Maybe its me, but it seems like firefighters and police officers are being struck by vehicles at accident scenes on just about a daily basis. In a recent case in Delaware, 30 year old Michelle Smith, a volunteer firefighter in Delaware City and the Volunteer Hose Company of Middletown, was struck and killed by a speeding car while treating a patient of a motorcycle accident. The patient was also struck but is expected to survive.
The driver who struck Smith is now being charged with murder - which is rather unusual. The mental state required for murder is substantially higher than that necessary for involuntary manslaughter, or vehicular homicide. Generally to be convicted of murder, the perpetrator must have acted intentionally, knowingly, or with recklessness indicating a depraved heart. Normal recklessness will usually result in manslaughter.
It would appear that prosecutors believe they can establish that the driver, Joseph M. Taye Jr., acted with depraved heart recklessness. It will be interesting to see how the case progresses.
For more on the case click here or copy and paste this link: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20081231/NEWS01/812310356
Murder, manslaughter and recklessness are all covered in Chapter 5 of FOHL and Legal Considerations.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment