Velazquez
v. State
District
Court of Appeal of
561
So.2d 347.
Dressler,
pp. 194-196
Facts: The defendant was in a drag
race. After the race was seemingly
finished, the victim turned around and raced back to the starting line. The defendant followed. The victim died when his car went through a
guardrail. Velazquez was prosecuted for
vehicular homicide.
Rule: Courts usually use the “but
for” test of causation, which says that a defendant’s act was the cause-in-fact
of a result if it wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for their action.
Sometimes,
courts substitute the “but for” test with the “substantial factor” test when
two or more defendants did the same thing at the same time causing the intended
result.
Finally,
some crimes have a “proximate cause” element that is wider than “but for”
test. Basically, courts won’t find
defendants guilty if the result of their conduct was unforeseeable or when it
just wouldn’t be fair to find them guilty.
Notes
and Questions
1. If the police
can’t identify the driver that struck Elmer, it is inevitable that the four
drivers will be treated the same, whether by being punished or by being acquitted. I don’t think the value of pinning Elmer’s
death on someone is so great that it’s worth assigning blame and punishment to
the three drivers who did not cause it.
All of them may be liable in a civil suit brought by Elmer’s decedents.