Possible Homicide Charges against Toby

This legal memorandum discusses the possible homicide charges against Toby for the death of his child due to his negligence. The memorandum analyzes different types of homicide crimes and concludes that the most likely crime that Toby should be charged with is involuntary manslaughter.

Legal Memorandum
TO: Chief of Felony Prosecutions
FROM: State Prosecutor
DATE: June 26, 2018
RE: Possible Homicide Charges against Toby
Question Presented
Is this a homicide? Toby was fired from his job. Too proud to apply for
unemployment benefits, he used his savings to feed his family. When one of his children
became ill, Toby did not seek medical attention for the child at a state clinic because he did
not want to accept what he regarded as charity. Eventually, weakened by malnutrition, the
child died as a result of the illness.
Short Answer
Yes. Even though Toby was fired from his work, he proudly applied for his
unemployment benefits and used it up in providing food to his family, which is a
requirement. However, Toby fails to consider that the same benefits could be used for
medical care for the family members. Therefore, when one of his children falls sick, Toby
does not make any attempt to look for medical attention for the child at a state clinic, the
reason that he gives is that he could not accept the state clinic medical services because he
regards them as charity. As a result of his negligence, the child eventually grows weak due to
malnutrition and die of the illness.
Statement of Facts
Accordingly, based on the presented question, the circumstance indicates that Toby is
a negligent parent and does not show care for his family and specifically his ailing child.

1
Consequently, Toby is supposed to be charged with homicide crime under the State’s
criminal law. Homicide is a legal term that is used to refer to any killing of a human being by
another human being. Homicide by itself may not be necessarily a crime for example if the
killing can be justifiable of a suspect by a law enforcement officer or if it happened in self-
defense. Nevertheless, there is unlawful homicide which consists of murder as well as
manslaughter. Also, homicide consists of lawful killing like killing in self-defense. On the
other, homicide also encompasses intentional killing which is legally referred to as murder in
addition to negligent killing commonly known as manslaughter. 1 As a result, Toby can be
charged with committing a homicide crime.
Certainly, since homicide is not regarded as a crime, it has to be categorized
accordingly to be able to determine the actual crime that is contained in this type of crime. To
begin with, it can be classified as murder. In light of this, murder is a crime that entails the
killing of an individual by another person. Consequently, the murder can be intentional.
While the law on murder differs from one state to another, a majority of the states can
distinguish common degrees of murder. Thus, murder comprises of predetermined murder
commonly known as first-degree murder, un-predetermined murder, which occurs when the
defendant intention is to inflict dangerous bodily harm commonly referred to as second-
degree murder and felony murder. Felony murder happens at a time of commissioning
dangerous delinquency.
The killing of another person is usually regarded as murder. Thus the precise term for
the killing of another individual by another is a homicide. 2 Murder is a type of
1 Garvey, Stephen P. "What's wrong with involuntary manslaughter." Tex. L. Rev. 85 (2008): 333.
2 Crump, David. "Unintentional killings (negligent homicide, involuntary manslaughter, depraved-heart and felony
murder): should we have different views of felony murder, depending on the governing statute?." Tex. Tech L.
Rev. 47 (2014): 113-939.

