You asked for information about “one punch” homicide laws.

We could not find laws in any state referred to as “one punch” homicide laws. We did find such a law adopted in 2008 in the Australian state of Western Australia. This law, which advocates stated would deal with “one punch” deaths, creates a crime of unlawful assault causing death. This crime punishes unlawfully assaulting someone who dies as a direct or indirect result of the assault with up to 10 years in prison. The law makes someone criminally responsible for this crime even if (1) he or she does not intend or foresee the other person's death and (2) the death was not reasonably foreseeable.

A press release states that this provision addresses cases where someone died after being punched. Western Australia Attorney General Jim McGinty stated that some offenders were acquitted on manslaughter charges and faced no convictions or convictions of lesser crimes. These cases usually involved a victim who was punched, fell and hit his or her head, and later died from the injuries. The criminal code did not make someone responsible for an act or omission that occurred by accident and an incident was considered an accident if it was not intended, not foreseen, and not reasonably foreseeable (“New Laws to Deal With 'One Punch' Deaths,” Government Media Office, Ministerial Media Statements, March 15, 2008).

The new law was developed after the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia made recommendations to the government (“Campaign to Warn on New 'One Punch' Laws,” The West Australian, August 3, 2008). It also reformed other murder laws and defenses.

CR: df