Also known as: unconscious · unconsciously
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A physiological state in which a person lacks awareness and voluntary control over bodily movements. Bodily movements occurring during this state do not qualify as voluntary acts that can support criminal liability. The same state prevents effective consent to medical treatment or sexual contact.
Ulf Ulfsson, a city bus driver, suddenly blacks out from an undiagnosed diabetic episode while behind the wheel. The bus veers onto the sidewalk and strikes pedestrians. Prosecutors charge him with reckless driving causing injury. Because the steering movements occurred while Ulf was unconscious, they do not constitute a voluntary act and the charge fails.
Ugo Ucelli is struck by a train and arrives at the hospital unconscious. The resident physician amputates his leg to save his life before he regains consciousness. Ugo later sues for battery. The physician is not liable because the operation occurred while Ugo lacked capacity to consent and the circumstances created an independent privilege.
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Ulysses Ulrich meets Ulrike Ulrich at a party and later finds her unconscious from alcohol in a bedroom. He engages in sexual intercourse with her. Ulrike reports the encounter the next day. Ulysses is guilty of rape under the Model Penal Code because the victim was unconscious at the time of the act.
Uriel Urban's family petitions to discontinue artificial nutrition for Uriel, who has been in a permanent vegetative state for years and is completely unconscious. The state requires clear and convincing evidence of the patient's wishes. The court denies the petition because the evidence of prior statements falls short of that standard.
Ulric Unger, suffering from terminal cancer and severe pain, receives medication from his physician that will eventually render him unconscious and hasten death. The state statute prohibits physician-assisted suicide. The Court upholds the statute because the state's interests in protecting vulnerable patients outweigh any claimed liberty interest in hastening death through such means.
Ulrike Ulrich is charged with homicide after shooting another person during an altercation. She claims she was unconscious from a prior abdominal wound and therefore not responsible. The government is not required to disprove unconsciousness. The defendant bears the burden of establishing the defense by a preponderance of the evidence.
No. Criminal liability requires conduct that includes a voluntary act. Bodily movements that occur while a person is unconscious are not voluntary acts because they are not the product of conscious effort or determination.
Yes. Liability may rest on an earlier voluntary act, such as choosing to drive while exhausted and then falling asleep, even though the collision occurs while the defendant is unconscious. The law requires only that the proscribed harm be traceable to at least one voluntary act.
No. Reflexes, convulsions, and movements during sleep are also treated as involuntary. Any of these conditions can prevent the movement from satisfying the voluntary-act requirement for criminal liability.
Yes. A male who has sexual intercourse with a female not his wife commits rape if the female is unconscious, regardless of whether force or intoxicants were used.
…no legal barriers to obtaining medication, from qualified physicians, to alleviate that suffering, even to the point of causing unconsciousness and hastening death. In this light, even assuming that we would recognize such an interest, I agree that the State's interests in protecting those who are not truly competent or facing…