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Appeals court weighs whether blinding sunlight can be intervening cause in motor-vehicle homicide
Summary
In Commonwealth v. Todd J. Maderos the court heard dispute over whether a sudden blinding of the driver by sunlight after the driver began a turn can constitute an intervening and superseding cause that negates criminal liability for a resulting death; advocates and justices debated foreseeability and jury allocation of the issue.
The Appeals Court heard argument April 3 in Commonwealth v. Todd J. Maderos (2024-P0431) over whether blinding sunlight that suddenly impaired the defendant after he began to turn can be an intervening and superseding cause that negates criminal liability for a motor-vehicle homicide.
Defense counsel Devon Hincapie framed the central legal question succinctly: “whether, as a matter of law, blinding sunlight can never be an intervening and superseding cause in a motor vehicle homicide case” or whether it may be a jury question. Hincapie pointed to Massachusetts precedent allowing juries…
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