Manslaughter

A criminal charge of manslaughter in Palm Desert happens when you take another person’s life without intending to do so. California law defines manslaughter as the unlawful killing of another person without malice aforethought. It is a lesser crime than murder, but still serious, with severe penalties for those who are convicted. It can result in a lengthy prison sentence, hefty fines, and other life-changing consequences. However, you can influence the court’s decision in your case with the help of a competent criminal attorney.

At Desert Defense Lawyers, we use the best defense strategies to fight for the best outcomes of our clients’ cases. We can work with you to defend your rights, guide you through complex court processes, and advocate alongside you for a fair and reasonable outcome.

The Legal Meaning of Manslaughter Under California Law

California Penal Code 192 is the law that prohibits manslaughter in California. According to this statute, manslaughter happens when you unlawfully kill another person, but without malice aforethought. The crime is categorized under three distinct statutes:

• Voluntary manslaughter

• Involuntary manslaughter

• Vehicular manslaughter

Each statute has a distinct legal definition and penalties for anyone found guilty of violating it.

Manslaughter is similar to murder because it involves the unlawful killing of a person, but it is different in some elements and severity. To prove murder, the prosecutor must demonstrate that you acted with malice aforethought, or an intent to kill the person. There is also the element of having a conscious disregard for human life. These aspects are lacking in a manslaughter case. If the killing of another person happened without malice or disregard for human life, it becomes manslaughter. However, the prosecutor will focus on your intense emotion to prove voluntary manslaughter or extreme carelessness to prove involuntary manslaughter.

If you face charges for vehicular manslaughter, the prosecutor’s focus will be on your reckless driving that caused the death of another person.

Thus, when trying to understand your manslaughter charges and their legal implications, you should pay more attention to the type of manslaughter charges you face. A competent criminal attorney will ensure you understand your charges, their severity, your legal options, and the defense strategies that can benefit your situation.

Legal Meaning of Voluntary Manslaughter

If you are arrested on suspicion of voluntary manslaughter, the prosecutor will file charges under Penal Code 192(a). Voluntary manslaughter happens when you unlawfully kill another person under the following circumstances:

• In the heat of passion, or during a sudden disagreement

• During an honest but unreasonable need for self-defense, or imperfect self-defense

It is a felony, punishable by up to eleven years in prison.

When quarreling with a person or during a heated disagreement, you could take immediate action that could result in their death. Since the action was not premeditated, and you only acted in the heat of the moment, the prosecutor will likely file voluntary manslaughter charges instead of murder. Remember that a murder charge requires premeditation and a disregard for human life. This is usually not the case with manslaughter.

Also, you can commit voluntary manslaughter when you take a quick action that kills another person because you genuinely thought that you or another person was in grave physical danger. However, it turns out that you overreacted and that your actions were unreasonable, and you only realize this after the killing has happened.

Proving a voluntary murder case is very challenging for prosecutors. However, the law requires the prosecutor to prove various elements or facts of the case beyond a reasonable doubt for the court to render a guilty verdict. These elements are as follows:

• The victim provoked you

• Due to that provocation, you took action, rather rashly

• You took that action while under intense emotion, which obscured your judgment or reasoning

• The kind of provocation you faced at the time would have caused any reasonable person to act the way you did, without adequate deliberation.

• Your actions, fueled by passion and not judgment, caused the death of another person.

In most of these cases, a person’s death occurred right after the provocation. The defendant usually does not take time to reason, and there is typically no time to premeditate the murder. If you took time to cool off from the time you were provoked, and then, after regaining your rational thinking, you killed the person, your actions would amount to murder, and not manslaughter.

However, since your actions result in the death of a person, your penalties will likely be grave, although not as severe as those of murder.

Here are circumstances that can result in manslaughter rather than murder charges:

• When a person uses fatal force against unarmed thieves

• When someone who caused you so much pain makes fun of you, and in the heat of anger, you jump over them and strangle them to death.

• When a person walks in on their spouse in the act of cheating, and they stab them or the person they were cheating with

• A parent angrily attacks and kills a teacher or neighbor who threatens or mistreats their child.

