Vehicular Manslaughter

A defendant is guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter when: the defendant drove a vehicle; while driving that vehicle, the defendant committed a misdemeanor, infraction, or otherwise lawful act that might cause death; the defendant committed the misdemeanor, infraction, or otherwise lawful act that might cause death with gross negligence; and the defendant’s grossly negligent conduct caused the death of another person.

Gross negligence involves more than ordinary carelessness, inattention, or mistaken judgment. A person acts with gross negligence when: he or she acts in a reckless way that creates a high risk of death or great bodily injury, and a reasonable person would have known that acting in that way would create such a risk. In other words, a person acts with gross negligence when the way he or she acts is so different from how an ordinarily careful person would act in the same situation that his or her act amounts to disregard for human life or indifference to the consequences of that act.

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Misdemeanor Vehicular Manslaughter

A defendant is guilty of vehicular manslaughter with ordinary negligence when: while driving a vehicle, the defendant committed a misdemeanor, infraction, or other lawful act in an unlawful manner; the misdemeanor, infraction, or otherwise lawful act was dangerous to human life under the circumstances of its commission; the defendant committed the misdemeanor, infraction, or other lawful act with ordinary negligence; and the misdemeanor, infraction, or otherwise lawful act caused the death of another person.

The difference between this offense and the offense of gross vehicular or manslaughter is the degree of negligence required. Ordinary negligence is the failure to use reasonable care to prevent reasonably foreseeable harm to oneself or someone else. A person is negligent if he or she does something that a reasonably careful person would not do in the same situation, or fails to do something that a reasonably careful person would do in the same situation.

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