CRIMINAL LAW:

Latrece Jones, age 18 was riding in the front passenger seat of a rented Chevy Cavalier in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her 2 year old son Carlon Bowens Jr., was asleep in her lap. Carlon's aunt, Letitia Abernathy, had rented and was driving the rental car; five children and one adult sat in the back seat. A car failed to yield the right of way, causing an accident. The accident was not severe, but caused the passenger-side air bag to deploy. The air bag struck Ms. Jones's son and broke his neck, killing him. No one else in the car was seriously injured. The five children in the backseat were aged 7, 6, 5, 4 years old and 9 months. Ms. Abernathy, who operated a day care center, testified that she had rented the Chevy because her car was being repaired. She stated that she normally had car seats for the children's but that she did not use them that day because there was no room in the Chevy.

Jones was charged with criminally negligent homicide. The driver, Ms. Abernathy, pled guilty to reckless endangerment and violation of the child restraint law. At the time of the accident, Tennessee's child restraint law required children under 4 years old to be in a "child passenger restraint system meeting federal motor vehicle standards." The statute only applies to drivers, providing any person transporting a child...is responsible for...properly using a child passenger restraint." A warning on the visor on the passenger's side of the front seat warned that children under 12 can be killed by air bags and should ride in the backseat. A warning label affixed to the seatbelt stated that "never put a child in a rear facing child restraint in the front seat of this vehicle. Secure a rear-facing child restraint in the rear seat." There was evidence that on giving birth, a mother in Tennessee was given a pamphlet that warned "never hold a child in your lap while riding in either the front of back seat." There also was evidence that a widespread media campaign in the past year had been directed at the need to use child restraints and on the danger posed by air bags. This campaign in the past year had been directed at the need to use child restraints and on the danger posed by air bags. This campaign, in part, was a recognition that it was only in 1999 that all automobiles were required to have airbags and that parents were not aware of the danger posed by airbags. A newspaper study 12 days prior to the accident indicated that only 60% of children observed in motor vehicles were restrained and that a number of children were sitting in the front seat. The Tennessee Supreme Court stated that the prosecution was required to establish the following: (1) whether a substantial and unjustifiable risk existed at the time of the conduct or resulting from the conduct: (2) whether, using a subjective standard, the defendant failed at the time of the conduct to perceive the risk; and (3) whether that failure a gross deviation from the standard of care of an ordinary person under the circumstances.

Was Jones guilty of negligent homicide?