Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

I've been wanting to ask this for some time now, at my job we get atleast four of these a year maybe more.. last week we had one that went To Hospice, say for example it was a v.manslaughter in question would a terminal withdrawal of lifesupport be considered dying of natural causes? Esp if it is the victims wish...not sure If I'm asking this right so that you guys will be able to answer it but here is a scenario...

say you have a patient that was involved in a accident due to another person drinking and driving, the victim is on life support and chooses to withdrawal then dies does the the person responsible get charged the same as a person that kills someone instantly ?? the case last week made me think of this again..

Doctors would have to testify that the person was dying from the injuries and would not have survived. Homicide victims are pulled off life support all the time once medical personnel see no hope for survival.

If the person is able to make that decision him/herself it would probably be the same except a lot of lawyers will make a lot of money from it first. But the criteria would be the same, would the person had died anyway? As I recall 6 months is generally the time frame used.

Doctors would have to testify that the person was dying from the injuries and would not have survived. Homicide victims are pulled off life support all the time once medical personnel see no hope for survival.

If the person is able to make that decision him/herself it would probably be the same except a lot of lawyers will make a lot of money from it first. But the criteria would be the same, would the person had died anyway? As I recall 6 months is generally the time frame used.

That answered it thanks :) I was'nt sure if I was explaining the question I was trying to ask correctly...but since you said the criteria would be the same that sums it up :) so it's not really * natural causes of death* that matters per say but rather if the person just dies( vs choosing to die instead of possibly living.) we've had several cases to where this has happened either the patient made the decision or the family.