Accidental homicide is where you kill someone in the course of a lawful act that is done with a reasonable belief that no harm will take place. Most jurisdictions say that an accidental killing is not a crime.
However, you could face criminal charges if you killed someone on accident while performing an unlawful or negligent act. Most states say that this type of killing amounts to involuntary manslaughter.
Involuntary manslaughter is often confused with voluntary manslaughter. While similar, these are two distinct crimes.
Voluntary manslaughter is where you kill another person either:
- without malice, or
- under circumstances falling short of intentional first-degree murder or second-degree murder.
1. What is an accidental killing?
You cause an “accidental death” if you take the life of another human being, and the death occurs in the commission of an act that is:
- lawful, and
- done with a reasonable belief that no harm will occur.1
Consider, for example, a real accidental death case in Massachusetts. In 2020, a Massachusetts man accidentally killed his neighbor with a crossbow after trying to save a person from a Pitt Bull attack. The crossbow bolt actually went through a dog, then through a closed door, and then fatally struck the neighbor.2
This incident amounts to accidental death because the killing took place during a legal act, or the shooting of a crossbow. Further, a reasonable person could not have believed that the bolt would travel through both a dog and door before striking the neighbor.
Accidental homicide does not usually lead to criminal liability or criminal charges. Some states even have statutes that expressly say this.3
2. Is it the same as involuntary manslaughter?
No. The definition of “involuntary manslaughter” varies between different jurisdictions. However, the crime is generally viewed as an unintentional killing that takes place during either:
- the commission of an unlawful act that is short of a felony, or
- the commission of a lawful act performed without proper caution, or with gross or criminal negligence.4
While an accident can lead to an involuntary manslaughter charge, your acts within the accident must have been either:
- illegal, or
- done without proper care.
Involuntary manslaughter charges are filed as felony offenses (as opposed to misdemeanors) that can result in several years in county jail or state prison.
In some jurisdictions, involuntary manslaughter is referred to as “negligent homicide.”
3. What is voluntary manslaughter?
The criminal laws of most states say that voluntary manslaughter is where a person causes the death of another person and does so either:
- without a state of mind involving malice aforethought, or
- under circumstances falling short of premeditation or a deliberate intent to kill.5
An example of voluntary manslaughter is when a person kills another in the “heat of passion.”
Voluntary manslaughter charges are more serious than involuntary manslaughter charges, but less serious than
- first-degree murder,
- second-degree murder, or
- felony murder charges.
Voluntary manslaughter is a felony offense punishable by years, even decades, in prison.
4. How do I fight an accidental homicide charge?
A true accidental death will typically not result in any criminal charges. Therefore, you will not need to use a legal defense since there are no criminal charges.
But you can invoke self-defense defense to challenge any type of manslaughter charge.
In order to succeed in the defense, you must generally show that:
- you reasonably believed that you were in imminent danger of bodily harm,
- force was necessary to stop the danger, and
- you only used a degree of force that was reasonably necessary under the circumstances.
Additional reading
For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:
- Unintentional Killings – Texas Tech Law Review article about current laws re. accidental homicides.
- Unintentional Homicide in the Commission of and Unlawful Act – University of Pennsylvania Law Review article about “felony murder” laws in the U.S.
- Accidental Homicide – Journal of Criminal Law article the state of the law re. unintentional killings in the U.S.
- Defining Unintended Murder – Columbia Law Review article about what qualifies as unintentional homicide v. intentional homicide.
- Meaning and Motive in the Law of Homicide – Buffalo Criminal Law Review article about how “state of mind” factors into prosecuting homicide cases.
Legal References:
- Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition – “Accidental killing.”
- Robert Gearty, “Massachusetts man with crossbow accidentally kills neighbor being attacked by pit bulls,” Fox News (2020).
- See, for example, California Penal Code 195 PC.
- Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition – “Manslaughter.”
- See same.
