Opinion ID: 2639110
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Did the Doctor's Testimony Regarding the Proximate Cause of a Victim's Death Negate a Necessary Element of Mays' Conviction of First-Degree Murder?

Text: Mays' next argument is that the coroner's testimony regarding the negligent treatment received by one of the shooting victims at the emergency room negated proximate cause. In essence, his argument is that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of the first-degree murder of Joseph Morton because the gunshot wounds were not the proximate cause of Morton's death. When a defendant challenges the sufficiency of evidence, this court's standard of review is whether, after review of all of the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the State, the appellate court is convinced that a rational jury could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Beach, 275 Kan. 603, Syl. ¶ 2, 67 P.3d 121 (2003). Dr. Erik Mitchell performed the autopsy on victim Morton and testified that Morton died of gunshot injuries. However, Dr. Mitchell also testified that while Morton was being treated in the emergency room, a chest tube was inserted incorrectly into Morton's abdominal cavity and an endotracheal tube was inserted incorrectly into Morton's esophagus. Instead of allowing Morton to breathe, the endotracheal tube actually cut off Morton's breathing. Had the intubation been performed correctly, Dr. Mitchell believed Morton might have lived. However, without any medical treatment, Morton would have bled to death. Dr. Mitchell stated, His only chance at survival [was] control of the airway and then control of the bleeding. If his airway had been controlled, they would have had a chance to address the bleeding and I think he would have had a good chance at survival. As this court stated in State v. Rueckert, 221 Kan. 727, 737, 561 P.2d 850 (1977): Where a person inflicts upon another a wound which is calculated to endanger or to destroy life, it is not a defense to a charge of homicide that the alleged victim's death was contributed to or caused by the negligence of the attending physicians or surgeons. The concept of intervening cause in both tort and criminal law is predicated upon foreseeability. Since human beings are not infallible, some degree of a doctor's negligence is foreseeable and cannot be used by a defendant to exonerate himself. Neither can a defendant use as a defense the possibility that different or more skillful treatment might have saved the life of the deceased, and thereby avoid the consequences of his attack. Defendant must show that erroneous or unskilled medical care became the efficient intervening cause of death and superseded the effect of the wounds inflicted by defendant so as to become the proximate cause of death. These are all jury questions. [Citations omitted.] In this case, there was a sufficient basis for a rational jury to determine that, even if the treatment Morton received at the emergency room contributed to his death, the treatment was not an intervening cause of death and did not supersede the effect of the gunshot wounds. Dr. Mitchell testified that Morton died as a result of gunshot wounds. Also, Dr. Mitchell testified that without medical treatment, Morton would have bled to death from his wounds. Mays' argument on this point fails.