What is a homicide?

When someone dies because the action of another, it is categorized as a homicide. Whether or not someone's actions caused the death of another depends on circumstance. Legally, there are a few circumstances to be aware of:

(1) The defendant did something to directly result in the death of another, all by themselves.

(2) The defendant had a legal duty to do something that, had they done it, would have prevented the death of another but they failed to do it, and thus someone died. This legal duty usually exists due to statute (i.e., the law says the duty exists), a contract (i.e., someone has contractually agreed to burden themselves with such a duty), a relationship (i.e., a caretaker looking after the health of another), or a voluntary undertaking (i.e., when none of the other categories fit, but someone has still explicitly or implicitly demonstrated that they have burdened themselves with the duty, like if a good Samaritan noticed someone drowning, told others they would handle it, swam out to the person, but then decided to just watch the person drown instead of providing help).

(3) It was foreseeable that the defendant's actions or inaction would result in someone's death. An example of such an "action" would be if a defendant dropped bricks off the top of a tall building next to a crowded sidewalk. An example of such "inaction" (or omission) would be a defendant failing to place a warning label on a dangerous container of poison gas.

With those out of the way, the final scenario to look out for when it comes to someone being responsible for a killing is vicarious liability. Vicarious liability comes up in other topics, like Agency, Tort, and Contract law. It happens when someone didn't do something themselves, but they had some sort of practical or legal relationship with the person who did do something and based on that relationship, they are considered liable as well. Thus, a defendant can be vicariously liable for a killing when someone's death was foreseeable from an act, and that act was either (a) solicited by the defendant (e.g., encouraging, asking, or hiring someone to kill someone else), (b) co-conspired (e.g., planning an assassination or illegal act), (c) being an accomplice to the killing (e.g., providing help in someway that enabled the act to be carried out), or (d) covered by the Felony-Murder Rule (which we'll cover in another card but, put simply, there are certain specific felonies that if someone commits and someone dies during the commission of those felonies, the death is considered a homicide).