Appropriate Judicial Response to Evidence of the Violation of a Criminal Statute in a Negligence Action

• NCJ Number: 138991
• Journal: Duquesne Law Review Volume: 30 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1991) Pages: 1-37
• Author(s): D E Seidelson
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 37 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A survey of the relevant case law provides the basis for a discussion of when courts may determine that evidence of violation of a criminal statute is applicable to certain negligence actions.

Abstract

To make this determination, the court must consider whether the victim was within the class of persons intended to be protected by the criminal statute, whether the event that occasioned the injury was one from which the statute was intended to protect, and whether there existed a factual cause and effect relationship between the statutory violation and the injury. If the court answers these questions affirmatively and if the jury accepts the evidence which determined that the statute was applicable, the jury must find for the victim of the statutory violation. In making its ruling, the court must be guided by the legislative intent inherent in the criminal statute, avoid creating spurious issues of proximate cause or factual cause and effect, and consider whether the class intended to be protected by the statute was unable to exercise self-protective care. 83 notes