Under 192 of the CA Penal Code PC, manslaughter is defined as killing a human being illegally but without malice aforethought.
“Malice aforethought” is either “express”, as when a person intentionally and unlawfully kills, or “implied”, as when all four of the following can be established:
This malice aforethought component sets California Penal Code 192 PC manslaughter apart from murder. Whereas a charge for Penal Code 192 PC manslaughter requires affirmative proof of malice aforethought, a California Penal Code 192 PC manslaughter charge is brought when there was no malice. We use the term “mitigation” for changing a charge of murder to one of California Penal Code 192 PC voluntary manslaughter, essentially having no malice aforethought.
When someone admits to killing another person yet under the circumstances (so he or she actually committed murder), this act of killing is just not the same as killing in cold blood, the killer would be justified in pleading guilty to California Penal Code 192 PC voluntary manslaughter instead of murder.
In order to charge any person with a California Penal Code 192 PC manslaughter crime, the prosecution must successfully prove every element of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt. Failure to meet any one of the elements results in failure to prove California Penal Code 192 PC manslaughter as charged.
The Penal Code specifically distinguishes between 3 types of Penal Code PC manslaughter, namely:
(1) Penal Code PC Voluntary manslaughter:
Imperfect self-defense (you made a mistake in judgment so you used a deadly weapon when you shouldn’t have, or you thought you needed to defend yourself or someone else, when in fact you shouldn’t have); (California Penal Code § 192 (a) Manslaughter)
Punishment and Sentencing: Voluntary CA Penal Code 192 PC Manslaughter
Under 193 (a) of the California Penal Code PC, voluntary manslaughter is punishable by three, six or eleven years in a California state prison.
(2) CA Penal Code 192 PC Involuntary manslaughter:
This is where a person kills someone else but the killer did not intend to kill the victim, and did not kill in such a way as to show lack of respect for human life (Penal Code 192(b)). Although they sometimes look the same, negligence for CA Penal Code 192 is actually significantly different to reckless acts for murder convictions.
To illustrate, consider these examples:
While driving within the speed limit, if you ran a red light (an unlawful act) simply because you were not observant, and your running the red light causes a pedestrian to die, you will be charged with CA Penal Code 192 PC involuntary manslaughter because your reason for killing someone (not being observant) doesn’t by itself show total disrespect for human life. It is a lesser crime because it is based on negligence, a less culpable failure to do the right thing.
On the other hand, if you were to run a red light, even after having applied the brakes from a speed of 84 miles per hour, and you had consumed inordinate quantities of beer at a city bar, and this act killed passengers in a car, the prosecution will have a very good chance of proving murder, instead of CA Penal Code 192 PC involuntary manslaughter.
Why? Because this act was done with a “conscious disregard” for the risk of death, given that you go to a bar to drink, have awareness of your alcoholic consumption and intoxication while drinking, know that a car, which you control, is an extremely powerful and potentially dangerous machine capable of killing others, and choose to drive at high speeds on a public road. All of this establishes a severe lack of respect for lives of others, so the prosecution could prove malice (specifically “implied” malice), and a finding of malice establishes a conviction for murder. (People v. Watson (1981) 30 Cal.3d 290).
If you kill someone else under circumstances that would make any reasonable person in your situation fear for his or her own life, or create a fear of serious bodily injury, and that threat was immediate, the court will, in all probability, excuse your act of taking the life of the other person. The court will reason that your act of killing someone under these circumstances was justified.
What would not be helpful to your defense would be if someone said something quarrelsome to you and you reacted by killing the person. The court would likely charge the killer with California Penal Code 192 PC manslaughter(murder) in this situation because the killer would not be placed in immediate threat of death or great bodily harm.
If another person’s life is placed in an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury by another person, you can use reasonable force to protect the person, and should that force applied then cause the death of the person threatening the harm, you will likely also be legally excused. Again, this excuse is based on the court’s reasoning that killing another person under these same circumstances is justified.
To reduce a charge of murder to CA Penal Code 192 PC voluntary manslaughter, either your belief as to deadly force was wrong, or your belief that the danger threatening you was immediate was mistaken. This defense will not completely excuse your killing, so you will still be charged with a California Penal Code 192 PC manslaughter crime and face sentencing, but your sentence will be mitigated (reduced) to a lesser (less serious) sentence.
The act of killing someone can be excused under “heat of passion”. Although heat of passion doesn’t require rage, it does involve intense and immediate arousal of passion in the mind of a reasonable person, causing the person to lose self-control. Some acts that would cause a reasonable person to lose self-control that have been recognized by the courts include finding your spouse in bed with another person, or when you are under immediate threat of death or great bodily harm or assault.
Only true accidents, from an act done legally (not from an illegal act), without intent to kill, will excuse an act of killing.
Your criminally negligent act was not the factual or legal (proximate) cause of the victim’s death.
California has adopted the M’Naghten Test, which is an insanity defense based on proving either that you did not know your act of killing another person was wrong, or you did not understand that what you were doing was a lethal act capable of killing a human being. Successfully pleading and proving insanity submits you to observation by the state in a mental institution, subject to release when the state judges you to be no longer insane.
