Causation Flashcards
What are the two requirements of causation?
Actual case and Proximate Cause
What is the typical test for Actual Cause?
“But for” the defendant’s voluntary act(s), would the social harm have occurred when it did?
What is the rule from Velazquez v. State? (causation)
A requirement of most criminal statutes is that the defendant’s conduct be the cause-in-fact of the prohibited result
What is the “substantial factor” test?
Two defendants, acting independently and not in concert with one another, commit two separate acts, each of which alone is sufficient to bring about the prohibited result
What is the acceleration theory of causation? (Oxendine v. State)
A non-lethal injury inflicted after a lethal injury is the cause-in-fact of a victim’s death if it accelerates the victim’s death.
What is proximate cause?
“Legal” cause; ensures that the defendant’s but-for cause was not subject to an intervening cause
What is the rule from People v. Rideout? (causation)
A superseding intervening cause does not need to be the only cause of a victim’s injury to break the chain of causation such that the defendant’s conduct is not the proximate cause of the injury. (Car racing case)
What are the 6 proximate cause factors to balance? (probably don’t need to memorize)
○ Foreseeability of the intervening cause
○ Apparent safety doctrine
○ Voluntary, deliberate, informed human intervention
○ Intervening cause only de minimis contribution to social harm
○ Intended consequences doctrine
○ Omissions vs. Affirmative Acts
What is the MPC approach to proximate causation?
MPC § 2.03(2)(b) and (3)(b):
Connects causation with culpability (mens rea)
○ Focuses on whether the actual result is too remote or accidental in its occurrence to have a just bearing on the actor’s criminal liability or the gravity of his offense
