Opinion ID: 2572520
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Did the District Court Err in Refusing to Give Tiffany's Jury Instruction on Proximate Cause?

Text: The district court instructed the jury that in order for Tiffany to be guilty of involuntary manslaughter, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant Michelle Lynn Tiffany perpetrated an unlawful act, and in the commission of the unlawful act, the defendant produced the death of N.D.T. The district court refused to give Tiffany's requested jury instruction on proximate cause, which provided: In order for the defendant to be guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter through perpetration of an unlawful act, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant's act was the proximate cause of the death of Nathan Tiffany. A proximate cause is one from which the death of a human being was the ordinary and natural result and might reasonably have been expected to result from such a cause. Tiffany contends Nathan's death could have been caused by her attempt to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation to him and that it was therefore error not to give her proximate cause instruction. Tiffany bases this argument upon the testimony of the Pathologist, who stated that while attempting to strangle someone, the strangler could also inadvertently apply pressure to the side of the victim's neck in the same manner as the carotid sleeper hold, causing unconsciousness within a few seconds and irreversible damage in less than a minute. On cross-examination he was asked whether someone tilting Nathan's chin back while covering his mouth and nose and blowing into it would reduce the amount of time it takes the child to lose consciousness. He answered that extension of the neck would probably have no effect whatsoever. He added that there must be pressure on the sides of the neck, where the nerves, arteries, and veins are, or on the Adam's apple, pushing it up and thereby forcing the base of the tongue and the larynx upward. He was then asked, But if there is, if say the infant CPR is done not quite expertly and you get a little bit of pressure there when you are covering the mouth and nose and blowing, that would greatly reduce the time? He responded that he did not understand the question, and there was no further questioning on that issue. Tiffany did not testify as to the manner in which she administered CPR to Nathan, and there was simply no evidence that she could have accidentally caused Nathan's death while administering CPR.