Depraved-heart murder
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Depraved-heart murder, also known as depraved-indifference murder, is an American legal term for an action that demonstrates a "callous disregard for human life" and results in death. In most states, depraved heart killings constitute second-degree murder.[1]
If no death results, such acts would generally be defined as reckless endangerment (sometimes known as "Culpable Negligence") and possibly other crimes, such as assault.
Common law background
The common law punishes unintentional homicide as murder if the defendant commits an act of gross recklessness. A classic example of depraved-heart murder under the common law is in the case Commonwealth v. Malone, where the court affirmed the second-degree murder conviction of a teenager for a death arising from a game of Russian roulette.[2]
Under the Model Penal Code
Depraved-heart murder is recognized in the Model Penal Code § 210.2(1)(b).[3] The Model Penal Code considers unintentional killing to constitute murder when the conduct of the defendant manifests "extreme indifference to the value of human life".
International equivalents
Under the Criminal Code of Canada, murder can be broken down into 1st- and 2nd-degree. The latter type of murder is equivalent, in that country, to depraved-heart murder.
In England and Wales, murder is not classified into degrees, unlike in Canada, but sentences are more severe in cases where there are more aggravating than mitigating factors. A person who, at the time he or she committed murder, was 18 years of age or older, will receive a life sentence, with a minimum non-parole period of 15 years (under the 2003 Criminal Justice Act), unless at least 1 aggravating factor, as defined in the Criminal Justice Act that would warrant a longer non-parole period to be handed down. A 12-year minimum non-parole period applies if the same person was, at the time of the offence, under the age of 18. Murders classified in schedule 21 section 6 or 7, of the Criminal Justice Act, are thus equivalents, under English law, to depraved-heart murder.