Rutgers freshman suicide after roommate broadcast gay sexual encounter online?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Thanks. I'm not sure I understand, though, so maybe I can get an example.


Person A is driving drunk and gets arrested because he's weaving on the road.

Person B is driving drunk and gets arrested because he hit another car and killed the driver of that car.

Assume that neither has a previous criminal record and everything else was the same other than the fact that Person B crashed.

In this fictional location, the penalty for driving drunk is 1 to 3 years in prison. The penalty for manslaughter or murder or whatever killed the innocent driver is 20 years.

If Person A gets 1 year in prison for DUI, should Person B get the same, and then another 10 years for manslaughter or whatever? Or is it reasonable that Person B would get 3 years plus the 10 years because his drunk driving had a worse outcome?

It depends on the statutory scheme, but I'll speak as generally as possible with the understanding that some jurisdictions will differ slightly.

Person B just gets the 20 years only because presumably the statute has already taken into effect the impact of drunk driving. If you're not drunk but just miss a light or something, you'll be considered negligent but the odds of getting dinged with a vehicular homicide charge are pretty slight.

Rather than compound offenses (i.e. manslaugher = 10 years + DUI = 3 for a total of 13), it would simply become a different offense (vehicular homicide for committing manslaughter while drunk = 20 years).

Clear as mud?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

It depends on the statutory scheme, but I'll speak as generally as possible with the understanding that some jurisdictions will differ slightly.

Person B just gets the 20 years only because presumably the statute has already taken into effect the impact of drunk driving. If you're not drunk but just miss a light or something, you'll be considered negligent but the odds of getting dinged with a vehicular homicide charge are pretty slight.

Rather than compound offenses (i.e. manslaugher = 10 years + DUI = 3 for a total of 13), it would simply become a different offense (vehicular homicide for committing manslaughter while drunk = 20 years).

Clear as mud?

I'm looking at your post like that dog looks at the RCA Victrola, but I think I kind of get it. You don't stack offenses, and offenses either combine to a different offense or you take the offense that's the biggest because it was predicated on the smaller offenses. Is that close?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I'm looking at your post like that dog looks at the RCA Victrola, but I think I kind of get it. You don't stack offenses, and offenses either combine to a different offense or you take the offense that's the biggest because it was predicated on the smaller offenses. Is that close?

Yup, that'll do it.

We make this stuff complicated to ensure that you'll have some reason to pay us to explain it.

If we stopped at the 10 Commandments, there would be dozens of pages in the phone book that nobody had any use for.