Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

Re: Involuntary Manslaughter

Well, first, a technicality. You can be CHARGED with anything, even if falsely accused or even if the charges are absurd. That is an important point, because you may face prosecution, for real, regardless of whether you are likely to win or lose in the end. So you can, seriously, have to go through the entire process of being prosecuted regardless of whether you deserve to be prosecuted. So of course you could be charged, because you could be charged with anything.

In your question, yes, I think that one could be charged, and convicted, for involuntary manslaughter. Remember that the charge is "involuntary" meaning that it was not intentional, but death resulted.

The critical question, I think, is whether a reasonable person would be required to LOOK before backing up. I can understand why most people would not expect anything to be behind their car, and if you looked in the rear view mirror you would not see anything.

Therefore, the critical question is whether a jury would accept or reject the prosecutor's claim that it was criminally negligent to back up without looking first. What makes your question difficult is that if you looked in the rear-view mirrors or turned around and looked through the rear window, you would not see anything. That makes it a tough call.

To defend against such a charge, one would expect to be found guilty if charged in general district court, and then appeal the case and demand a jury. And definitely get an attorney.