• When in a physical altercation with another person, you use unnecessary lethal force that kills them

• If someone asks for help to commit suicide and you render it

• When you respond to harsh words with fatal force

Possible Penalties

Prosecutors in California charge voluntary manslaughter as a felony. If the court finds you guilty, you will likely receive the following penalties:

• Three, six, or eleven years in prison, depending on the circumstances of your case and your criminal history

• If the judge grants probation, you could be sentenced to mandatory one year in jail, and then felony probation for up to five years. The judge will set strict probation conditions by which you must abide, including meeting your probation officer regularly, completing a court-ordered rehabilitation program, or performing community service.

• $10,000 in court fines

• Loss of gun rights

You are subject to sentencing enhancement if you used a dangerous weapon, like a gun, to commit the offense. This means that the court may add three, four, or ten years to your prison sentence.

A voluntary manslaughter conviction is also a strike under the Three Strikes Law. This means that it will affect any other strike you receive on your criminal record. If you get a second strike, the sentence will be double the penalties provided under the law for the offense. If you get a third strike, the penalty will be 25 years to life in prison.

Legal Definition of Involuntary Manslaughter

According to PC 192(b), involuntary manslaughter occurs when you unlawfully cause the death of a person through criminal negligence. It is also a felony, but with less severe penalties than murder since it does not involve malice aforethought or the intent to take another person’s life.

These are the elements of involuntary manslaughter that the prosecutor must prove for a court to find you guilty:

• You committed a crime, whether an infraction, a misdemeanor, a non-serious felony, or

• You commit a legal act in an illegal manner

• You committed the act or crime with criminal negligence

• The action caused the death of a person

Involuntary manslaughter starts with a crime, or a legal act that you commit illegally. This means something wrong, or something right that you do in the wrong manner. Examples of an infraction that may result in involuntary manslaughter include traffic violations such as running a red light or speeding. Note that the illegal act can also be a misdemeanor or a less-severe felony. If someone loses their life due to a dangerous felony, you will face murder charges.

Example: Janice offers massage services to her close friends and family. However, she is not a licensed masseuse. A neighbor, who is terminally ill, confides in her that she (the neighbor) has lately been having difficulties falling asleep. Janine offers massage as a way to relax her body. Unfortunately, the neighbor suffers internal bleeding and dies a few days later.

In this case, Janice causes the death of a person through an unlawful act (offering massage services without a license). She can be charged with involuntary manslaughter because even though her services were illegal, she did not intend to kill her neighbor.

Criminal Negligence

This is a critical element of involuntary manslaughter. If you face charges for an unlawful or lawful act, the prosecutor must demonstrate that you acted with criminal negligence. Criminal negligence, in this case, goes beyond ordinary negligence, mistaken judgment, and inattention. It happens when you act recklessly and put another person at risk of significant bodily injury or death. A reasonable person should have known that acting the way you did put the person at such risk.

Additionally, your actions should be the direct cause of the person’s death, and not part of the cause. The prosecutor must show that the person’s death would not have happened without your actions.

Involuntary Manslaughter Due to Failure to Act

You can face involuntary manslaughter charges for causing the death of a person through failure to perform your duties. This happens to people who have a legal duty to another person, but fail to perform that legal duty, and, with criminal negligence, they cause the death of the person. For example, a parent who fails to protect or care for their child, or a caretaker who fails to care for a patient under their care.

Possible Penalties of Involuntary Manslaughter

Involuntary manslaughter is a felony, punishable by the following:

• Two, three, or four years in prison

• Felony probation for five years

• $10,000 in fines

The family of the victim of involuntary manslaughter can sue you for damages through a civil lawsuit.

If you committed the offense using a dangerous weapon like a gun, your conviction will become a strike under the Three Strikes Law.

Legal Meaning of Vehicular Manslaughter

Under PC 192(c), vehicular manslaughter happens when you commit an unlawful or negligent act while driving, causing the death of a person. The penalties you receive mainly depend on the degree of negligence you exhibited while driving, if you were under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and your criminal history.

