People v. Beardsley 150 Mich. 206, 113 N.W. 1128 (1907) is a well-known case that illustrates the parameters around the legal necessity of a duty to act, and the criminal liability of failure to act when there is an obligation to provide reasonable assistance. In Jones v. United States 308 F.2s 307 (D.C. Cir. 1962) the categories falling under this legal duty were set forth. They include duties based on statute

Statute

A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...

, duties based on contract

Contract

A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...

, duties based on the voluntary assuming of responsibility as for the care of a child, and duties based on legal relationships, such as between parent and child or husband and a wife.

Circumstances

Beardsley, his wife being out of town, invited a woman, Blanche Burns, to spend the weekend with him in his living quarters. He had an ongoing relationship with Burns and had met with her previously. During this time together, the two of them drank fairly steadily. Without Beardsley's knowledge, Burns also took some morphine

Morphine

Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...

. Near the time of the expected return of his wife, Beardsley asked a friend to help him carry her to a room of a friend in the basement of Beardsley's house, even though she was in a stupor, and asked the friend to watch out for her and let her out the back way when she was ready, as he was too intoxicated to be of help. Burns died a few hours later.

Beardsley was tried for manslaughter

Manslaughter

Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...

 for failure in his duty to act to provide reasonable care to Burns. The prosecutor argued that Beardsley at the time was Burns' natural guardian and had a clear duty to protect her. The defense argued that no such legal duty is created by a moral obligation. None of the categories of legal duty fit the case. The fact that Burns was a woman does not create that same legal duty as a husband has toward a wife or a parent to a child, as the prosecutor sought to infer. Nevertheless, Beardsley was convicted of manslaughter.

Appeal

Beardsley appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court of Michigan and his conviction was reversed. The court found it "repugnant to our moral sense" that a duty would be created because Burns was a woman, as no such moral or legal duty would be implied if she had been a man.

External links

• People v. Beardsley - Analysis and notes