Voluntary Manslaughter and Involuntary Manslaughter Charges in Iowa

Iowa law defines the crime of voluntary manslaughter in Iowa Code sections 707.4 and involuntary manslaughter in 704.5 as an offense committed when a death of a person results, under certain circumstances.

Voluntary Manslaughter in Iowa

A person commits voluntary manslaughter when that person causes the death of another person, under circumstances which would otherwise be murder, if the person causing the death acts solely as the result of sudden, violent, and irresistible passion resulting from serious provocation sufficient to excite such passion in a person and there is not an interval between the provocation and the killing in which a person of ordinary reason and temperament would regain control and suppress the impulse to kill.

Voluntary manslaughter is a class C felony, which carries a prison term of 10 years under Iowa law. A person convicted of voluntary manslaughter may also be required to register as a sex offender, depending upon the circumstances of their case.

Involuntary Manslaughter in Iowa

A person commits a class D felony when the person unintentionally causes the death of another person by the commission of a public offense other than a forcible felony or escape. The D felony version of involuntary manslaughter in Iowa carries a prison sentence of 5 years as its maximum punishment.

A person commits an aggravated misdemeanor when the person unintentionally causes the death of another person by the commission of an act in a manner likely to cause death or serious injury. This version of involuntary manslaughter in Iowa can result in a prison sentence of 2 years.

Those convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Iowa may be required to register as a sex offender, depending upon the factual circumstances surrounding the conviction.