People v. McGee
Supreme Court of California
187 P.2d 706 (1947)
Relevant factsFree
McGee shot a bystander in the abdomen during an altercation, and although the victim's fatal hemorrhaging could have been controlled with prompt medical intervention, no treatment was administered until roughly twelve hours after the shooting; McGee sought to introduce evidence that this delayed treatment, not his gunshot, was the proximate cause of death, but the trial court excluded it.
IssueFree
Whether, if a criminal defendant wounds another person in such a way that the wound is the cause of the person's death, negligent medical treatment that contributed to the death can be used as a defense to murder.