Case Name: Jones v. United States
von Kevin Kobori
1. Deciding Court: United States Court of Appeals, D.C. Cir.
2. Year: 1962
3. Casebook and Pages: pp. 234-235
4. FACTS:
5. * D found guilty of involuntary manslaughter through failure to provide for Anthony Lee Green; resulted in his death
6. * Deceased was 10-month-old of Shirley Green; he was placed with D, a family friend, and Shirley lived in house for some of the time
7. * Conflict as to whether or not D was paid
8. * D has ample means to provide food and medical care for the child
9. PROCEDURAL HISTORY:
10. * Trial Court --> jury verdict finding D guilty of involuntary manslaughter; assigned as error by the trial court is its failure to instruct the jury on the requirement of legal duty of care
11. * Appeal to US Cir. Court of Appeals --> D appealed on trial courts error to charge that jury must find beyond a reasonable doubt as an element of a crime that D was under a legal duty of care
12. o People v. Beardsley (MI)
13. * Duty neglected must be a legal duty, not a mere moral obligation
14. ISSUE(S):
15. 1. Did the trial court err in failure to instruct the jury that D must be found beyond a reasonable doubt to have owed a legal duty to the victim?
16. HOLDING:
17. * WRIGHT: Yes.
18. ANALYSIS:
19. 1. An element of a crime of omission of a duty owed to one individual by another is that the duty be one imposed by law, not simply a moral duty; and the omission must be the immediate and direct cause of the harm to the victim
20. a. 4 Situations in which a failure to act may constitute breach of legal duty:
21. i. Where a statute imposes a duty to care for another
22. ii. Where one stands in a certain status relationship to another
23. iii. Where one has assumed a contractual duty to care for another
24. iv. Where one has voluntarily assumed the care of another and so secluded the helpless person as to prevent others from rendering aid
25. b. Govt believes there is a violation in either iii/iv, but this must be proved on facts given to jury
26. c. Conflict of evidence b/c D and mother lived together; in spite of this, still have to find a a duty of care
27. FINAL DEPOSITION:
28. * Reversed and remanded
29. BLACK LETTER: One of the elements of an omission crime a jury must find to have existed in order to find a defendant guilty is that there was a legal duty of care owed the victim by the defendant
30. * Before a defendant may be found guilty of any crime of omission the jury must first find that the defendant owed a legal duty of care to the victim
