When Does DWI Resulting in Death Amount to Second Degree Murder?

Jeff wrote here about a recent high-profile case in which a defendant, Raymond Cook, was charged with multiple felony offenses after he drove while impaired and crashed into a young woman’s car in North Raleigh, killing her. In Cook’s case, the jury found the defendant guilty of impaired driving, involuntary manslaughter and felony death by vehicle, but acquitted him of second-degree murder. Driving while impaired and proximately causing the death of another constitute both involuntary manslaughter and felony death by vehicle. A person convicted of both offenses arising from the same incident may, however, be sentenced only for felony death by vehicle, the more serious offense. See State v. Lopez, 363 N.C. 535, 536 (2009). Because the act of driving while impaired violates a safety statute designed for the protection of human life and limb, it amounts to culpable negligence as a matter of law, see State v. Davis, 198 N.C. App. 443, 447 (2009). Thus, driving while impaired and proximately (but unintentionally) causing the death of another is involuntary manslaughter, a Class F felony. However, the act of impaired driving and thereby causing the death of another does not, without more, constitute second-degree murder. That is because second-degree murder requires malice, a state of mind that can be proved in vehicular homicide cases by showing that the defendant intended to drive in a reckless manner reflecting knowledge that injury or death would likely result. See State v. McAllister, 138 N.C. App. 252 (2000). The United States Court of Appeals for [...]