Votre v. State, 138 N.E. 257 (Ind. 1923). · Go Syfert
Votre v. State, 138 N.E. 257 (Ind. 1923). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
32 citation events (6 in the last 25 years) across 6 distinct courts.
Treatment trajectory · 1926 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
1926 1976 2026
Top citers, strongest first. 5 distinct citers. How cited ↗
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Williams v. Esaw
Kan. · 1974 · confidence medium
For cases from courts adhering to this rule see Thompson v. State of Florida, 108 Fla. 370, 372 , 146 So. 201 ; Maxon v. State, 177 Wis. 379, 385 , 187 N. W. 753 ; Votre v. State, 192 Ind. 684, 685, 686 , 138 N. E. 257 ; The People v. Mulcahy, 318 Ill. 332 , 149 N. E. 266 .” (p. 361.) We find no evidence in this record which warrants any conclusion that the rated horsepower of Monty’s motorcycle was a proximate cause of the accident.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) State v. Yowell
Kan. · 1959 · confidence medium
For cases from courts adhering to this rule see Thompson v. State of Florida, 108 Fla. 370, 372 , 146 So. 201 ; Maxon v. State, 177 Wis. 379, 385 , 187 N. W. 753 ; Notre v. State, 192 Ind. 684, 685, 686 , 138 N. E. 257 ; The People v. Mulcahy, 318 Ill. 332 , 149 N. E. 266 .
discussed Cited "see" State v. Scott (2×)
Kan. · 2007 · signal: see · confidence high
See Votre v. State, 192 Ind. 684 , 138 N.E. 257 (1923) (at party involving drinking, dancing, defendant offered drink of whisky to minor girl; girl died that night of heart attack caused by alcohol poisoning; defendant’s conviction reversed for insufficient evidence of causation; death not natural result, probable consequence of defendant’s unlawful act; victim had long suffered from heart disease); Jabron v. State, 172 Miss. 135 , 159 So. 406 (1935) (manslaughter conviction in death of child to whom defendant gave whisky reversed; defendant had no reason to anticipate act would result in …
discussed Cited "see, e.g." R.S. v. State (2×)
Ind. Ct. App. · 2003 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence low
See, e.g., Votre v. State, 192 Ind. 684 , 138 N.E. 257 (1923) (providing whiskey to teenager who had a weakened heart and died of an intoxication-induced heart attack was not manslaughter because death is not the usual or probable result of taking a drink of liquor).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." RS v. State (2×)
Ind. Ct. App. · 2003 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence low
See, e.g., Votre v. State, 192 Ind. 684 , 138 N.E. 257 (1923) (providing whiskey to teenager who had a weakened heart and died of an intoxication-induced heart attack was not manslaughter because death is not the usual or probable result of taking a drink of liquor).
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
Votre
v.
State of Indiana
No. 24,088.
Indiana Supreme Court.
Mar 8, 1923.
138 N.E. 257
Joseph G. Herron, for appellant., U. S. Lesh, Attorney-General, and Mrs. Edward Franklin White, for the state.
Travis.
Cited by 14 opinions  |  Published
Travis, C. J.

Appellant was charged with the crime of involuntary manslaughter. He appeals from the judgment on the verdict.

Appellant, with three other men and two girls, spent one Sunday afternoon and evening in dancing and drinking a quart bottle of whiskey, purchased earlier in the day by tw.o of the men, companions of appellant, and by them brought to the place where the party was held. The four men and one of the girls — the deceased — drank[*685] all of the whiskey from the bottle that was consumed, and all of them became more or less intoxicated. The bottle of whiskey had been on a table, and during the time mentioned, several persons, who drank the whiskey, drank from the bottle, or from a glass into which whiskey had been poured. The girls mentioned were sisters. The one who did not drink, testified that the appellant had picked the bottle up and held it out to the deceased, and invited her to have a drink, and that the deceased took the bottle and took a small drink. This was the only instance shown by the evidence, in which the appellant was connected in any way with the offering of the liquor to the deceased. Thereafter one of the other men gave the deceased whiskey which he had poured into a glass from the bottle. Late in the afternoon the deceased became sick and unconscious, and died about midnight. She was of the age of sixteen years. One of the physicians who had attended her upon this occasion and just previous to her death, and who, after the death, held an autopsy, testified that the drinking of whiskey would not ordinarily cause death; and testified further that the death in this instance was caused by the diseased condition of the deceased, which resulted in an attack of heart disease, occasioned by alcoholic poisoning, from which she died. . Further evidence was that she had diseases of the heart, stomach, kidneys, and all the social diseases to which the human body is subject, with all the lesions and inflamations. of other organs naturally resulting therefrom.

Appellant filed a motion for a new trial, for the causes that the verdict of the jury is contrary to law, and is not sustained by sufficient evidence. The overruling of which motion is the only error assigned.

[*686] [*685] The court cannot say as a matter of law that death is the usual or probable result of taking a drink of in[*686] toxicating liquor. It is only for the natural or probable result of a wrongful act that a wrongdoer is liable.

To constitute the crime of manslaughter, there must be such legal relation between the commission of the unlawful act and the homicide that it logically follows that the homicide occurred as a concomitant part of the perpetration of, or in furtherance of an attempt to commit, the unlawful act. Therefore it follows that death must be the natural result and the probable consequence of the commission of the unlawful act upon which the homicide is based. Potter v. State (1904), 162 Ind. 213, 70 N. E. 129, 64 L. R. A. 942, 102 Am. St. 198, 1 Ann. Cas. 32; Commonwealth v. Adams (1873), 114 Mass. 323, 19 Am. Rep. 362; Thiele v. State (1921), 106 Nebr. 48, 182 N. W. 570, 15 A. L. R. 237; State v. Reitze (1914), 86 N. J. Law 407, 92 Atl. 576; Estell v. State (1889), 51 N. J. Law 182, 17 Atl. 118; 1 Bishop, New Criminal Law §331; Foster, Crown Law 259; 1 Hale, Pleas of the Crown (Eng.) p. [475]; Rex v. Joseph Martin (1827), 3 Car. & P. (Eng. 211) 531; Regina v. Packard (1841), Car. & Mar. (Eng.) 236, 245.

The evidence in the case at bar in relation to the probable consequence of the unlawful act, while being slight, is yet uncontradicted, to the effect that death is not the probable consequence of the unlawful act with which the defendant was charged in the commission of this crime. Inasmuch as the death was not the natural result or the probable consequence of the commission of the unlawful act, it follows that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict; from which conclusion it follows that the verdict is contrary to law.

Judgment reversed with the instruction to grant a new trial.