causal nexus

“Although the Court credits Mr. Meadows’s theory that the Chief of Staff is responsible for acting as the President’s gatekeeper, that conclusion does not create a causal nexus between Mr. Meadows’s official authority and the charged conduct,” Tuchi wrote in the 15-page ruling.

But the judge said he could not take that abuse into account in determining the right sentence because Arizona law allowed consideration of mitigating evidence only if it had a “causal nexus” to the crime.

The public summary of a confidential report released this week by the Department of Behavioral Health said “any attempt to establish a causal nexus” between its actions and the death of Bhutto “would require undue speculation.”

As a result, the summary said, “the Department determined that any attempt to establish a causal nexus between the failure to return Mr. Jordan to the Hospital . . . and the March 1, 2019, shooting would require undue speculation.”

“These are kitchen sink allegations that are commonly levied in product liability cases but which on their face appear to lack the specific causal nexus explaining what exactly it was that the company did incorrectly that resulted in the crash,” Turner said.