Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-27404492-20170417075739/@comment-26397825-20170506061148

Double Posting because I think you might be writing a response to that post and I want to make sure this is not missed:

Here, a legal definition of Manslaughter.

Notable exerpts are as such:

 Under the Voluntary Manslaughter heading:  The most common type of voluntary manslaughter occurs  when a defendant is provoked  to commit the Homicide. It is sometimes described as a heat of passion killing. In most cases, the provocation must  induce rage or anger  in the defendant, although some cases have held that fright, terror, or desperation will suffice.

Generally there are four conditions that must be fulfilled to warrant the reduction: (1) the provocation must cause rage or fear in a reasonable person; (2) the defendant must have actually been provoked; (3) there should not be a time period between the provocation and the killing within which a reasonable person would cool off; and (4) the defendant should not have cooled off during that period.

The reasonable person standard is generally applied in a purely objective manner. Unusual mental or physical characteristics are not taken into consideration. The fact that a defendant was more susceptible to provocation than an average person because he or she had a previous head injury is not relevant to a determination of whether the person's conduct was reasonable.

 And from the Involuntary Manslaughter section:  Involuntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of another human being without intent. The absence of the intent element is the essential difference between voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. Also in most states, involuntary manslaughter does not result from a heat of passion but from  an improper use of reasonable care or skill  while in the commission of a lawful act or while in the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony.

Generally there are two types of involuntary manslaughter: (1) criminal-negligence manslaughter; and (2) unlawful-act manslaughter. The first occurs when death results from a  high degree of Negligence or recklessness, and the second occurs when death is caused by one who commits or attempts to commit an unlawful act, usually a misdemeanor.

 So you see, Weiss fits the rage-induced type of the voluntary manslaughter, being as she was provoked by the Trophy Wife's words, and the first of the involuntary manslaughter, being as she was extremely reckless.

 The reasonable person standard is applied objectively, and mental or physical characteristics are not taken into consideration. So the courts would not look at her PTSD except as a reason for her not to have been at the party in the first place; in the eyes of the courts, it should have been used to send her away from the party early as a prevention, not an excuse after the deed.