Causation

Common Law
o Actual Cause (Factual Cause) o But For Causation serves to exclude potential forces Cannot be held responsible unless but-for cause o Conditions are not causes but things necessary for an event to occur. Conditions are excluded from causal analysis o Multiple Actual Causes Accelerating second, accelerating cause is the cause Concurrent Sufficient Both sufficient either can be liable Only 1 sufficient, dont know which neither liable Obstructed Cause 1st cause is just considered attempt Proximate Cause (Legal Cause) o Direct Cause an act that is a direct cause is also a proximate cause. Nothing to really contest about proximate cause. o Intervening Causes another but-for cause; not the direct De Minimis too minimal of a cause for guilt Forseeability was the action foreseeable Dependent actor caused someone else to cause more harm to original victim [e.g. bad medical treatment only needed after victim is stabbed] Independent actor caused victim to be in the situation where harm took place [e.g. leaving your victim on the side of the road, he then is hit by a car] this usually relieves the original wrongdoer of liability unless it was foreseeable Intended-Consequences Doctrine sometimes the mental state can provide the proximate cause Apparent-Safety Doctrine if a victim reaches a point of safety (e.g. 200 yards from her house to get out of the cold), but decides to not enter o

Model Penal Code

Antecedent But For Cause o An antecedent but for which the result in question would not have occurred. o The common law principles that clarify the meaning of the actual cause apply to the MPC as well. Accelerating second, accelerating cause is the cause Concurrent Sufficient Both sufficient either can be liable Only 1 sufficient, dont know which neither liable Obstructed Cause 1st cause is just considered attempt Culpability (Actually, culpability) o Causation is only determined by the actual cause o MPC asks if the defendant caused the prohibited result with the level of culpability (purpose, knowledge, recklessness, negligence) o If purposely or knowingly The actual result must be within purpose or the contemplation of the actor unless The actual result differs only in the sense that a different person or property was injured or that the intended harm would have been more serious or extensive that what was actually caused The actual result involves the same kind of injury or harm as designed or contemplated and is not too remote or accidental in its occurrence to have a [just] bearing on actors liability o If recklessly or negligently The actual result must be within risk which actor is aware or should have been aware unless The actual result differens fromt eh probable result only in the sense that a different person or property is injured or that the probable injury would have been more serious than the actual result. The actual result involves same kind of injury as

safety, the original actor cannot be held to be the proximate cause Free, Deliberate, Informed Human Intervention proximate cause does not attach when a victim makes a conscious decision to cause their own injury Omissions an omission by another rarely supersedes wrongful conduct.

the probable and is not too remote or accidental to have a [just] bearing on actors liability.