highly likely to occur.
Consider this example: Jesse and Danny are at a club watching soccer and are supporting different teams. They reach a point and start to argue. Thinking it is just a stupid prank, Jesse tosses some peanuts at Danny, therefore perpetrating the misdemeanor crime of battery. Unfortunately, Danny usually has life-threatening allergic reactions to peanuts. Thus, he reacts severely to them and is reluctant to seek urgent medical care due to his intoxication. He then ends up passing away while undergoing treatment.
In this case, Jesse may not be criminally liable for involuntary manslaughter. That is because Danny’s demise was not considered a probable and natural consequence of throwing peanuts at somebody.
Involuntary Manslaughter Contingent on Lawful Duty
The crime of involuntary manslaughter due to the failure to fulfill a lawful duty refers to a type of involuntary manslaughter under 192(b). It differs slightly in legal definition. The elements the district attorney must establish for the judge to convict you of violating PC 192(b) based on failure to do a lawful duty are the following:
- You owed the victim a lawful duty
- You neglected to do that duty
- Your neglect to do the duty was criminally negligent
- Your neglect or failure to do that duty resulted in the victim’s demise
In involuntary manslaughter cases, whether a person owes someone else a lawful duty is a matter left for the judge to decide and not the jury. Some of the relationships that prompt a duty of care include the following:
- A parent’s relationship with her child or children
- The relationship of a paid caregiver with the party they are caring for
- The relationship of one person with another who has taken responsibility for them
Consider this example: Kyle meets Elsa at a local bar and brings her to his house. He knows Elsa is drunk. Elsa then tells him she will be in his bathroom doing cocaine. After she does the cocaine, she collapses. Kyle drags Elsa outside to his yard, leaves her there, and goes to sleep. The following day, Elsa is found dead. By coming home with Elsa when she was intoxicated and permitting her to use his bathroom to snort cocaine, Kyle created a lawful duty to Elsa. Since he never sought medical intervention for her when she collapsed, the judge can convict him of violating PC 192(b).
The Consequences of Involuntary Manslaughter
Prosecutors always charge violations of PC 192(b) as a felony. The possible consequences of a conviction include the following:
- A felony probation sentence
- A fine of not more than $10,000
- Four, three, or two years of a prison sentence
Involuntary manslaughter can also trigger a suit by the victim’s family. If they win the case, then you can be subject to significant civil judgments. Also, if you unintentionally kill somebody using a gun or another deadly or dangerous weapon, and the court convicts you of violating PC 192(b), that conviction will count as a strike per the state’s three-strikes laws.
Defending Against Involuntary Manslaughter Charges
When a person passes away under any suspicious circumstances, prosecutors and police will be involved in the matter. They, plus the victim’s family, want someone to take responsibility for the killing. Often, when this is the case, the authorities rush investigations or jump to unverified conclusions, leaving innocent parties to try to prove their innocence of invalid involuntary manslaughter accusations.
The good news is that there are various legal defenses against involuntary manslaughter accusations that an expert legal counsel can help you argue. These include the following:
Wrongful Arrest or False Accusations
People often wrongly accuse other parties of perpetrating involuntary manslaughter. For example, it could be that the victim’s friends or family members want to reduce the victim’s role in their demise, and therefore, they blame everything on you. Or, it could be that the victim’s family wants revenge against you or otherwise wants to hurt you.
Whichever the case, this is a situation where an attorney with expertise in homicide-related cases can be highly valuable in defending against involuntary manslaughter accusations. An experienced lawyer understands all the stakes, plus how crucial the technical details are.
Insufficient Evidence
At times, in what appears to be a clear-cut case of a PC 192b violation, law enforcement officers make rash decisions about the demise. They argue their case before the D.A., who merely buys into their account of events. This is one of the reasons why retaining a skilled criminal defense attorney to fight for you is crucial. A defense lawyer will perform their independent investigations. They will invest their resources and time to reexamine evidence, interview witnesses, and consult independent forensic experts to unearth what happened.
It Was an Accidental Killing
All involuntary manslaughter cases are accidents of some kind. That is because they typically entail cases where the culprit never meant for the victim to die. However, if you did not act criminally negligently, your lawyer can help argue the accidental killing defense to prove your innocence of the involuntary manslaughter charge.
For the defense of accidental killing, your lawyer must successfully prove the following:
- You never had a criminal intention to cause harm
- You did not act criminally negligently when the unintentional killing happened
- You were otherwise engaging in legal activity when the accident happened.
You Were Defending Yourself or Another
Your lawyer can assert the defense of defending yourself or another when all these factors are true:
- You had reason to believe you or another person faced immediate danger of suffering significant bodily harm or being robbed, maimed, raped, or killed.
- You had reason to believe it was necessary to apply deadly force immediately to defend against the danger.
- You applied no more force than reasonably necessary to fight against the danger.
If your lawyer can demonstrate all the above elements, the court cannot convict you of involuntary manslaughter.
Crimes Related to Involuntary Manslaughter
Various crimes are related to involuntary manslaughter. That means these crimes may be prosecuted instead of or alongside involuntary manslaughter based on the facts. They include the following:
Involuntary Vehicular Manslaughter Under PC 192(c)
Involuntary vehicular homicide under PC 192(c) is almost the same as involuntary manslaughter under PC 192(b). The sole distinction is that the crime entails driving a motor vehicle negligently or breaking a traffic rule and therefore causing a collision whereby an individual dies. The consequences of involuntary vehicular manslaughter include a maximum of four years of incarceration.
When it comes to involuntary vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, the gross negligence, in this case, is the equivalent of the criminal negligence needed in involuntary manslaughter. The offense is known as gross vehicular manslaughter and might be prosecuted as a felony or a misdemeanor, based on the prosecution’s discretion.
The possible felony prison term is more severe than that for a PC 192(b) violation. It is two, four, or six years. However, if you perpetrate vehicular manslaughter with just ordinary negligence, it is deemed a misdemeanor. A conviction carries a maximum of 12 months in jail.
Voluntary Manslaughter Under PC 192(a)
PC 192(a), voluntary manslaughter, refers to a murder that occurs upon an unexpected heat of passion or quarrel. Put otherwise, like the name suggests, voluntary manslaughter refers to a murder that is voluntary or intentional. However, the crime is penalized less severely than actual murder since it is the consequence of the accused person’s strong emotions.
Violating PC 192(a) results in stricter consequences than committing involuntary manslaughter. You will be imprisoned for three, six, or eleven years. In addition, you will have a strike on your criminal record, per the state’s three-strikes law.
Murder Under PC 187
Murder under PC 187 differs from involuntary manslaughter by one, though significant, element. For the law to consider a homicide a murder, there must be some kind of malice aforethought involved. Malice aforethought generally refers to the intention to kill. However, should you kill somebody accidentally when perpetrating an inherently dangerous felony, the prosecution will charge you with murder, not manslaughter, per the state’s felony-murder rule.
Possible prison terms for murder can range from fifteen years to imprisonment for life. Alternatively, if the crime of murder qualifies as murder with exceptional circumstances, then you could even be subject to the death penalty. An example of murder with exceptional circumstances is where an accused person murdered a police officer or witness, or killed for financial benefits.
Vehicular Manslaughter While DUI Under PC 191.5
Should you perpetrate the offense of vehicular homicide while intoxicated, the prosecution will charge you under the following laws:
- PC 191.5(a), the state’s gross vehicular manslaughter while DUI or
- PC 191.5(b), vehicular manslaughter while DUI
A violation of PC 191.5 carries harsher consequences than either ordinary vehicular manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter. If you committed the crime grossly negligently (gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated), you will face felony charges with a possible prison term of four, six, or ten years. Even if you committed vehicular manslaughter while DUI with just ordinary negligence, you will face wobbler charges with a possible felony sentence that does not exceed four years.
Battery and Aggravated Battery Under PC 242 and PC 243d, Respectively
PC 242 battery entails using unlawful and willful force on someone else. This crime is related to involuntary manslaughter, since acts that would violate PC 242 can also lead to prosecution under PC 192(b) in the same court trial. If you are found guilty of battery, the consequences might include jail for six months, a fine not exceeding $2,000, or both a fine and jail time.
Aggravated battery or a battery causing significant bodily harm is described under PC 253d. This law will apply if you commit a battery leading to severe harm. The offense is also related to involuntary manslaughter, since actions that would break PC 243(d) can also prompt charges under PC 192(b).
Battery with significant bodily injury can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor or felony based on the case facts. That said, the crime is deemed a wobbler. A felony conviction carries not more than four years in prison, a fine not exceeding $10,000, or both a fine and a prison term.
Assault with a Deadly Weapon Under PC 245a1
You commit assault with a deadly weapon when you assault a person using a dangerous or deadly weapon that is not a gun, or when you assault another using force likely to generate significant bodily harm. This crime relates to involuntary manslaughter, since acts that violate PC 245(a)(1) might also lead to charges under PC 192(b) in the same court trial.
The district attorney can prosecute you with a misdemeanor or felony based on the elements surrounding the case. This makes the crime of assault with a deadly weapon a wobbler offense. If you are found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon, the consequences may be a prison term of not more than four years, a court fine not exceeding $10,000, or both imprisonment and a fine.
Contact a Skilled Criminal Defense Lawyer Near Me
California prosecutors treat involuntary manslaughter charges with exceptional seriousness. Hiring an experienced, dedicated lawyer as soon as possible is essential if the prosecution has charged you. Your freedom, rights, and livelihood are on the line, and you must act fast.
Remember, a skilled lawyer may successfully negotiate a lesser charge during a plea bargain, lower your sentence, or even better, have your charges dropped entirely. If charged with or arrested for involuntary manslaughter, your lawyer will analyze your case facts and devise a defense strategy to assist you in obtaining the most favorable outcome.
At CCLG: Los Angeles Criminal Attorney, we have an in-depth understanding of how local courts operate. We also know how to navigate the California criminal justice system, as we have been doing it for years. We can fight for clients and ensure they obtain the best possible outcome. Call us today at 323-922-3418 to schedule your complimentary and confidential case evaluation and consultation.
