Thomas DiNapoli was high on cocaine when he crashed his Mazda into a Chevrolet traveling in the opposite direction. One of the passengers in the Chevrolet was 94-year-old Michelina Mele.
Because of her underlying health, her injuries, and her advance directive; Mele's family directed that she be placed on comfort care. Mele died the next day. DiNapoli was charged with vehicular homicide.
Like scores of criminal defendants before him, DiNapoli argues that he did not "cause" Mele's death. Instead, she died from the removal of life support, not from the crash. This week, the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division noted that New Jersey precedent holds life support decisions do not break the chain of causation.
Nevertheless, DiNapoli's experts suggest these were no ordinary comfort measures and DNR order. They were misplaced and based on erroneous information. But even malpractice is (unfortunately) foreseeable such that even if proven would not make the intervening cause into a superseding cause that breaks the chain of causation between DiNapoli's crash and Mele's death.
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