''Stephenson v. State'',

Indiana Supreme Court The Indiana Supreme Court, established by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution, is the highest judicial authority in the state of Indiana. Located in Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis, the Court's chambers are in the north wing of the Indiana ...

, 179 N.E. 633 (Ind. 1932), is a criminal case involving causation in criminal law, significant for its political and legal consequences.Criminal Law Cases and Materials, 7th ed. 2012, John Kaplan, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder In 1925, David Curtiss Stephenson, leader of the

Ku Klux Klan in Indiana Ku, KU, or Kū may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Ku (fictional language), a constructed language created for the 2005 film The Interpreter * Esther Ku, a Korean-American comedian * Kumi Koda, Japanese pop star nicknamed Ku or Kuu * In an al ...

abducted

Madge Oberholtzer Madge Augustine Oberholtzer (November 10, 1896 – April 14, 1925) was a white American woman whose rape and murder played a critical role in the demise of the second incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan. In March 1925, while working for the state ...

, injured her, and repeatedly raped her. She ingested poison and later died. Publicity for the case may have reversed ascendency of the Klan nationally. The case is legally significant in that it found "if a defendant engaged in the commission of a felony such as rape... inflicts upon his victim both physical and mental injuries, the natural and probable result of which would render the deceased mentally irresponsible and suicide followed, we think he would be guilty of murder".

References

Indiana state case law U.S. state criminal case law 1932 in Indiana Murder in Indiana Ku Klux Klan in Indiana 20th-century American trials Suicide in the United States 1932 in United States case law Murder trials in the United States Trials in Indiana United States murder case law {{US-case-law-stub