California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Jacks, A126870 (Cal. App. 2011):
manslaughter. (People v. Bloom, supra, 142 Cal.App.3d at p. 322.) In that case, the accident occurred when defendant, who was intoxicated, swerved to avoid a rear-end collision, lost control, crossed over the center line and collided head-on with the victim's car. The court observed that all victims of vehicular manslaughter were necessarily vulnerable victims. "There are few individuals as 'defenseless, unguarded, unprotected, accessible, assailable and susceptible' as those who have the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time when a drunk driver takes to the road." (Ibid.) The court concluded however, that "it is precisely because they are all vulnerable that [this victim] cannot be considered to be vulnerable 'in a special or unusual degree, to an extent greater than in other cases.' [Citation.] While we can visualize extraordinary situations in which a drunk driving victim might be considered to be 'particularly vulnerable,' such a situation is not present here, and therefore the court erred in applying [this circumstance in aggravation] to this case." (Ibid.)
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