People v. Stewart

The defendant was charged with stabbing and killing Daniel Smith. There is no doubt that the defendant stabbed Smith and that Smith later died at a hospital. However at trial one of the principal issues was whether the stab wound caused the death, or whether death was caused solely by medical malpractice at the hospital or by other intervening effective medical cause. The jury after being charged to consider several alternative counts of assault and homicide found the defendant guilty of manslaughter in the first degree. On this appeal the defendant urges that the evidence was only sufficient…