United States v. Pritchard
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
964 F.3d 513 (2020)
- Written by Robert Cane, JD
Facts
Steve Pritchard (defendant) was an arsonist who repeatedly committed insurance fraud. In June 2011, Pritchard started a fire that led to the death of a firefighter, Charles Sparks. Sparks suffered a fatal heart attack while responding to the fire started by Pritchard. Sparks had a history of heart disease and did not strictly adhere to instructions regarding the use of his prescription medication. Pritchard was charged with arson causing death. At trial, the government (plaintiff) introduced evidence that firefighting strains the heart, which might potentially cause a heart attack. The jury convicted Pritchard of arson causing death. Pritchard was sentenced to 360 months in prison. Pritchard appealed his conviction and sentence, arguing that the proximate-cause element was not satisfied because Sparks’s heart attack was not foreseeable and that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Nalbandian, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.