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VICTIM’S DEATH FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE ASSAULT WAS SUFFICIENTLY LINKED TO DEFENDANT’S ACTIONS.

In affirming defendant’s murder conviction, the Fourth Department concluded the victim’s death five months after the assault was sufficiently linked to defendant’s actions:

… [I]t has long been the rule in New York that ” [i]f a person inflicts a wound . . . in such manner as to put life in jeopardy, and death follows as a consequence of this felonious and wicked act, it does not alter its nature or diminish its criminality to prove that other causes cooperated in producing the fatal result. Indeed, it may be said that neglect of the wound or its unskillful and improper treatment, which were of themselves consequences of the criminal act, which might naturally follow in any case, must in law be deemed to have been among those which were in contemplation of the guilty party, and for which he is to be held responsible’ ” … . Thus, “[f]or criminal liability to attach, a defendant’s actions must have been an actual contributory cause of death, in the sense that they forged a link in the chain of causes which actually brought about the death’ ” … . Additionally, the “defendant’s acts need not be the sole cause of death; where the necessary causative link is established, other causes, such as a victim’s preexisting condition, will not relieve the defendant of responsibility for homicide . . . By the same token, death need not follow on the heels of injury” … . People v Pratcher, 2015 NY Slip Op 09730, 4th Dept 12-31-15

CRIMINAL LAW (VICTIM’S DEATH FIVE MONTHS AFTER ASSAULT SUFFICIENTLY LINKED TO DEFENDANT’S ACTIONS)/MURDER (VICTIM’S DEATH FIVE MONTHS AFTER ASSAULT SUFFICIENTLY LINKED TO DEFENDANT’S ACTIONS)

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Insufficient Evidence Defendant “Caused” the Victim’s Death within the Meaning of the Felony Murder Statute—The Victim, Who Was Assaulted by the Defendant, Died of a Heart Attack

The Fourth Department determined there was insufficient evidence to support defendant’s felony murder conviction.  Defendant assaulted the victim during a burglary/robbery.  The victim, who was obese and had heart disease, suffered a fatal heart attack. The Fourth Department held that the People did not present sufficient evidence the defendant caused the victim’s death within the meaning of the felony murder statute:

A person is guilty of felony murder when, during the commission or attempted commission of an enumerated felony, either the defendant or an accomplice “causes the death of a person other than one of the participants” (Penal Law § 125.25 [3]). A person “causes the death” of another person “when the . . . culpable act is a sufficiently direct cause’ of the death so that the fatal result was reasonably foreseeable” … . Such a culpable act is a sufficiently direct cause of death when it is “an actual contributory cause of death, in the sense that [it] forged a link in the chain of causes which actually brought about the death’ ” … . “An obscure or a merely probable connection between an assault and death will, as in every case of alleged crime, require acquittal of the charge of any degree of homicide” … .

Here, we conclude that the People failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was reasonably foreseeable that defendant’s actions, i.e., unlawfully entering the victim’s apartment and assaulting him, would cause the victim’s death. As noted, the victim died of a heart attack, and the injuries inflicted upon him by defendant were not life threatening. Indeed, the most serious injury inflicted was a fractured jaw. Although the Chief Medical Examiner testified for the People at trial that defendant caused the victim’s death, she explained that her opinion in that regard was based on her assertion that, “but for” defendant’s actions, the victim would not have died of a heart attack. As the court properly instructed the jury, however, “more than but for’ causation [is] required” to establish felony murder … . Notably, the Chief Medical Examiner did not testify that defendant’s culpable act was a direct cause of the death or that the fatal result was reasonably foreseeable. We thus conclude that the evidence is legally insufficient to establish that defendant committed felony murder, as charged in counts one and two of the indictment, and we therefore modify the judgment accordingly. People v Davis, 2015 NY Slip Op 02628, 4th Dept 3-27-15

 

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Proof Presented to Grand Jury Was Sufficient to Support Allegation Defendant “Caused” the Death of a Police Officer Killed by Another Driver While Responding to the Accident In Which Defendant Was Involved

The Second Department determined the evidence before the grand jury was sufficient to support the charge that defendant, who had been involved in a vehicle accident and was allegedly under the influence of alcohol, “caused” the death of a police officer who was struck by a car at the accident scene.  The court explained the nature of the proof required to support the charge that the defendant “caused” the death of another:

“Courts assessing the sufficiency of the evidence before a grand jury must evaluate whether the evidence, viewed most favorably to the People, if unexplained and uncontradicted—and deferring all questions as to the weight or quality of the evidence—would warrant conviction'” … . ” Legally sufficient evidence' means competent evidence which, if accepted as true, would establish every element of an offense charged and the defendant's commission thereof” (CPL 70.10[1]).

In order to be held criminally liable for a person's death, a defendant must have engaged in conduct that “actually contribute[d]” to that person's death … . The defendant's actions need not be the sole cause of death and, indeed, the defendant need not have committed the fatal act to be liable … . The test is, instead, whether it may be reasonably foreseen that the defendant's actions would result in the victim's death; if so, the defendant's actions may, under the criminal law, constitute a “sufficiently direct cause” of the death to warrant criminal liability for it … .

Here, viewing the evidence before the grand jury in the light most favorable to the prosecution …, we find that there was legally sufficient proof before the grand jury that the defendant's actions “caused” the officer's death. Specifically, it was reasonably foreseeable that the defendant's conduct would cause collisions and that the police would respond and be required to be in the roadway, where they would be exposed to the potentially lethal danger presented by fast-moving traffic … . People v Ryan, 2015 NY Slip Op 00915, 2nd Dept 2-4-15


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