Can someone be prosecuted for involuntary manslaughter if they died from another cause? 44 Answers as of November 01, 2011

Yes, maybe not convicted, but they can be prosecuted.

Involuntary manslaughter is a very serious and complicated charge. If someone is charged with involuntary manslaughter and the state is able to prove that they did in fact physically injure the decedent, it will become necessary to prove that the proximate cause of death was, in fact, not related to or caused by the injuries received. This can be an exceedingly difficult and complicated process. For this reason, it is often necessary to solicit the assistance of an experienced medical expert to testify as to the cause of death. This is something that you will certainly want to consider hiring an attorney to assist with because the potential penalties for any kind of homicide are very harsh.

Yes, the DA will try to prove that the assault sped up the other issues or made the other issues more difficult to treat BUT defense attorney will help you show otherwise.

Yes. A person can always be prosecuted. The burden is on the state to prove elements beyond a reasonable doubt.

It would depend on whether the injuries caused by the assault and battery could be tied to the cause of death.

It could be possible if the beating was a contributing cause of the death.

Yes, but the prosecution will have to prove it was the beating - or complications directly arising from it - that caused the death.

You can be prosecuted. If cause of death was not the result of the criminal incident, and it is proven, you would be looking at a lesser felony.

This is a very complex question and would require a careful review of the facts before an answer can be provided. That being said, the cause of death should be stated in any autopsy report. If it is something other than resulting from the battery, the Defendant may have room to argue that other cause of death as a defense. Again, this question is very fact intensive and needs to be reviewed by an attorney.

Yes, you take your victim as he lies. If you beat someone up and they wouldn't have died but for running into you, then you are the cause. You really need to hire the best attorney you can because you will be looking at 5-99 years in prison.

You can be prosecuted. However, the prosecutor has to prove that the cause of death was as a result of injuries from the crime. This is a question of medical facts and doctors would have to testify as to the cause of death.

I had a case like the facts you describe in your question. The defendant was prosecuted and it was left to the jury to determine the cause of death. If the beating the person received was even partially responsible for the death the jury will convict. Have your attorney get all the medical information and have him and a doctor go over it to see what chance there is that the beating was responsible for the death.

The cause of death must be related in some way to being beaten up. If the beating aggravated preexisting conditions which then led to death, that could be enough.

They can be prosecuted, but if the cause of death is not from the beating that would be a defense.

It depends on it the acts of the perpetrator caused the death or contributed substantially. To answer it is necessary to see the autopsy results and the death certificate.

One may be prosecuted. Being convicted is another matter and proof of cause of death is an issue.

They sure can. If the beating in any way hastened the death they can be prosecuted.

Sure, but then the person being prosecuted could hire an expert to show the beating was not the cause of death.

Probably, because there is a maxim that states that we take our victims as we find them. If the victim had these conditions preexisting, a person could be charged with manslaughter.

The other ailments may be a defense to manslaughter but that does not necessarily prevent charges from being issued.

Yes, of course, but it's a possible defense. Even if the victim had other health issues, if he was beaten to death then it doesn't really matter, does it? Everyone has health issues but if they're beaten to death then that's the cause of death. That said, if the defense can show that other factors actually caused the death then the beating is only a beating. But it's still a beating and someone is still guilty of assault.

Yes. Although those facts may be used at trial to win.

Yes, involuntary manslaughter charges can be madeit is up to the defense to raise the "causation" issue if another event caused the death of the deceased.

You can be charged with any crime, but the burden is on the prosecution to prove every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. If the proximate cause of death was the injuries it does not matter what frailties or other conditions the victim had. You take your victims as you find them is the rule of law. You will be convicted of murder if you intended to kill and manslaughter if you intended to injure and caused the death of a person.

It depends on whether the injuries caused or helped to cause the death. If the cause of death is unrelated to the injuries then the answer is no.

The District Attorney files charges and they would not charges a person with manslaughter if it was evident the person died of natural causes. However if a victim is in a weakened physical condition and another person hastens their death, that could be manslaughter.

If the beating was a significant contributing factor to the person's death, they may be prosecuted for manslaughter.

I suppose if you had an expert testify that death was inevitable or caused by other means other than the attack (i.e. the attack was not the cause of death), that may be enough to sway a jury away from manslaughter or convince a prosecutor to drop the charges to perhaps an aggravated assault. If that is the case, you definitely need an expert and an experienced criminal lawyer involved.

Yes. You can never prove that "other" ailments are 100% responsible. The assault could have caused it by 0.00000001% and that is enough. Just feel lucky the person isn't being charged with murder.

The State can try to proceed but would have to prove that the injuries caused from the assaulted resulted in the death, not the other medical issues.

In the State of Washington, one is responsible for the death of another only when the decedent dies within three (3) years of the event causing the death. Further, the person must have intended the act that caused the death. Finally the death must be causally related to the act. For example, if I were to shoot someone in the leg, that person would normally not die from that. Let's assume that the victim of my shooting dies of gangrene within 3 years from my gunshot. I would be criminally liable because my intentional act led point a to z to the victim's death from gangrene without any intervening cause. Now let's assume the same facts except this time my victim gets hit by a train within three years and dies. In that case, there would be intervening cause that broke the causal link between the gunshot wound and the victim's demise. Put another way, if you beat someone up and they die of cancer, you would not be liable.

Yes. It's still possible. It is a very complicated circumstantial factual analysis that has to do with how the law interprets the main cause of death. Even if the victim was already on "death's door," if another person's acts were directly "proximately" responsible for hastening that death, that person can still be prosecuted and convicted.