Tag Archives: Involuntary Manslaughter


Implied Malice Murder: Defendant Must Be Subjectively Aware That The Committed Act Was “Inherently Dangerous To Human Life”
August 12th, 2019

Implied malice has both objective and subjective components. The objective test requires “‘“an act, the natural consequences of which are dangerous to life … .”’” (People v. Knoller (2007) 41 Cal.4th 139, 143.) This means the act must carry “‘a high degree of probability that it will result in death.’” (Id. at p. 152.) The […]


Tags: , , , , ,


Involuntary Manslaughter: Existence of Legal Duty As Jury Question
August 10th, 2015

The Bench Notes state that the determination of whether a defendant has a legal duty is one to be decided by the judge, not the jury. However, this conclusion violates United States Supreme Court precedents which require that every element of an enhancement must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt and found true by a […]


Tags: , ,


Involuntary Manslaughter and Criminal Negligence
August 7th, 2015

  People v. Butler (2010) 187 Cal. App. 4th 998, 1014, upheld CC 580 as follows:   The trial court’s adherence to the formulation of the instruction in [CC 580] adequately informed the jury of the criminal negligence standard applicable to all three forms of involuntary manslaughter. As [previously stated by the Court of Appeal] […]


Tags: , , ,