## Facts

- John Fitzgerald worked as a bartender in a bar where two pistols hung behind the counter.
- William Case entered the bar and remarked about the pistols.
- Fitzgerald took down one pistol; it discharged and killed Case.
- The State argued Fitzgerald acted from jealousy and either intentionally shot Case or unlawfully aimed the pistol at Case and it discharged.
- Fitzgerald claimed he and Case were friends and that he was handing the pistol to Case when it accidentally fired without him pulling the trigger.
- Fitzgerald was indicted on alternative theories: first-degree murder (intentional killing) and involuntary manslaughter (unlawfully aiming the pistol, with accidental discharge).
- The jury acquitted Fitzgerald of first-degree murder and convicted him of involuntary manslaughter.

## Issues

1. Whether the trial court erred by instructing the jury that involuntary manslaughter may be found when a death results from a lawful act performed in a careless or negligent manner.
2. Whether, under Alabama law, ordinary negligence in performing a lawful act is sufficient to support involuntary manslaughter when death results.

## Decision

- The Alabama Supreme Court affirmed the conviction.
- The court held it was proper to instruct that involuntary manslaughter may be based on:
  - an unlawful act that unintentionally causes death, or
  - a lawful act performed in a careless or negligent manner that proximately causes death.
- The court approved submitting to the jury both the unlawful-act theory (illegal aiming) and the negligent lawful-act theory (careless handling while handing the pistol).

## Legal Principles

- Involuntary manslaughter may be established when an unintentional killing results from either:
  - the commission of an unlawful act, or
  - the negligent performance of a lawful act, where the negligence is sufficiently blameworthy and causes death.
- In firearm-death cases, the jury may determine whether the defendant’s handling was merely accidental (no crime) or sufficiently careless/negligent to impose criminal liability.
- Proximate causation between the defendant’s act (unlawful or negligent) and the death is required.

## Conclusion

The court upheld an involuntary manslaughter conviction where the jury was instructed that an unintentional killing may be punished when it results from either an unlawful act or a lawful act carried out with culpable carelessness or negligence that causes death.


Fitzgerald v. State, 20 So. 966 (Ala. 1896)