Misadventure

Is the killing a man, partly by negligence and partly by chance. Britton distinguishes between adventure and misadventure. The first he makes to be mere chance, as if a man, being upon or near the water, be taken with some sudden sickness, and so fall in, and is drowned; or into the fire, and is burnt. Misadventure, he says, is where a person comes to his death by some outward violence, as the fall of a tree, the running of a cart-wheel, stroke of a horse, or such like. Staundford construes misadventure more largely than Britton understands it, and says it is where one, thinking no harm, carelessly throws a stone, wherewith he kills another, &c. West defines misadventure to be when a man is slain by mere fortune, against the mind of the killer; and he calls it homicide by chance mixed when the killer's ignorance or negligence is joined with the chance. Jacob. Misadventure is an unfortunate mischance arising out of a lawful act. It is a word generally used with reference to accidental homicide. (4 Bl. Com. 182, 183; 4 Steph. Com. 52.) A different definition is given in the Termes de la Ley and Cowel, whereby it would appear that misadventure is equivalent to homicide partly by negligence and partly by chance. This is equivalent to homicide by negligence simply; for negligence implies the absence of intention, and chance implies no more. Mozley & W.