Posted: May 19th, 2017

Harold Pew has lived his entire life in Hawaii. Last winter, during his first visit to a cold weather climate, he rented a van. The morning after his arrival, Pew drove the van onto the Interstate not realizing that a dangerous layer of snow and ice had accumulated on the van roof overnight. As the van warmed up and the roof ice started to melt, a large chunk blew off and hit the car behind. The driver of the other car lost control and fatally injured a pedestrian. In considering whether Pew was criminally negligent [MPC]

Harold Pew has lived his entire life in Hawaii. Last winter, during his first visit to a cold weather climate, he rented a van. The morning after his arrival, Pew drove the van onto the Interstate not realizing that a dangerous layer of snow and ice had accumulated on the van roof overnight. As the van warmed up and the roof ice started to melt, a large chunk blew off and hit the car behind. The driver of the other car lost control and fatally injured a pedestrian. In considering whether Pew was criminally negligent [MPC]: a. The jury should decide whether the risk that Pew failed to perceive was one that a reasonable person would have perceived considering the circumstances known to Pew. b. The jury should determine which of the circumstances Pew should have known if he had been acting as a reasonable person. c. Both of the above. d. None of the above. What Pew knew or didn’t know is beside the point since he is not charged with a crime that has a mens rea of “knowingly.”