Commonwealth v. Rhoades
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
401 N.E.2d 342 (1980)
Relevant factsFree
Firefighter Trainor died of a heart attack from cold weather, stress, and smoke inhalation while fighting a fire that Rhoades (defendant) allegedly set; Rhoades was charged with arson and second-degree murder. The trial judge instructed the jury it could convict of murder if the arson was merely a contributing cause or part of the proximate cause of Trainor's death, and Rhoades was convicted on both counts; he appealed the murder conviction.
IssueFree
Whether a defendant's act can be the proximate cause of a death unless it produces the death through a natural and continuous sequence of events.