Vehicular Manslaughter with Gross Negligence

If you acted with gross negligence, the prosecutor will file charges under PC 192(c)(1). A conviction under this law requires proof that you committed an infraction, misdemeanor, or a lawful act with gross negligence while driving, causing the death of another person. Gross negligence is more serious than inattentiveness, ordinary carelessness, or mistaken judgment. It is a reckless act that creates a risk of death or severe injury. A reasonable person would know that acting the way you did made such a risk.

Vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence is a wobbler, meaning that you can face misdemeanor or felony charges. A misdemeanor is punishable by one year in jail, while a felony is punishable by two, four, or six years in prison.

Misdemeanor Vehicular Manslaughter

The prosecutor can file charges under PC 192(c)(2) if you acted with gross negligence. This is a misdemeanor, punishable by a jail sentence of one year and a fine of $1,000.

Vehicular Manslaughter for Financial Benefit

If your intention is financial gain, the prosecutor will file felony charges under OC 192(c)(3). This is punishable by imprisonment for four, six, or ten years, and a fine of $10,000.

Vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and vehicular manslaughter for financial benefit will result in the suspension or revocation of your driver’s license.

How To Fight Manslaughter Charges

Whether you face voluntary, involuntary, or vehicular manslaughter charges, you need legal help to understand the implications of your charges, possible penalties, and your defense options. Hiring a competent criminal attorney after your arrest is recommended to ensure you start the legal process well. An attorney will protect your rights and advise you on what to do and not do to avoid further legal issues and self-incrimination. They will also start gathering evidence and preparing for defense.

There are strategies and defenses that your attorney can use for a favorable outcome in your case. Here are examples:

Arguing that Your Actions Were in Self-Defense

This is an excellent defense strategy to use if you caused another person’s death while defending yourself or someone else facing imminent danger. However, you must demonstrate that you only used reasonable force under the circumstances to protect yourself or someone else from danger. A competent attorney will provide the evidence the court needs to accept this defense and to dismiss your charges. They will prove the following:

• That you were afraid of being killed, severely injured, raped, robbed, or maimed, or of becoming a victim of an atrocious or forcible crime

• You used reasonable force to protect yourself from death, injury, or harm

Your attorney can also back your claims with evidence from the crime scene, such as eyewitness accounts, video surveillance, or medical records, to prove your injuries.

The Person’s Death was Accidental

Your skilled attorney can argue and prove that the person’s death was accidental to convince the court to dismiss or reduce your charges. This defense strategy can work if you face voluntary or vehicular manslaughter charges. Most involuntary manslaughter cases are generally accidental.

If you are using this defense, your attorney must prepare a compelling statement and support it with evidence. They must demonstrate that you did not act with criminal intent or negligence. They can provide a video surveillance or eye witness accounts to confirm that you, in fact, engaged in a lawful activity when the accidental death occurred.

For example, if you accidentally cause a vehicular accident by driving over a defective pothole that appears intact, and someone loses their life, you are not liable for their death.

You Are Falsely Accused

False accusations are widespread in the criminal justice system. A person or people can falsely accuse you of a serious crime to get even with you, out of revenge or jealousy, or to minimize their fault in the death. For example, a negligent family can blame a caregiver for the death of an ailing family member to avoid taking responsibility for their actions.

You need to prove your innocence with evidence to avoid paying for a crime you did not commit. Your attorney can provide an alibi, or eye witness accounts, written or recorded communications, or an expert witness to exonerate you from all wrongdoing.

Find an Experienced Criminal Attorney Near Me

If you face manslaughter charges in Palm Desert, you could face severe penalties if convicted. The penalties could include a hefty court fine, a lengthy prison sentence, or a criminal record that can ruin your career or social life. However, you can fight your charges in court to avoid these severe penalties. A skilled attorney can help develop a strong defense to achieve a favorable resolution.

We offer timely help, support, and defense at Desert Defense Lawyers. We can initiate the legal process with you to protect your rights, help you navigate the complex court processes, and advocate for a favorable outcome. Call us at 888-293-0396 to learn about our services.