Homicide offenses do not always involve high-profile crimes like murder. Many cases involve killings that are less than intentional or occur under unique circumstances. If you or someone you know has been accused of an accidental killing or one that involves intense provocation, you might be dealing with manslaughter charges. The best way to defend yourself will depend on the facts of the case and the evidence.
Manslaughter tends to be charged as voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. While these offenses sound quite similar, they occur under starkly different circumstances. Voluntary manslaughter may sometimes be referred to as a killing in “the heat of passion.” Meanwhile, voluntary manslaughter often involves defendants who unreasonably believed they were in danger and killed in what they thought was self-defense. Your defense may involve challenging your intent or mindset, the unlawfulness of your actions, or something entirely different. Your attorney can help you determine the best defense for your situation.
Contact The Law Offices of Lloyd Long by calling (215) 302-0171 and ask our Philadelphia manslaughter defense lawyers for a free case assessment to get started.
Understanding Your Manslaughter Charges in Pennsylvania
Manslaughter can be a difficult criminal offense to wrap your mind around. While it is classified as a homicide offense, it is not the same as murder. Instead, manslaughter tends to apply in cases where the killing was unintentional or the defendants acted in self-defense under an unreasonable belief that they were in imminent danger. Understanding how these charges work will help our Northeast Philadelphia criminal defense attorneys determine the best defense for your case.
Voluntary Manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter is defined under 18 Pa.C.S. § 2503(a). A defendant might be charged with this offense if they allegedly kill someone without lawful justification or if they acted under a sudden and intense passion resulting from serious provocation at the time of the killing. The provocation must have come from the person killed or another whom the defendant meant to kill but instead negligently caused the death of the victim. This is sometimes referred to as a “heat of passion” killing.
According to subsection (b) of the same law, a person may be charged with voluntary manslaughter if they allegedly committed a killing under an unreasonable belief that they were acting in self-defense. For example, suppose you believed you were acting in self-defense because the victim playfully threatened you with a water gun. While being threatened with what you believe is a deadly weapon may be grounds for using deadly force in self-defense, believing that a water gun is a real gun is likely unreasonable and insufficient to justify your actions.
Involuntary Manslaughter
You might instead be charged with involuntary manslaughter under § 2504(a). You may be charged with involuntary manslaughter if you caused the death of another by committing an unlawful act in a reckless or grossly negligent manner. The death must be a direct result of this unlawful conduct.
People often have a hard time understanding why they are charged with involuntary manslaughter because it typically applies to unintentional killings. For example, suppose you were in a car accident where the other driver did not survive. In that case, you might be charged with involuntary manslaughter if, at the time of the accident, you were driving in a way that was grossly negligent and unlawful. Even though you did not intend for the accident to happen, you might still be criminally charged.
Defense Tactics for Manslaughter Charges to Discuss with Your Pennsylvania Attorney
The right defense strategy for your manslaughter case depends on whether you are charged with voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. It also depends on the various facts surrounding the case that are totally unique to you. Discuss every little detail with your lawyer so they can determine which course of action is most likely to help you.
Self-Defense
If you are charged with voluntary manslaughter, you might be dealing with issues of self-defense. More specifically, the authorities might believe that your actions were not justifiable because your belief that you were in imminent danger was unreasonable. One defense strategy we might consider is arguing that your beliefs were not unreasonable and that you should not have been charged because you truly did act in self-defense.
Take the example mentioned before about mistaking a water gun for a real gun. At first, it might seem unreasonable to confuse a water gun for a real gun, especially when the alleged victim was using it in a joking or playful manner. However, what if this is not how things played out? Maybe the water gun was purposefully made to look like a real gun. Maybe the victim’s idea of a joke was to use the realistic gun to scare you. Under those circumstances, your belief of imminent danger might not be unreasonable.
The Unlawful Act
If you are charged with involuntary manslaughter, it might have something to do with an allegedly unlawful act that directly caused the death of the victim. The key detail here is that the act must have been unlawful and committed in a way that was reckless or grossly negligent. If your situation does not fit this description, we might be able to push back on the charges.
For example, involuntary manslaughter charges might be assessed in car accident cases where the defendant is believed to have been driving recklessly. However, if this is not the case, we need evidence showing you were not reckless on the road. Maybe the other driver played a role in causing the accident. Maybe there are additional factors, like bad weather or poor road conditions, that the authorities are not considering. If the act was not reckless, grossly negligent, or unlawful, we might be able to fight the charges.
Evidence
We must also consider the evidence against you. The prosecutor needs evidence that proves the case “beyond a reasonable doubt.” If they cannot meet this burden of proof, which is a very high burden, the jury should not convict you. If prosecutors base the charges on weak evidence or certain pieces of evidence we illegally seized and must be excluded, we might get the charges dropped or dismissed.
Contact Our Pennsylvania Manslaughter Defense Attorneys Now
Contact The Law Offices of Lloyd Long by calling (215) 302-0171 and ask our Philadelphia criminal defense lawyers for a free case assessment to get started.