We Are At Fault for Helicopter Pilots' Deaths

A man fled from police.  Two helicopter pilots followed with camera crews.  After disobeying numerous federal safety laws, they crashed.  As one would expect to happen, prosecutors intend to charge the fugitive with the murder:

[P]olice officials intend to push the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to file homicide charges against Christopher Jones, 23, who is accused of leading the police chase that the television news crews were following when their helicopters crashed.

Jones was booked Saturday on four counts of aggravated assault, two counts of vehicle theft and resisting arrest. No other charges were filed, but under Arizona law he could face homicide charges if prosecutors can show that his actions directly led to the crash that killed the four newsmen.

“This is going to be a tough one,” said former Maricopa County Attorney Richard Romley. “If it were up to me, I would do everything in my power, but this is going to be very hard to prove.”

This case raises an interesting issue of causation: When someone voluntarily follows a known danger, and then acts negligently, can he blame someone else for his (self-imposed) harm?  While we are talking causation: Who is responsible for the pilots' deaths? 

We are.

We Americans sit on our couches eating Oreos and watching television news - looking for some sensation to awaken us from our lives of quiet desperation.  "Oooh, a car chase.  Now this is news!"  My local television station seems to have a "stop everything" policy when a car chase ensues.  The War in Iraq?  Scratch the coverage.  The massacre in Darfur?  Who cares -- We have a car chase to cover!

We create the demand for such "news."  If we demanded actual reporting instead of tabloid journalism, then we would get actual reporting.  But since we demand junk food for our minds, it's junk food we get.

It's not the fugitive who is responsible for the pilots' deaths.  It's us lazy Americans who seem to live such pitiful and uninspired lives that we have nothing better to do than watch car chases on television.

UPDATE: Similar thoughts here.

Comments

[Norm Pattis]

What a stupid prosecution theory. It is not even felony murder. This should be resolved with a motion to dismiss if the state charges murder.