State v. Jacobsen

A jury found the defendant guilty of negligent homicide. A new trial was granted on the ground of improper argument of the prosecutor. The state has appealed from that order.

The death which gave rise to the prosecution occurred in an intersection collision in which the defendant was the favored driver. There was evidence that he was exceeding the speed limit and that the driver of the vehicle in which the deceased was a passenger failed to yield the right of way.

In instructing the jury, the court defined proximate cause as follows: “The term ‘proximate cause’ means that cause which, in a…