What is proximate cause for criminal law purposes? what could negate proximate cause?

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Proximate cause focuses on whether the harm that occurred is a natural and probable consequence of the defendant’s conduct, not requiring the exact manner the defendant imagined. The key idea is foreseeability: if the result flows as a natural and probable outcome of the actions, liability attaches even if the precise way the harm happened wasn’t anticipated. This allows for diffusion through a chain of events as long as the outcome is a foreseeable consequence of the defendant’s conduct.

In terms of negating proximate cause, notice that a superseding or intervening factor can break the chain of causation, particularly when that factor is unforeseeable or sufficiently independent from the defendant’s act. But the defining test remains whether the actual result is a natural and probable consequence of the conduct, even if it occurs differently than expected.