Criminal Law Keyed to Kadish
Jones v. United States
ProfessorScott Caron
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
Defendant’s friend had a 10-month-old illegitimate child who was placed with Defendant. The mother lived in the house with Defendant for some time, however the evidence was conflicting as to how long and as to whether or not Defendant was paid to take care of the child. Defendant failed to provide for the child and such failure resulted in the child’s death. Defendant was charged and convicted with involuntary manslaughter based on his failure to provide for the child. At trial, the court failed to charge the jury that it must find beyond a reasonable doubt that Defendant was under a legal duty to provide for the child. Defendant appeals.
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