Opinion ID: 1946024
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reinstruction on Manslaughter

Text: [¶ 27] In its reinstruction on manslaughter, the court orally stated: You may consider all of the facts in evidence to consider whether or not the State has proven these elements [of manslaughter] beyond a reasonable doubt, including conduct of the defendant while operating or not operating the vehicle. By conduct, ladies and gentlemen, what we mean are any acts done by the defendant or things that the defendant may have said. When the jury had been instructed on manslaughter at the close of the evidence, the instruction did not contain the above language. Saucier timely objected to the reinstruction. [¶ 28] Saucier argued that the reinstruction allowed the jury to convict him of manslaughter even if it found that he had not been driving the truck at the time it went into the river. He is correct that the jury was reinstructed that it could find Saucier guilty of manslaughter even if he had not been driving at the time of Butterfield's death. Indeed, it is not essential, in a manslaughter case involving a death in a motor vehicle accident, for the State to prove that the defendant was operating the vehicle at the time of the death. The essential elements of manslaughter are the death of a human being caused by the defendant acting recklessly or with criminal negligence. 17-A M.R.S.A. § 203(1)(A). As long as the State proved to the jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Saucier's conduct caused Butterfield's death and that in causing her death, Saucier's conduct was reckless, or he acted with criminal negligence, Saucier is guilty of manslaughter. If the jury concluded that Butterfield was driving the truck at the time it went into the river, it could nonetheless have found that Saucier was guilty of manslaughter as long as it concluded that he caused her death by acting recklessly or with criminal negligence. [¶ 29] Here the instructions, taken as a whole, correctly instructed the jury that Saucier could not be convicted unless the jury found, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Butterfield's death was caused by Saucier and that Saucier's conduct was reckless or he acted with criminal negligence. The court's reinstruction on manslaughter fairly stated the law. [¶ 30] When Saucier objected to the manslaughter reinstruction, he requested that, if the instruction was given, a causation instruction be given as well. He specifically referred to the causation definition in the Criminal Code. 17-A M.R.S.A. § 33 (1983). The court agreed that it would give a standard causation instruction, and defense counsel did not object to the causation instruction given to the jury. The court orally instructed the jury on causation as follows: [T]he State must prove that it was the defendant who caused the defendant's [ sic ] death. Unless otherwise provided, when causing a result is an element of a crime, as it is here, causation may be found where the result would not have occurred but for the conduct of the defendant, operating either alone or concurrently with another cause, unless the concurrent cause was clearly sufficient to produce the result and the conduct of the defendant was clearly insufficient. So, in other words the State must prove to you beyond a reasonable doubt that but for the conduct of the defendant Brandi Butterfield would not be dead. Except for the first and last sentences, this instruction is essentially the text of section 33. The court had not given the causation instruction initially. [¶ 31] The specific objection to the causation instruction which Saucier raises now, but which he did not articulate at the trial, is that the instruction is incomplete because the court should have explained further how the causation instruction should be applied to the facts of the case. Saucier's objection is without merit. While the court could have rephrased the causation statute in more concrete terms using the names of the defendant and the decedent, the court was not required to do so. We understand the time pressures upon a trial court which feels compelled to answer a jury's question as quickly as possible and answer it correctly. As long as the causation instruction is correct and fairly apprises the jury, we will not require the court to further amplify it.