- depraved
- intent to kill - heat of passion
- intent to inflict grevious bodily harm
- reckless
- negligent
depraved heart... abandoned heart...
is "depravity" a mental state? this question has plagued the NYS courts for years.
NYPL 125.25 (2):
- under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, (?? -
is this circumstance element of actus reus or is this mens rea?)
- he recklessly (mens rea)
- engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to another person, (actus reus: conduct)
- and thereby causes the death of another person. (actus reus: result)
people v. register: D - while drunk - inexplicably shoots a friend
it's hard to prove recklessness when the act is very
removed from the result....
we can remove "while" drunk
see 15.05 = *can't say not reckless because you're drunk!*
but it is a defense to depraved indifference
people v. gomez: D drives at high rate of speed on a crowded sidewalk
jury picked murder
people v. france: D kills V while fleeing police in a stolen car at 4am
TOF found it to be reckless (manslaughter)
people v. sanchez: sudden point-blank shooting (claimed self-defense)
people v. suarez: D stabs girlfriend three times (claimed self-defense)
what's the defense? SD. which means that the defendant had intent.
in both of these cases, the result was murder-2 (depraved indifference).
why? most likely compromise...
"twin indictments": lawyers would plead both SD and depraved indifference
self-defense + depraved indifference = mutually exclusive!
currently, depraved indifference cannot be for one-on-one crimes, only for things where the defendant shows that his recklessness was aimed at a group or class but not at a specific person.
mental state.
one-on-one killings: (1) abandonment of a vulnerable victim to likely death under circumstances of "utter callousness to the victim's mortal plight"; or (2) brutal or prolonged course of conduct that "intensify or prolong a victim's suffering."
people v. feingold: D, attempting suicide, blew up the apt...
danger to the public: the court said that depraved indifference is a mental state. "utter disregard for the value of human life -- a willingness to act not because one intends harm, but because one simply doesn't care whether grievous harm results or not."
the one-on-one definition is recklessness, the danger to the public mental state is depraved heart murder even without intent to kill.
these come down to subjective judgment: is the person who fires in a crowded bar as bad as the guy who points a gun and says i want *you* to die....
unintentional killings: unjustified risk-taking....
state v. williams.
14 day period: if the burden is on the prosecution to show when the williams were negligent, the best gauge is the smell from gangrene. this happens about day 4-5. the doctor says that at day 7, the kid could not have been saved.
does the williams' inaction during days 7-14 have any impact on the death? NO (it's like oxendine)
the prosecutor has to find the omission in day 1-7 + mental state required.
negligence in this case: "not what a reasonable person would do in the current situation."
at what point is it criminal to make the wrong call about the child's symptoms?
the parents didn't take the child because they were afraid of being wrongfully accused of mistreatment of their child.
utilitarian argument.
what behavior can we deter? we don't need a utilitarian issue for deterring behavior that's not deterrable cause there's already enough incentives for parents to take care of their kids
this punishment can send a message to parents to err on the side of caution.
felony murder.
the unlimited rule: "one is guilty of murder if a death results from conduct during the commission or attempted commission of any felony."
in NYS, felony murder is murder - 2 (unintentional), along with depraved indifference
the mental state is the mental state of the felony.
the jury will decide.
1. dean simmons chases rich to steal his wallet. rich trips and dies. felony murder.
2. dean simmons is chasing rich down the street. rich trips and hits his head. he dies from the injury.
we would ask "was dean simmons reckless? did he have depraved intent?
3. dean simmons picks rich's pocket. rich is looking for his pocket, falls on the track and gets hit by a
train....
MPC doesn't really have felony murder because they think the rule is doctrinally consistent but not analytically valid.
utilitarian: we want to deter people from committing felonies. is there a better/more direct way of stopping felonies? increase the penalty for felonies in the first place. what's the real motive? encourage careful felonies...
retributive: you want to blame somebody for the person who got killed. you don't have a lot of sympathy for a felon when you have a dead innocent, so the retributive desire is very powerful.
next class: limitations on felony murder...
(a) inherently dangerous felony
(b) independent felonious purpose
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