2
criminal homicide which has a precise legal meaning. The court defines murder as
“the unlawful killing of another person with malice aforethought.”
First-degree murder: It is deliberate, premediated killing that is mostly regarded as
first-degree murder. In this case, the defendant plans for the killing for instance by poisoning.
As such, the individual is usually charged with first-degree murder. In the case of the death of
Toby’s child, it is not possible to charge him with first-degree murder because he does not
plan for the death of the child in any way.
Second-degree murder: This is an intentional killing which is not planned or
premeditated. In general, the killing is as a result of dangerous conduct that shows that the
offender does not have any concern with regard to human life. 3 Therefore, in connection with
the presented question, this case should be regarded as a second-degree murder since Toby
does not show any care and concern regarding his ailing child. In fact, Toby sees no sense in
taking the child to a state clinic on the claim that he does not like charitable things. Instead of
taking the child to the state clinic which could have saved the child from death by providing
Toby with the appropriate diet to provide the child, 4 Toby disregards the clinic services. As a
result, the child body weakens because of malnutrition and eventually succumb to death.
Indeed, this child dies due to Toby’s negligence, which in this case can be termed as
negligence.
Felony murder: In this case, the murder is committed when an individual commits a
violent crime whereby in the process another individual dies. The offender stand to be
charged with murder in spite of the fact that, the person never meant to kill anyone. In the
3 Zazula, Bela Attila. "Involuntary Manslaughter in the New Romanian Penal Code." Journal of Legal Studies 16,
no. 30 (2015): 31-38.
4

3
case of Toby, the child dies after suffering from malnutrition. Thus, it is not possible to
charge Toby with this type of offense.
Additionally, homicide can be classified as manslaughter. Manslaughter is described
as the killing of an individual in an illegal way without malice aforethought. Accordingly,
manslaughter falls under various categories such as voluntary and manslaughter involuntary
manslaughter. Voluntary manslaughter is described as a premeditated killing that happens
with the offender having no aforementioned intent to kill, like a killing that happens in the
“heat of passion.” That means that the killing happens as a result of a circumstance which
leads to making an individual becoming disturbed emotionally. On the other hand,
involuntary manslaughter is regarded as an unintentional homicide that is as a result of
reckless or negligent behavior. 5
Manslaughter is an unintentional killing that comes as a result of recklessness or
criminal negligence. Similarly, it can be unlawful conduct which is a crime. Certainly,
involuntary manslaughter crime comprises some elements that have to be satisfied to
prove that one is guilty of the crime. These elements include:
A killing that happens as a result of the defendant’s conduct
The action can be fundamentally dangerous to another or can be conducted with
reckless disregard for human life
The defendant may have known that their behaviour was a threat to the lives of the
victim.
Discussion
Accordingly, by considering all the above mentioned different types of homicide
crimes, the most likely crime that Toby should be charged with is that of manslaughter and
specifically involuntary manslaughter. The primary reason is that, from Toby’s behavior and
jobless state, he is only but negligent about the suffering of his child. Despite the fact that he
5 Amon, S., H. Putkonen, G. Weizmann-Henelius, P. Fernandez Arias, and C. M. Klier. "Gender differences in legal outcomes of filicide in Austria and Finland." Archives of women's mental
health (2018): 1-8.

4
is much aware that he has no job he does not see any sense in taking the child to a state clinic
yet he is not in a position to afford to take the child to a private healthcare facility because of
the little money that he has as unemployment benefits are spent on family food.
Consequently, Toby’s act of refusing to take the child to the state clinic shows that he is a
careless parent and does not also feel for himself for being jobless to accept charitable
medical service. In accordance with the presented question regarding the conduct of Toby, he
is supposed to be charged are responsible for the death of his child.
Conclusion
Having analyzed the presented question, Toby stands to be charged with involuntary
manslaughter charges. The facts show that Toby acted in recklessness which results in the
death of his child.

5
Bibliography
Amon, S., H. Putkonen, G. Weizmann-Henelius, P. Fernandez Arias, and C. M. Klier.
"Gender differences in legal outcomes of filicide in Austria and Finland." Archives of
women's mental health (2018): 1-8.
Crump, David. "Unintentional killings (negligent homicide, involuntary manslaughter,
depraved-heart and felony murder): should we have different views of felony murder,
depending on the governing statute?." Tex. Tech L. Rev. 47 (2014): 113-939.
Garvey, Stephen P. "What's wrong with involuntary manslaughter." Tex. L. Rev. 85 (2008):
333.
Zazula, Bela Attila. "Involuntary Manslaughter in the New Romanian Penal Code." Journal
of Legal Studies 16, no. 30 (2015): 31-38.