Manslaughter resulting from death caused by negligence

Any person (the dog owner or someone who controls, harbors or keeps the dog) may be guilty of involuntary manslaughter for a death caused by negligence.

Take, for example, section 192 of the California Penal Code:

192.  Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice.  It is of three kinds:    ...   
(b) Involuntary ... in the commission of a lawful act which might produce death, in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and circumspection....

193.  ...    
(b) Involuntary manslaughter is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years.

Involuntary manslaughter contemplates "negligent acts which are aggravated, reckless and gross and which are such a departure from what would be the conduct of an ordinarily prudent, careful person under the same circumstances as to be contrary to a proper regard for human life [or] danger to human life or to constitute indifference to the consequences of such acts...." (CALJIC No. 8.46.)

The laws of other states are similar. In November 1986, three dogs jumped through a broken window and killed a young boy in Decatur, Georgia. The owner of the dogs, Hayward Turnipseed, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

In the Diane Whipple case, both of the defendants are charged with involuntary manslaughter, among other things. (See The Diane Whipple Case on this web site, www.dogbitelaw.com.)