The Reverse Drag Race

The Defendant and another young man agreed to a late-night drag race on a stretch of road that dead-ended at a canal guarded only by a low guardrail. The two lined up and raced a quarter-mile to a fixed finish point without incident. Then, for a second run, they turned their cars around and raced back toward the starting line - straight in the direction of the canal. The other driver shot ahead at roughly 123 miles per hour, with the Defendant trailing at about 98. Neither could stop in time. The other driver crashed through the guardrail, was thrown from his car, and was killed instantly when the vehicle landed on top of him. The Defendant skidded into the canal but survived. The State charged the Defendant with vehicular homicide for the death of his fellow racer. The Prosecution argued that the Defendant helped set in motion the illegal race that killed the other driver, so he was criminally responsible for the death. The Defense argued that the other driver caused his own death through his own reckless driving, and that a person should not be convicted of homicide for the self-destructive choices of a willing co-participant.