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Koppersmith and his wife were arguing in the
yard outside of their residence. Cindy tried to enter the house to
end the argument, but Koppersmith prevented her from going inside. A
physical confrontation ensued, and Cindy fell off of a porch into
the yard. She died as a result of a skull fracture to the back of
her head.
In a statement he made to law enforcement officials after the
incident, Koppersmith gave the following summary of the events
leading up to Cindy's death. He and Cindy had been arguing and were
on a porch outside of their residence. Cindy had wanted to go inside
the house, but he had wanted to resolve the argument first. Cindy
had tried to go into the house two or three times, but he had
stopped her from doing so. As she tried to go inside, he stepped in
front of her and pushed her back. Cindy punched at him, and he
grabbed her. When Cindy tried to go inside again, he wrapped his
arms around her from behind to stop her. Cindy bit him on the arm,
and he “slung” her and she fell to the ground. . He jumped off of
the porch and straddled her, grabbing her by the shoulders, shaking
her and telling her to calm down. When he realized she was not
moving, he lifted her head and noticed blood all over his hands.
He rolled her over and found a brick covered with blood under her
head. Koppersmith stated that, although Cindy fell near a flowerbed,
he did not know there were bricks in the grass. He stated that he
did not intend to throw her onto a brick or harm her in any way when
he “slung” her, and that he did not intend to hit her head on a
brick or otherwise harm her when he grabbed and shook her after she
had fallen
The medical examiner, Dr. Gregory Wanger, indicated that the pattern
on the injury to the victim's skull matched the pattern on one of
the bricks found at the scene. He concluded that her injuries could
have been caused by her falling off of the porch and hitting her
head on a brick or from her head being slammed into a brick. Should
the prosecutor charge Koppersmith with “criminally negiglent
homicide”, “reckless mansalughter” or “intentional murder”? Why? |
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