Accidental death

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Accidental deaths in the United States
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   Poisoning
   Falls
   Choking
   Drowning

An accidental death is an unnatural death that is caused by an accident, such as a slip and fall, traffic collision, or accidental poisoning. Accidental deaths are distinguished from death by natural causes, disease, and from intentional homicides and suicide. An accidental death can still be considered a homicide or suicide if a person was the unintentional cause.

For criminal purposes, intentional homicides are usually classified as murder. Exceptions such as self-defense vary by jurisdiction, and in some cases, persons accused of murder have asserted as a defense that the deceased was actually the victim of an accidental death, rather than an intentional act. However, a person who is responsible for the accidental death of another through negligence may still be criminally liable for manslaughter, and civilly liable for wrongful death. Accidental death and dismemberment insurance and similar insurance policies pay a benefit in the event of accidental death, [1] With these policies it must be demonstrated that a given death is in fact an accident, rather than an intentional suicide or homicide (which might involve insurance fraud).

It has been suggested that the "vast majority of accidents are not really accidents of chance, but rather accidents of folly, negligence, and blatant human misjudgment". [2] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in the US in 2015, there were 146,571 "unintentional injury deaths" that year, the fourth leading cause of death. Of those, 47,478 were from unintentional poisoning, 37,757 were from traffic accidents, and 33,381 were from falls. [3] Approximately 500,000 deaths due to drowning are reported annually, worldwide. [4]

In a couple of countries, all accidental deaths (or apparently accidental deaths) are investigated by government bodies, and sometimes a family will do a private investigation. [5] Inquests in England and Wales, for example, are held into sudden and unexplained deaths, and a fatal accident inquiry is performed for accidental death in Scotland. A verdict of "accidental death", in such cases, is returned when there is no contributory factor from an action or omission of the victim ("death by misadventure") or by another person ("unlawful killing").

Deaths during wartime, due to imprecise or incorrect targeting, maybe euphemistically termed collateral damage, or the result of friendly fire.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder</span> Unlawful killing of a human with malice aforethought

Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. This state of mind may, depending upon the jurisdiction, distinguish murder from other forms of unlawful homicide, such as manslaughter. Manslaughter is killing committed in the absence of malice, such as in the case of voluntary manslaughter brought about by reasonable provocation, or diminished capacity. Involuntary manslaughter, where it is recognized, is a killing that lacks all but the most attenuated guilty intent, recklessness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homicide</span> Killing of a human by another human

Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concurrence</span> The need to prove simultaneous actus reus and mens rea to constitute a crime

In Western jurisprudence, concurrence is the apparent need to prove the simultaneous occurrence of both actus reus and mens rea, to constitute a crime; except in crimes of strict liability. In theory, if the actus reus does not hold concurrence in point of time with the mens rea then no crime has been committed.

Wrongful deathclaim is a claim against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as enumerated by statute. In wrongful death cases, survivors are compensated for the harm and losses they have suffered after losing a loved one.

Vehicular homicide is a crime that involves the death of a person other than the driver as a result of either criminally negligent or murderous operation of a motor vehicle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criminal negligence</span> State of mind needed to constitute a conventional criminal offense

In criminal law, criminal negligence is an offence that involves a breach of an objective standard of behaviour expected of a defendant. It may be contrasted with strictly liable offences, which do not consider states of mind in determining criminal liability, or offenses that requires mens rea, a mental state of guilt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culpable homicide</span> Categorisation of crimes in the legal systems of Commonwealth countries

Culpable homicide is a categorisation of certain offences in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the homicide either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a particular jurisdiction has defined the offence. Unusually for those legal systems which have originated or been influenced during rule by the United Kingdom, the name of the offence associates with Scots law rather than English law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Negligent homicide</span> Homicide caused by the negligence of another

Negligent homicide is a criminal charge brought against a person who, through criminal negligence, allows another person to die. Other times, an intentional killing may be negotiated down to this lesser charge as a compromised resolution of a murder case. as might occur in the context of the intentional shooting of an unarmed man after a traffic altercation. Negligent homicide can be distinguished from involuntary manslaughter by its mens rea requirement: negligent homicide requires criminal negligence, while manslaughter requires recklessness.

