Are people charged with their actions, or the results of their actions?

Show all answers

Post your answer

something stinks	Drunk drivers are usually charged with vehicular manslaughter, when they kill someone. This is ridiculous because you are making a choice to get hammered and get behind the wheel of an automobile that weighs a few thousand pounds. If you kill someone, it should be a more serious charge. I do feel that drunk driving violations should be based on blood alcohol level and not everyone treated the same. The PA case was handled poorly. Plus the victim was an adult who got into a fight with a bunch of kids. Evidence indicated he was the aggressor and engaged the group repeatedly. While they were not found guilty of murder, one kid did get substantial time. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Chivalry Class	I will say this easy. Both, only sentence differently. You can't wait till somebody get killed to charge the killer. For kids, no less should they be punished! All life is equal. Drunk drivers should be charged with murder, should they know they are not suppose to drink and drive? In Malaysia, possess firearm without license is guilty and if you take it outside to aim and shoot, you are dead! Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

hmitchel	It depends upon the crime that is charged. Most crimes require both intent and result. Some do not require actual intent, just a culpable mental state e.g. negligent homicide. Others are strict liability and punish result regardless of the mental state e.g. environmental crimes. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Lexie	Action, intent, and result are all pertinent to determining guilt of an offense. Obviously, you can only be charged with homicide if the person dies, but the kind of homicide (murder, aggravated manslaughter, manslaughter, vehicular homicide) depend on what your intention was, and how likely it is that the death of the victim would result from your action. Drunk drivers are not charged with murder, because they didn't intend to cause someone's death. They are charged with a lesser degree of homicide because the death was caused by their recklessness, not by their intentional attempt to cause death. The law is the way it is because society has decided that someone who kills another person on purpose should be punished more severely than someone who didn't intend that result. I agree with that premise. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No