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Criminal Law Simons, Volumes I and II

Overview: Velazquez v. State

In Velazquez, the defendant was charged with vehicular homicide. The court summarized the issue this way: 

The sole issue presented for review is whether a defendant driver of a motor vehicle who participates in an reckless and illlegal "drag race" on a public road may be properly convicted of vehicular homicide for the death of one of the co-participant drivers suffered in the course of the "drag race"--when the sole basis for imposing liability is the defendant's participation in such race.

We'll explore the facts of the case later in this assignment, when we consider proximate cause. For now, we'll start with the court's helpful introduction to the difference between actual causation (or "cause-in-fact") and proximate causation (or "legal cause").