The Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law
Chapter 8: What Have You Done?
Page 7: Cause In Fact and Proximate Cause
No matter how convoluted the facts may be, all you’re looking for is whether the harm would have happened anyway,
and how closely related the act is to the harm.
Joe explaining
JOE
Or CAUSE IN FACT and PROXIMATE CAUSE, respectively.
If Simon wouldn’t have been hurt “but for” Joe’s making faces at the pigeon, then Joe’s act was a CAUSE IN FACT of the harm.
But PROXIMATE CAUSE has to do with how likely it was that the act would have caused that harm—how predictable it was.
Joe explaining
JOE
That one is more of a gut feeling than a logical analysis.