Punishment and Sentencing: CA Penal Code PC Involuntary Manslaughter
Under 193 (b) of the California Penal Code PC, involuntary manslaughter can be punished for a length of either two, three or four years in a California state prison.
(3) California Penal Code PC, Vehicular manslaughter:
Under the California Penal Code Section 192 (c) Manslaughter, CA Penal Code 192 PC vehicular manslaughter consists of 5 different types of offenses:
Type 1: Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated – A More Serious Charge
Gross Negligence Standard Applies
This type of California Penal Code PC manslaughter necessarily involves driving a vehicle while committing the act that causes death of a victim.
To prove Penal Code 192 PC vehicular manslaughter in California,
This term has a different meaning to ordinary “negligence”. The term “negligence” by itself means careless, inattentive or mistaken judgment. But, when you act with “gross negligence”, you act with such a great amount of recklessness that you can cause someone’s death, or great injury to a person, and anyone should reasonably know that this type of act is sure to create this high a risk. (This is known as the reasonable person standard).
The difference between “gross” and “ordinary” negligence amounts to degrees of lack of care. The higher the degree of recklessness involved, the more likely it is that the court will rule the act was “gross” negligence. Gross negligence, as defined above, is a great amount of recklessness, so much that it subjects the victim to almost certain death. On the other hand, ordinary negligence is doing some act without using reasonable care to prevent harm, and reasonable care would be used by anyone in your same position. Ordinary negligence does not subject someone to almost certain death, so it is not considered as serious as “gross” negligence, and therefore, the offense of Penal Code 192 PC “vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated” is considered a “lesser charge” compared to California Penal Code PC “gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated”.
Yes. Where the prosecution can successfully prove “gross vehicular manslaughter” or “gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated”, the prosecutor can exercise his or her discretion to charge you EITHER with a misdemeanor, OR, more seriously, with a felony. This is known as a “wobbler” under California criminal law, depending on many factors surrounding your case, as well as your own criminal background.
If you should be charged with “gross” negligence in either of these offenses, you will face a prison sentence for two, four or six years, based on the circumstances of California Penal Code 192 PC manslaughter. You could also face financial charges up to $10,000.
However, should you be charged with “ordinary” negligence or “misdemeanor” manslaughter (see specifically “Type 2” and “Type 4” below), then a lighter sentence will follow. You’ll be charged with a misdemeanor of up to maximum one year jail time, and possibly also face financial charges amounting to $1,000.
Under California Penal Code § 19.8 PC manslaughter, an infraction is the type of unlawful act that is only punishable by a maximum fine of $250. So you’ll never go to jail for committing an infraction. Infractions are considered to be some of the least serious transgressions, and in California include mostly traffic code violations. An infraction is a California Penal Code PC manslaughter crime that carries with it a maximum punishment of one year jail time and may also carry some monetary costs payable by the person charged with this type of California Panel Code PC manslaughter crime. By contrast, a felony is considered the most serious of all crimes, and carries with it a sentence amounting to any number of years, depending on the severity of California Penal Code 192 PC manslaughter.
Type 2: Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated – A Lesser Charge
Ordinary Negligence Standard Applies
For this type of manslaughter, which involves ordinary negligence – as opposed to “gross” negligence above – it must be proven that:
Type 3: Gross Vehicular Manslaughter – A Lesser Charge (No Intoxication)
Gross Negligence Standard Applies
This type of CA Penal Code 192 PC manslaughter requires proof that:
Again, the same gross negligence standard applies as under “Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated”. However, it is a lesser charge because the killer is not under the influence of drugs or alcohol when causing the death of a victim.
Type 4: Misdemeanor Vehicular Manslaughter – A Lesser Charge (No Intoxication)
Ordinary Negligence Standard Applies
The following must be proved to establish this crime:
As with “Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated” explained above, ordinary negligence applies. This charge is considered to be a lesser charge compared to “Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated” because the driver was not intoxicated, but criminally negligent.
Type 5: Vehicular Manslaughter: Collision for Financial Gain
To charge you with this offense, it must be established that:
Punishment for California Penal Code Vehicular Manslaughter: Collision for Financial Gain
If you commit ‘auto insurance fraud’, you face felony charges of four, six or even ten years in prison, and you may have to bear financial charges of a maximum of $10,000.
Here, the court will give a separate instruction on a “sudden and unexpected” emergency that arose and as a result of which you ended up killing someone in your vehicle. The court will also apply a more appropriate standard to your case, so it will not apply the “reasonable” person standard. Rather, it will look at what an “ordinary, careful” person would do under your exact emergency circumstances.
Your act of driving or operating the vehicle in the situation was neither the actual nor legal (proximate) cause of the victim’s death.
The California Vehicle Code contains 3 distinct code sections under which speeding violations can be brought:
Procedural Defenses Applicable to All California Penal Code Manslaughter Charges
If you or a loved one is being charged with California Penal Code 192 PC Manslaughter, we invite you to contact us immediately for a free case review. Schedule an appointment to meet with us in person, or feel free to submit an evaluation online and we will get in contact with you ASAP. We can provide a free consultation in our office located in Century City, or by phone. Our experienced California Criminal Defense Attorneys will be sure to fight until the end to reduce or drop your charges completely.
Call LAW MART for a FREE Case Review: 310-894-6440
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