Involuntary manslaughter generally occurs in only two cases. The first
is when someone is killed due to criminal negligence. That is, they are
killed accidentally when someone else behaves negligently. If a person
who is committing the crime of reckless driving or driving under the
influence of alcohol kills someone in an accident, this would be
criminal negligence.
The second form of involuntary manslaughter is when someone is killed
during the commission of another crime, where the intent was not to
cause bodily injury or death. This is often called misdemeanor
manslaughter. So if someone steals a small object and someone else
falls down a flight of stairs trying to chase him, that might be
misdemeanor manslaughter, even though the death was an accident and not
intended by the thief. The death would not have happened if the thief
had not committed the crime. If 2 people grab someone and tie him up to
get even for something and he dies of a heart attack, that might also
be involuntary manslaughter.
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