Van Buskirk v. State
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals
611 P.2d 271 (1980)
After an argument, Van Buskirk (defendant) struck her boyfriend Rose with her car (either intentionally or, by her own testimony, accidentally pressing the gas pedal) and then drove away, leaving him lying in the road in a remote, dark area; a passing motorist found him moaning and unsuccessfully tried to flag down another car, which then struck and killed Rose. Van Buskirk was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and argued on appeal that the manslaughter statute had been repealed by the state's later negligent-homicide statute and that the jury instructions were otherwise deficient.
Whether, in Oklahoma, a defendant may be found guilty of second-degree manslaughter if she kills another human being by an act, procurement, or culpable negligence which, based on the circumstances, is not murder, first-degree manslaughter, or justifiable homicide.