Originally posted by Liberal1984
Well, obviously. But you shouldn't go to jail for unintentionally killing someone, unless you believed you were putting
their life at risk. So people shouldn't go to jail for being dumb, only being immoral.
They do, though.
"I'm Stupid, your honor", isn't a proper legal defense against a manslaughter charge in this case.
People are usually imprisoned for stupid behavior that cost someone their life.
I believe in this case, and considering the area, "manslaughter by gross negligence" or "criminally negligent manslaughter" would probably have
applied. Which is why she got such a light sentence.
Criminally negligent manslaughter
Criminally negligent manslaughter is variously referred to as criminally negligent homicide in the United States, gross negligence manslaughter in
England and Wales or culpable homicide in Scotland.
It occurs where death results from serious negligence, or, in some jurisdictions, serious recklessness. A high degree of negligence is required to
warrant criminal liability.wiki
That sounds about right.
As I said, ignorance of proper childcare or "I'm stupid" is not going to get you off the hook.
You can sit in front of the judge and say you didn't know that you shouldn't have made your friends newborn baby drink coffee, or I didn't know I
wasn't supposed to drive with a baby in my lap but if those actions resulted in a death, that in itself isn't an adequate excuse. It won't bring
the child back or relieve you of the responsibility of your negligent actions.
She lost 18 months due to her arrogance and stupidity, and the baby may well have lost 70+ years.
This isn't an "oops" situation and the judge isn't "sick".
There are plenty of really criminally corrupt judges out there and going on this case, this isn't one of them.
- Lee
