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Los Angeles Involuntary Manslaughter Defense Attorneys

California Jury Instructions on Involuntary Manslaughter

California Penal Code 192( b)

When a person commits an unlawful killing but without an intent to kill and who does not act with conscious disregard for human life, then the crime is involuntary manslaughter under Penal Code Section 192(b).

The difference between other murder charges and involuntary manslaughter rests on whether the defendant was aware of the risk to life that his actions created, and whether he consciously disregarded the risk. An unlawful killing caused by a willful act done with complete knowledge and awareness that the person is endangering another's life, and done with conscious disregard of that risk, amounts to voluntary manslaughter or murder.

An unlawful killing arising from a willful act done without intent to kill and without conscious disregard of the risk to human life amounts to involuntary manslaughter.

The defendant is guilty of involuntary manslaughter under California Penal Code Section 192(b) if:

1. The defendant committed a crime that posed a high risk of death or great bodily injury because of the way the act was committed or the defendant committed a lawful act, but with criminal negligence;

AND

2. The defendant's acts unlawfully caused another person's death.

Criminal negligence involves more than ordinary carelessness, inattention, or mistake in judgment. A person acts with criminal negligence when:

1. She acts in a reckless way and creates a high risk of death or great bodily injury;

AND

2. A reasonable person would have known that acting in that way would create such a risk.

In order to prove murder or voluntary manslaughter, the People have the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted with intent to kill or with conscious disregard for human life. If the People have not met either of these burdens, you must find the defendant not guilty of murder and not guilty of voluntary manslaughter.