Barry Justin Levenson v. Commonwealth of Virginia
68 Va. App. 255
| Va. Ct. App. | 2017Background
- Early morning May 9, 2015: Levenson, intoxicated and speeding, rear-ends a stopped dump truck in a construction zone; both he and passenger Devon Martin are injured.
- Martin transported to hospital with splenic injury and an arterial blood clot risking leg ischemia; doctors advised heparin and stent to save the leg, acknowledging heparin risked life-threatening splenic bleeding.
- A three-doctor trauma team planned to manage potential splenic bleeding if it occurred; alternatives (amputation or stenting without heparin) were considered medically inadvisable.
- Martin, lucid and competent, consented to heparin and stent; after heparin was given, an undetected brain bleed occurred and Martin died.
- Levenson convicted of aggravated involuntary manslaughter; on appeal he argued Martin’s voluntary consent to treatment (heparin) was a superseding intervening cause insulating him from liability.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Martin’s consent to heparin/stent was a superseding cause breaking the causal chain | Levenson: Martin’s informed choice to accept a discretionary, risky treatment was the intervening cause of death | Commonwealth: Medical treatment was a foreseeable consequence of the crash and part of the causal chain set in motion by Levenson | The court held the medical treatment was not a superseding cause; Levenson’s conduct proximately caused death |
| Whether an intervening medical act by the victim (consent) relieves defendant of criminal liability | Levenson: Victim’s voluntary decision started the fatal causal chain | Commonwealth: An intervening act does not supersede when it was put into operation by defendant’s wrongful act and was a probable consequence | Court rejected Levenson’s argument; chain remained unbroken |
Key Cases Cited
- Brown v. Commonwealth, 278 Va. 523 (establishes proximate-cause test and that criminal liability persists unless chain broken by superseding cause)
- Jenkins v. Commonwealth, 255 Va. 516 (medical consequences set in motion by defendant keep defendant liable for resulting death)
- Hawkins v. Commonwealth, 64 Va. App. 650 (surgery as foreseeable consequence does not break causal chain)
- Dorman v. State Indus., 292 Va. 111 (intervening negligence must wholly supersede defendant’s negligence to relieve liability)
- Gallimore v. Commonwealth, 246 Va. 441 (intervening acts put into operation by defendant’s initial act do not absolve liability)
- Smith v. Kim, 277 Va. 486 (aggravation from medical treatment chosen with ordinary care is treated as direct consequence of original injury)
- Wilkins v. Commonwealth, 292 Va. 2 (appellate review standard: factual causation questions for jury unless reasonable minds could not differ)