In U.S v Henderson (23 M.J 77) Henderson, Specialist Four, is being accused of involuntary manslaughter for the death of fellow specialist four Myers Hickman. Henderson is being accused of providing Hickman with the deadly dose of cocaine that ended Hickman's life on or around the night of June 16^th, 1981.  It was noted that Henderson often supplied cocaine to his enlisted friends that includes Hickman. The day before Hickman passed it was said that Hickman stated he ran into a lot of cocaine and was going to attend a party that night. A colleague of Hickman stated that Hickman injected cocaine that was available to him and had an almost accidental overdose. The night of the death Henderson and Hickman were seen together in the barracks. It is not known who injected the lethal dose of cocaine to kill Hickman, but Henderson did state when Hickman started to overdose, he cared him out to the lanai.

  Defense can argue that Samantha should not be arrested or charged on account of Timothy's death as Samantha did not force Timothy to consume the pills. Timothy consumed the ecstasy pills on his own will understanding the consequences of the drugs. Just like in the case U.S v Henderson (23 M.J 77) Timothy was also a provider of drugs, taking a large number of drugs on his own before and without Samantha, just like how Hickman provided his own cocaine that could have been the lethal batch. Samantha should not be held responsible for the choices that Timothy made to consume the drugs that fatally killed him.

     - reply to the above argument. 

     - Your goal is to argue that Samantha owed a duty to Timothy and because of that duty, she is most likely criminally liable for his death.

• Relying on a criminal case from your home state (Florida), draft the legal analysis for your counterargument.
• Find weaknesses, flaws, or lack of applicability in the case law cited by the defense to your case.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

The defenses argument that Samantha should not be held responsible for Timothys death because he consumed the ecstasy pills on his own will and unders... View the full answer