Being negligent means that you have not exercised the required care for the protection of others while carrying out certain activities or performing certain actions. The result of your acting in a negligent way is that other people may suffer injuries or losses. The law allows for compensation for damages by the person who claims to have suffered these injuries or losses due to the negligent act.
What is criminal negligence?
When the injury or death of another individual happens due to negligence, it becomes criminal negligence. It tends to happen when the defendant has failed to understand how serious their actions are, thus triggering a massive violation of the standard of care that is expected in such a situation.
Criminal negligence is more serious than other types of negligence and thus is defined as a criminal matter. In order to get a conviction, what is needed is proof that the accused party is guilty of the death of the other person and that the defendant was intentionally unaware of the actions they were carrying out and how they had the potential to dramatically hurt others.
What are the most common acts of criminal negligence?
They are mainly the negligent endangerment of a child and criminally negligent homicide.
A child needs to be cared for and protected and have their basic needs met. Both parents or caretakers are responsible for these actions to be carried out. When they are not, it is assumed that the parent or caretaker in question lacked the physical, emotional or mental capacity to carry out the actions to make sure the child is cared for, rather than the purposeful abuse of the child.
In cases of criminally negligent homicide, a person dies because someone else was either inattentive, reckless, or simply careless. This means that the person accused of this crime did not mean to kill the alleged victim, but the death happened because of negligent actions on their part.
How are you supposed to act so as not to be negligent?
In today’s society, it is expected that you behave a certain way and have consideration towards other individuals. That is the case, for example, when you are in a car accident. In this instance, it is expected that you should stop and help the injured parties if possible, or at least stop and call for help if it’s needed. Not doing so may result in criminal charges, even more so, if someone dies because of your inaction.
If you work in construction or interior design, it is expected that you should use the right tools to build a wall or hang a painting. If not doing so results in the wall collapsing or the painting falling on someone’s head and killing them, you may be charged with a criminally negligent homicide.
How is criminal negligence prosecuted?
The prosecution will attempt to establish liability. To do so, the prosecution must prove that the defendant:
- Neglected a reasonable duty to prevent someone’s death
- Acted in such a way as to directly have caused the death
- Was aware that their actions created the risk
A conviction of criminal negligence carries serious penalties. Your criminal defense attorney will attempt to fight the charges by arguing either that the victim did not die as a result of your actions or that you did not create an unreasonable risk. Click here for more information.
