Flashcards Studio

During a street altercation, D stabs E with a blunt object, causing life‑threatening abdominal injuries. E is rushed to City General Hospital for emergency surgery. While under treatment, a hospital employee mistakenly administers an incompatible blood transfusion due to labeling error, causing fatal anaphylactic shock. (a) Identify the proximate cause doctrine governing criminal liability for death in this scenario. (b) Distinguish the proximate cause rule from the simple 'but-for' test, and explain how foreseeability and intervening causes affect the chain of causation. (c) Apply the doctrine to determine whether D is criminally liable for E’s death, and state your conclusion.