Who killed Captain Stacy?

[cyberghostface]

So there was a certain scene in A+X #11 that caught my attention...



Was it really Otto's fault? Let's see.

From Amazing Spider-Man #90...












So basically Spider-Man deliberately causes Dr. Octopus to lose control of his tentacles... the tentacles attack him and knock over debris, killing Captain Stacy... and Otto is the one to blame?

Comments

[auggie18]

If you cut the brakes in a criminal's car and then the criminal ran somebody over because he couldn't brake, then it would be your fault.

Spider-Man made sure Otto couldn't control his tentacles. Otto's out of control tentacles lead to the death of Captain Stacy.

I think you could probably get away with charging Spidey for criminally negligent homicide.

[sadoeuphemist]

The equivalent here is if the criminal is attacking you, trying to hit you with his car, so you shoot out a tire or something so he loses control, and he smashes into someone. The criminal is still to blame for driving around trying to hit people in the first place.

[auggie18]

That doesn't change the fact that you would still be responsible for the pedestrian's death. The criminal is to blame for trying to kill you (attempted murder on you, manslaughter on the person he ran over) but you are also responsible for the person he killed. (Criminally negligent homicide, particularly given the fact that you aren't acting in any official peacekeeping capacity.)


Spider-Man is still at fault here. Maybe not to the degree that Otto is, but in a more real world situation it'd be hard to imagine he wouldn't see at least a little jail time. (Or possibly a suspended sentence.)