Posted: May 19th, 2017

The Larimore Hospital had just run short of respirators when a brilliant young scientist, the father of three small children, was brought in from a serious traffic accident. It looked like “curtains” for the scientist. However, the hospital administrator personally went into the ICU and unhooked a respirator from a junkie who was there on a drug overdose. After the junkie stopped breathing, the administrator notified the medical staff that the machine was available and, happily, the scientist was saved. On the theory that the junkie would have otherwise survived, the administrator is being prosecuted for murder

The Larimore Hospital had just run short of respirators when a brilliant young scientist, the father of three small children, was brought in from a serious traffic accident. It looked like “curtains” for the scientist. However, the hospital administrator personally went into the ICU and unhooked a respirator from a junkie who was there on a drug overdose. After the junkie stopped breathing, the administrator notified the medical staff that the machine was available and, happily, the scientist was saved. On the theory that the junkie would have otherwise survived, the administrator is being prosecuted for murder: a. As a matter of traditional common law, there is no reason why the necessity defense would be unavailable if the scientist’s condition was truly dire and there were no other alternatives to save him. b. As a matter of traditional common law, the courts would generally weigh whose life was more valuable, the scientist’s or the junkie’s, and rule accordingly. c. Under the Model Penal Code, the necessity defense would not be available for the simple reason that necessity is specifically excluded as a defense to homicide. d. None of the above