State v. Brooks

Stephen Brooks (defendant) owned a home with a driveway heater that vented exhaust fumes into the garage. After two occupants became ill from escaped fumes, both a plumber and a gas-company inspector examined the system, found a bad flap blocking proper ventilation, and warned that the gas should stay off until it was repaired -- one inspector said an occupant was lucky to be alive. Brooks put the house up for sale without repairing the heater or telling the real estate agent about the defect. The buyers, the Cifarelli family, turned the heater on one December night; the next morning, all of the Cifarellis except one child were found dead of carbon-monoxide poisoning. Brooks was charged with involuntary manslaughter by reckless endangerment; he claimed he believed the heater had been fixed by the time of the sale, but several witnesses testified he knew it was still defective. Convicted, Brooks appealed, arguing the jury instructions blurred the line between recklessness and the lesser standard of criminal negligence.