Robertson v. Commonwealth

Shawnta Robertson (defendant) fled on foot from Officer Kane after being confronted for marijuana possession, sprinting onto a bridge and vaulting over a barrier separating the roadway from the pedestrian walkway. Officer Partin, one of several officers who arrived to help chase Robertson, followed by vaulting the same barrier but missed the walkway and fell to his death in the river below, through a 41-inch gap whose danger Partin may or may not have appreciated. Robertson was convicted of second-degree manslaughter for wantonly causing Partin's death, and the court of appeals affirmed, with Robertson arguing on further appeal that Partin's own voluntary decision to vault the barrier broke the chain of causation.