Homicide

Homicide means to kill another person, without necessarily suggesting it is criminal. It could be an accident or justified. States divide innocent from criminal homicide by means of mens rea. If the defendant had some mens rea with respect to death, even negligence, they are guilty of criminal homicide.

Homicide, whether criminal or not, is often phrased as "to cause the death of another person." In most cases, cause is not at issue. Rather, either the identity of the assailant or their mens rea are challenged. Sometimes, however, even causation is at issue. It may come into play if two people both shoot a person, who then dies. They might both be guilty of murder if both bullets contributed to the death. But if the second person shot after the person was dead, then the second person cannot be guilty of homicide. 

One of the issues in the death of Elijah McClain and the trial of officers and paramedics centers on causation. There were multiple possible causes, including the use of a carotid hold, administering ketamine, and restraining him. In fact, so far one officers has been convicted but another acquitted.  

We will spent very little time on causation, in part because you will delve far more deeply into it when you take torts. The first case below, Kuntz, considers both causation and show how sometimes an omission to act can be the cause of the death. We then move on to grading homicides by mens rea.