You’re Liable to Give That Cop a Heart Attack
Denny Hooks is on the lamb as we speak, a fugitive from justice, fleeing from a charge of involuntary manslaughter and the rabid pursuit of police officers stricken by the loss of one of their comrades. Denny Hooks is considered extremely dangerous and armed with the power to divine future events.
You see, Mr. Hooks did not kill officer Darral Lane with a gun, knife, or any other conventional weapon. Mr. Hooks simply laid a trap. He created a stressful situation - a situation he knew would cause his arresting officer to spontaneously suffer a heart attack and die before he could be apprehended. The perfect crime.
a brief car chase that started when Lane tried to pull over a suspicious vehicle leaving the parking lot of a closed convenience store on Fairfield Road. The license plates had been reported stolen, though the car was registered to the driver, 34-year-old Matthew Denny Hooks, of Jaggers Plaza. Police are still looking for Hooks, 34, and have charged him with involuntary manslaughter in Lane’s death . . . The 5th Circuit solicitor’s office reviewed the case and felt Hook’s actions contributed to Lane’s death, said Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Chris Cowan.
***
Watts said Lane had an enlarged heart caused by high cholesterol and blood pressure. He also had severe cardiac disease. Watts said Lane’s wife told him her husband was aware of his medical condition.
I think the people over at the 5th Circuit solicitor’s office need to go back to law school. Having a cop die of a heart attack while he is arresting you is not involuntary manslaughter – no more so than the police commissioner himself for putting that guy out on the beat with the knowledge that he had a vast array of heart problems.
A killing without intent is involuntary manslaughter if it is caused during the commission of an unlawful act that does not otherwise qualify as felony murder. But, the death must be caused - as in proximate cause. Proximate cause is an amorphous legal doctrine, which could be described as “that which in ordinary natural sequence produces a specific result, no independent disturbing agencies intervening.” People getting arrested don’t stop to consider that the cop might have a heart attack! Besides, if a cop is worried about a stressful situation arising, isn’t the decision to arrest someone an assumption of risk?
I think that the prosecutors know this won’t stick, they’re just trying to scare these guys. There ought to be something in the rules against bullying by overcharging – in the same vein as malicious prosecution. Quote Bill Nettles, defense attorney:
The challenge will be proving a connection between the illegal activity and this tragic death.
No kidding.
He’d better hope that none of the police chasing him have a heart attack between now and when he’s caught, as I’m sure such a pursuit is highly stressful.
Author’s Postscript: The tone of this article is intended merely to lampoon the absurd legal situation. Mr. Lane’s death is a tragedy lest we forget those in his family and community who feel his loss.
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This is why I failed the bar.