Boxing / MMA / Etc. and manslaughter

[Mad.Hatter]

Can anyone point me to legal precedence or case law where combatants in violent and potentially fatal sports are exempt from prosecution in the event of a death?

I'm curious how this can happen and no charges are filed. A simple waiver or consent form, I don't care how long, cannot be all there is to granting amnesty in such sports. If this were so, 'death with dignity' and those medical professionals prosecuted for such 'crimes' would never have grabbed headlines throughout the years.

 

[Guillotine]

Can anyone point me to legal precedence or case law where combatants in violent and potentially fatal sports are exempt from prosecution in the event of a death?

I'm curious how this can happen and no charges are filed. A simple waiver or consent form, I don't care how long, cannot be all there is to granting amnesty in such sports. If this were so, 'death with dignity' and those medical professionals prosecuted for such 'crimes' would never have grabbed headlines throughout the years.

Don't have cases handy, but the general legal theory is that if participants *voluntarily* participate in an activity that can cause injury, including death, and injury/death occurs in the ordinary course of the activity (ie nothing special or out of norm happened), then the law says everyone involved assumed the risks knowingly, so the dead guy actively participated in his own death.

 

[WaterTurkey]

And yet if a person voluntarily wants to die outside of a sporting event, and they are obliged, the perpetrator faces charges.

 

[Guillotine]

And yet if a person voluntarily wants to die outside of a sporting event, and they are obliged, the perpetrator faces charges.

Yes, because sporting events aren't designed with death as the outcome. It's a possibility, but not the endgame.

 

[charles bronson]

some instances, charges have been filed..

punitive charges brought against promoters, sanctioning bodies and staff

guys losing their promoters licenses, sanctioning bodies being fined..

wrongful death suits pushed through court that have ruined people.

its rare, but does happen.

its all about the money, even in the cases where incompetence has been fucking outrageous

 

[Mad.Hatter]

And yet if a person voluntarily wants to die outside of a sporting event, and they are obliged, the perpetrator faces charges.

Another instance is someone stone cold sober accidentally killing someone in a motor vehicle. It's still involuntary manslaughter or vehicular homicide/manslaughter depending on your state. Not always imprisonable but a criminal conviction nonetheless

Punitive damages and license revocation are civil matters. I'm after the criminal aspect of things