Thread: Campbell Live Tonight

Originally Posted by Sidney

C'mon its not that hard to work out... there are significant differences why Mears was charged with manslaughter... He was breaking the law to start with... shooting from a vehicle, public road, spotlighting, shooting into a public Doc camping area, and shot a teacher brushing her teeth in a creek.

This guy shot a hunter in the bush by mistake.... no laws broken up until he did that....?

Major differences... for the charge of manslaughter to be applied in any circumstance, there is most likely a context of illegality in the circumstances... e.g. a punch resulting in falling down and striking head.... driving when drunk and killing someone etc... Mears is in that category... no so in this case....

Mears was charged and convicted with manslaughter for the shooting. All the other elements while certainly reflect his desire to break the law, didn't come into effect for the manslaughter charge. The circumstances are the same - point a rifle at a target thinking it was an animal, pull trigger, kill someone.

Plus Mears pleaded guilty, like our hunter friend Wayne Edgerton who has pleaded guilty to careless use. The charge laid is different for the same type of event.