In law, an omission is a failure to act, which generally attracts different legal consequences from positive conduct. In the criminal law, an omission will constitute an actus reus and give rise to liability only when the law imposes a duty to act and the defendant is in breach of that duty. In tort law, similarly, liability will be imposed for an omission only exceptionally, when it can be established that the defendant was under a duty to act or duty of care.

Murder is an offence under the common law legal system of England and Wales. It is considered the most serious form of homicide, in which one person kills another with the intention to unlawfully cause either death or serious injury. The element of intentionality was originally termed malice aforethought, although it required neither malice nor premeditation. Baker, chapter 14 states that many killings done with a high degree of subjective recklessness were treated as murder from the 12th century right through until the 1974 decision in DPP v Hyam.

In the English law of homicide, manslaughter is a less serious offence than murder, the differential being between levels of fault based on the mens rea or by reason of a partial defence. In England and Wales, a common practice is to prefer a charge of murder, with the judge or defence able to introduce manslaughter as an option. The jury then decides whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of either murder or manslaughter. On conviction for manslaughter, sentencing is at the judge's discretion, whereas a sentence of life imprisonment is mandatory on conviction for murder. Manslaughter may be either voluntary or involuntary, depending on whether the accused has the required mens rea for murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manslaughter</span> Homicide criminal charge less culpable than murder

Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th century BC.

In the United States, the law for murder varies by jurisdiction. In many US jurisdictions there is a hierarchy of acts, known collectively as homicide, of which first-degree murder and felony murder are the most serious, followed by second-degree murder and, in a few states, third-degree murder, which in other states is divided into voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter such as reckless homicide and negligent homicide, which are the least serious, and ending finally in justifiable homicide, which is not a crime. However, because there are at least 52 relevant jurisdictions, each with its own criminal code, this is a considerable simplification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vehicular suicide</span> Suicide method

Vehicular suicide is the use of a motor vehicle to intentionally cause one's own death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criminal law of the United States</span>

Criminal law is a system of laws that is connected with crimes and punishments of an individual who commits crimes. In comparison, civil law is where the case argues their issues with one entity to another entity with support of the law. Crimes can vary in definition by jurisdiction but the basis for a crime are fairly consistent regardless.

English law contains homicide offences – those acts involving the death of another person. For a crime to be considered homicide, it must take place after the victim's legally recognised birth, and before their legal death. There is also the usually uncontroversial requirement that the victim be under the "King's peace". The death must be causally linked to the actions of the defendant. Since the abolition of the year and a day rule, there is no maximum time period between any act being committed and the victim's death, so long as the former caused the latter.

Manslaughter is a crime in the United States. Definitions can vary among jurisdictions, but manslaughter is invariably the act of causing the death of another person in a manner less culpable than murder. Three types of unlawful killings constitute manslaughter. First, there is voluntary manslaughter which is an intentional homicide committed in "sudden heat of passion" as the result of adequate provocation. Second, there is the form of involuntary manslaughter which is an unintentional homicide that was committed in a criminally negligent manner. Finally, there is the form of involuntary manslaughter which is an unintentional homicide that occurred during the commission or attempted commission of an unlawful act which does not amount to a felony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firearm death rates in the United States by state</span> Rate of death due to firearms, by state

This is a list of U.S. states with firearm death rates per 100,000 population.

Georgia is an independent European nation.

Murder in Delaware law constitutes the unlawful killing, under circumstances defined by law, of people within or under the jurisdiction of the U.S. state of Delaware.

References

  1. Hanzlick, Randy (2016). Death Investigation: Systems and Procedures. p. 131.
  2. Bryant, Clifton D.; Peck, Dennis L. (2009). Encyclopedia of Death & Human Experience. p. 7.
  3. "Accidents or Unintentional Injuries". Centers for Disease Control. March 17, 2017.
  4. Schilling, U. M.; Bortolin, M. (2012). "Drowning". Minerva Anestesiologica. 78 (1): 69–77. PMID   21623341.
  5. McCurry, Cate (February 20, 2019). "' Where's the justice?' Family's outrage over collapse of murder trial". Independent.ie.