In order to successfully convict an accused of either intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter, the prosecution must establish a causal link between the intoxicated driver's condition and the resultant injury or death

Question

What factors might be used to establish such a link to the satisfaction of a jury?

Answer 1

Since both intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter commonly involve harm produced through operation of a motor vehicle, the causal link requirement will focus largely upon the manner of operation of the vehicle and, to a lesser extent, the surrounding circumstances at the time of the injury or death. Violation of various traffic regulations, such as speeding, running a stop sign, driving on the wrong side of the roadway, and driving at night without headlamps illuminated would be key indicators that the vehicle was being operated in an unconventional and unsafe manner due to the intoxicated state of the driver. These would be factors that would link the resulting injury or death and the driver having insufficient control of the vehicle due to his or her intoxicated state.

Depending on the facts of the particular case, other surrounding circumstances might be used to support the linkage. Likewise, surrounding circumstances could be used to negate the proposition that a connection existed between the intoxication and the resulting injury or death. For example, an intoxicated driver who is stopped at a traffic signal and rammed by another motorist is not likely to be culpable for the injury to a pedestrian his vehicle might subsequently strike; a sober driver in the same circumstances would have struck the pedestrian.