GUILTY or NOT?

GUILTY or NOT? / Glossary

Legal glossary

depraved indifference

A mental state involving extreme recklessness — conscious disregard for a known, substantial risk that another person will die.

Cases that turn on it

The 2 real court cases in the library whose brief uses this term. Read the facts, then decide — the verdict stays in the game.

• Too Drunk to Care 1983 People v. Register — Depraved Indifference Murder
• The Last Ride to Canandaigua 1974 People v. Kibbe — Murder — Second Degree (Depraved Indifference)

Related category: Homicide

Murder, manslaughter, felony murder and criminal negligence causing death — the cases where the question is not only what happened, but what the accused meant. The newest Homicide cases in the library:

• Red-Light Ambush 1964 People v. La Voie — Murder
• The Promise to Feed 1992 Commonwealth v. Pestinikas — Third-Degree Murder (by Omission)
• The Owner Shot First 1965 People v. Washington — Felony Murder
• The Christmas Eve Shooting 1987 State v. Forrest — Murder — First Degree

All 33 Homicide cases →

See also: Elements of a crime

• mens rea
• actus reus
• strict liability
• per se
• felony murder rule
• constructive possession

← constructive possession · double jeopardy → · All 44 terms

A new real case every day. Read the brief, weigh both sides, commit to a verdict, then see what the court decided — and why.

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