Knowing Voluntary or Involuntary Manslaughter for Your Wrongful Death Case
Before determining whether or not your wrongful death case is voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, you must first understand the definition of manslaughter itself. Manslaughter is defined as the unlawful killing of a human being without express or implied malice. In many cases, a lot of wrongful death cases will fall into the manslaughter category because it was a death that happened without malice. It would be smart to seek the advice of a wrongful death attorney to see which category the death falls under.
Difference Between Voluntary and Involuntary Manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being with some prior motivation. The reason voluntary manslaughter is not murder is that it isn’t considered premeditated. A bar fight is a good example of voluntary manslaughter. Say two men get into a fight and in the midst of fighting, one ends up killing the other one unintentionally. This could possibly be considered voluntary manslaughter because the man who killed the other man intended to hurt the man, but not kill him.
On the other hand, involuntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being by accident, through negligence, or through reckless conduct. A workplace death is considered involuntary manslaughter. Say a man at a construction site falls and dies. That can potentially be considered involuntary manslaughter because his job had no intentions of killing him. Even though it was involuntary, the construction site is responsible for maintaining a reasonably safe work environment and you may seek the assistance of a premise liability lawyer for compensation.
Which One to Choose for Your Wrongful Death Case
Now that you know which manslaughter is which, you can start to think about categorizing your wrongful death case. Depending on what happened, how it happened, and who was involved, your wrongful death case can possibly fall under voluntary or involuntary manslaughter.
As with most legal cases, charging someone with manslaughter or fighting for a wrongful death settlement can be difficult. To alleviate some of the stress and get more advice on how to proceed in all types of wrongful death cases, call our wrongful death attorneys in Dallas today. Call our office at (972) 392-1225 or contact us online today.
