Man Dies in Argument over Football Game
Few things are capable of inflaming the passions of the populace like sports. This is especially true when it comes to college football, which has a more passionate fan base than most. Thus, it is not at all uncommon to see fights and arguments break out during important games or rivalry games, especially when the ending to those games is a controversial one. Last Saturday’s Big 12 Championship Game between the University of Texas and the University of Nebraska (both of which have extremely loyal and passionate fanbases) seemed an exceptionally favorable situation for such disputes, with the game deciding whether or not Texas would play for the BCS Championship. Unfortunately, such a dispute did occur and turned deadly.
Perhaps the saddest aspect of this dispute is that it was reportedly between friends, both Marines, who were scuffling around as a result of some smack-talking that took place after the game. The two men apparently got into it a little bit after the game’s controversial finish, and one of the men happened to have a firearm that discharged during the fracas. The shot proved fatal, killing the man’s friend. The gun owner has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
In Tennessee, the man would probably be charged with criminally negligent homicide, which has replaced the crime formerly known as involuntary manslaughter in Tennessee. To be guilty of criminally negligent homicide in Tennessee, a person must be guilty of criminally negligent conduct that causes the death of someone else.
The term “criminally negligent” conduct is meant to distinguish acts of criminal negligence, such as being careless with a deadly weapon, from acts of ordinary negligence like failing to scrape ice off of your steps that causes someone to fall. Ordinary negligence does not give rise to criminal liability while criminal negligence does. As stated earlier, the man described above would more than likely be guilty of criminal negligence because he was careless with a deadly weapon. Since this negligence was seemingly responsible for his friend’s death, he would be charged with criminally negligent homicide. Criminally negligent homicide is a Class E felony in Tennessee, punishable by up to six years in prison.
Source: http://www.sphere.com/nation/article/marine-johnathan-clinton-rodriguez-dies-in-argument-over-football-game/19270167
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