Exploring the Legal Elements of Negligent Homicide
Negligent Homicide
This is Stuart Ericson. I am a lawyer in Oklahoma. Today we’re going to talk about negligent homicide.
So homicide means the death of another, you know, by another person. So negligent homicide has certain elements. They are number one, the death of a human. Second, caused by the defendant’s driving a vehicle on a highway. Third, in reckless disregard for the safety of others. Fourth, the death occurred within a year of the infliction of the injury causing death, and the defendant was 16 years of age or older.
So if you’re over 16, you’re driving, you know, recklessly, negligently, switching lanes, you know, passing, cutting people off, passing, and you cause an accident caused by your driving, it kills somebody and they die within a year. You could be charged with negligent homicide.
Understanding the Elements of Negligent Homicide
Again, as with all crimes, very fact specific, you know, probably not going to be, gee, I just, my foot couldn’t hit the brake soon enough. You know, that’s probably not going to be a crime. So you would want to examine all of the facts, everything you can about the accident, go over the police report, the vehicle report, the collision report, and all eyewitness statements and testimony just to determine what the facts really are.
If the state comes at you with a negligent homicide charge, because there may be defenses to it, they may have the facts wrong. So you would need to talk to an experienced attorney to handle any sort of homicide charge.
Contact Me for a Initial Strategy Session
So if you do have any questions about that, reach out to me at WagonerLawyer.com. Once again, I’m Stuart Ericson, a criminal defense attorney in Wagoner County.