Originally Posted by
BehindBlueI's
Which leads to:
Legally, it doesn't matter. We will occasionally get notified of a death many years afterward and change the status to homicide. (Could be murder, could be justified, etc but that's based on intent, etc and not the time that's passed). For example, victim of a robbery catches a bullet near the spine. Over the years they survive multiple surgeries but eventually they die from infection and complications of paralysis from the bullet. How long it took them to die doesn't change the fact they wouldn't have died in that manner had it not been for the original act of them being shot. Civil liability wise, it matters. The doctor who is negligent can still be sued, for example, but that doesn't let the original criminal suspect off the hook in any way.