Missouri Bicycle News

[J]udges generally instruct juries to find a defendant guilty of involuntary manslaughter only if the state has shown that the drunken driver caused the death by criminal negligence.

Missouri code says a person is criminally negligent when he disregards a "substantial and unjustifiable risk" that circumstances exist or that a result will follow, thus deviating from a reasonable "standard of care."

Criminal negligence is easy to prove if a reliable witness testifies the driver violated a traffic signal or was speeding. . . .

Moehl committed no such overt traffic offense. Benjamin Ley was not using a crosswalk. And though one witness told police he thought Moehl had been traveling 20 mph over the speed limit, police could not confirm it. Though Ley had been drinking that night, his intoxication was judged not a factor in the case.

"Personally, I hate the way the statute is written, because it ties our hands in cases" in which criminal negligence is less than obvious, said Graviss.

Related:

Tips&Stories: Missouri drivers can kill with impunity

News: Why is it OK to kill someone with your automobile?