The first illegal thing would be the act of making it in the lab, not the release, accidental or not.
Manslaughter need not have intent or motive. The actions or consequences that precipitate from powerful leaders of state who bio-engineer weapons (against the law) do not need murder-intent either.
I'm not sure that "making it in a lab" is illegal. Haven't many countries engaged in gain-of-function research? Is that illegal? Under what law?
Also "lab leak hypothesis" in no way necessitates "making it in a lab" or gain-of-function. It could be that the virus was being researched in a lab and it leaked.
And it's not only a question of intent. It's also about proximity. There are thousands and thousands of intermediate steps between carelessness leading to a lab leak and a global pandemic. My concern is that by calling it murder, you have no way to explain how driving a car isn't murder due to global deaths from pollution.
Okay, well accidentally killng people as a result of bioengineering is war crime, if not a crime Alameda County.
Yes, "lab leak" is exactly the phrasing the media uses to diminish the importance, to preclude the asking of more serious questions in light of other evidence. The term is too simple, it does not imply the worse, possibly criminal, involvement. But then, why was it a lab, and not hospital leak? Seems odd place to start for a virus that some guy caught at the fish market.
Manslaughter need not have intent or motive. The actions or consequences that precipitate from powerful leaders of state who bio-engineer weapons (against the law) do not need murder-intent either.