From: ahk@chinet.com   
      
   David Carson  wrote:   
   >Thu, 27 Feb 2025 12:57:56 -0000 (UTC), Adam H. Kerman :   
      
   >>And the quote from the sheriff's office is "no immediate indication of   
   >>foul play".   
      
   >>This doesn't make amy sense. The wife was 63 years old. That in and of   
   >>itself should make her death suspicious. Is this an accidental death,   
   >>say, carbon monoxide poisoning from a poorly maintained furnace?   
      
   >That happens to be the first thing I thought of, too, but it isn't foul   
   >play.   
      
   My objection is that some of the newspapers, not reporting themselves   
   but rewriting reporting done by others, read something into the police   
   statement they shouldn't have.   
      
   The death is suspicious until foul play is ruled out. "No immediate   
   indictaion of foul play" just means the patrol officer first responding   
   or paramedic saw no traumatic injury or no signs of a break in or   
   fight. Neither is capable of determining poisoning and whether it was   
   accidental or intentional.   
      
   In my hypothetical, the furnace required maintenance. What if it turned out   
   that an HVAC tech had serviced the furnance? The police might investigate   
   whether the technician's actions were negligent. If so, that's a tort   
   but not a crime.   
      
   But if his actions were reckless, that might be criminal. A manslaughter   
   charge would be appropriate. Under extremely unusual circumstances, the   
   technician might have committed sabotage, a crime of intent. And what if   
   police can prove premeditation?   
      
   Here's something I don't know. In the case of negligence, would the   
   coronor's finding be homicide or accidental given that a human through   
   neglect cause the death of another? This finding is independent   
   of whether it's possible to bring a criminal charge against the   
   responsible party. Also, a coronor truly makes no finding of intent.   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)