phoenix helicopter crash - death liability?
 

two news helicopters crashed into each other in phoenix that were covering a police chase. four men died, two pilots, a photographer, and a photojournalist.

apparently:
[ QUOTE ]
The police chief said the suspect will likely face criminal charges for the deaths in the helicopter crash.

[/ QUOTE ]

do you feel that the suspect is liable for the deaths and should face serious criminal charges?

is this even a bit ambiguous or am i way off here?

Re: phoenix helicopter crash - death liability?
 

woooooooooooooooooooooow

Re: phoenix helicopter crash - death liability?
 

yeah this is pretty lol

Re: phoenix helicopter crash - death liability?
 

If anyone is charged it should be the cops. If they weren't chasing him there'd be nothing to film!

Re: phoenix helicopter crash - death liability?
 

i am thinking now that the police chief was likely just making a dumb statement, and the news reports ran with it because it is quotable.

Re: phoenix helicopter crash - death liability?
 

[ QUOTE ]
i am thinking now that the police chief was likely just making a dumb statement, and the news reports ran with it because it is quotable.

[/ QUOTE ]

this just has to be the case.

Re: phoenix helicopter crash - death liability?
 

whats the line that the criminal will sue for slander of charcter being called a murderer/manslaughterer?

Re: phoenix helicopter crash - death liability?
 

[ QUOTE ]
two news helicopters crashed into each other in phoenix that were covering a police chase. four men died, two pilots, a photographer, and a photojournalist.

apparently:
[ QUOTE ]
The police chief said the suspect will likely face criminal charges for the deaths in the helicopter crash.

[/ QUOTE ]

do you feel that the suspect is liable for the deaths and should face serious criminal charges?

is this even a bit ambiguous or am i way off here?

[/ QUOTE ]

Link to the article?
This is analogous to a common case (People v. Acosta) discussed in criminal law classes.

The difference between this case and Acosta is that news helicopters have no duty to pursue a fleeing criminal (is that the case? Can news teams be drafted to support a police chase if no police helicopters are in the area?).
If there is no duty to pursue, the voluntary actions of the helicopter pilots destroy the causal chain started by the fleeing criminal, so he should not be liable for their deaths.

Re: phoenix helicopter crash - death liability?
 

It's not as obvious as everyone thinks. I don't know about specifically Arizona law, but it's generally a felony murder if someone is foreseeably killed during the commission of a dangerous felony (like carjacking). If someone else on the road was killed in an accident caused by the chase, it would be a clear murder. I'd say it's unforeseeable, but I can see the other argument. A high-speed car chase will predictably attract multiple news helicopters, and they'll be buzzing around without direct air-traffic control trying to get good shots. (Some states also require that the victim be actually killed by the defendant or an accomplice, which is not the case here. Dunno if AZ is such a state.)

Re: phoenix helicopter crash - death liability?
 

how big of a difference is it if it were two police helicopters that crashed into each other, as opposed to two news helicopters?

also, is there any liability on the estate of Pilot A for the death of journalist A?