It is not necessary that all killing are intentional. Sometimes any reckless or involuntary act as a result of fight or dispute may result in unexpected deaths or kills. Apart from this, the most commonly observed type of involuntary manslaughter is when a drunk person drives home and unintentionally runs over some person or pedestrian walking on the roadside. This may lead to death of the pedestrian if not extremely injured. By the law in Arlington Virginia, these type of killings are termed as involuntary manslaughter and are governed under Involuntary Manslaughter Law of the state.
Manslaughter can be defined into two types; Voluntary and involuntary.
Voluntary manslaughter happens as a result of sudden quarrel or heat of passion whereas the involuntary manslaughter results when the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony, or in the commission in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and circumspection, of a lawful act which might produce death.
Penalty for this felony under Involuntary Manslaughter Law is varying according to the type of voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. For voluntary manslaughter the person pleaded guilty is sentenced for imprisonment for not more than 15 years whereas for the person pleaded guilty due to involuntary manslaughter are sentenced for imprisonment for not more than 8 years. Apart from the imprisonment the people pleaded guilty may even have to pay fines as described according to the law of the state or the US Law for involuntary manslaughter.
The involuntary kill of the person may also result upon self-defense. Self-defense allows the people to use reasonable amount of force if he or she faces such circumstances where the protection is necessary and can only be done by using force. If the opponent dies under such circumstances, the situation can be said as involuntary manslaughter and is properly analyzed for the penalty to be given keeping in view the circumstances under which the offence was done and whether the situation demands such amount of force or not. If the opponent does not die he may be heavily injured and such condition of the opponent is also analyzed before stating the penalty for the offence.
Such acts that involves the death of the some human beings are considered as extremely grave situations. It is necessary for the people being involved in such circumstances should be aware of their legal rights and extent of charges according to the law. If you have been accused of involuntary manslaughter, you can acquire a legal assistance via different law firms . Here efficient and professional criminal defense lawyers help people to pull them out of these situations of manslaughter. These lawyers assess the situation carefully determining the pros and cons involved in the filing of the case in the court. It is determined whether the situation being questioned actually involved the involuntary kill or the killing was intentional which is also termed as murder. Proper counseling of the people involved in the situation is also done.