RECKLESSLY RISKING WIDESPREAD INJURY OR DAMAGE (N.J.S.A. 2C:17-2c) model jury charge
Count
of the indictment charges the defendant with
recklessly creating a risk of widespread injury or damage in violation of a
statute which provides as follows:
A person who recklessly creates a risk of widespread
injury or damage commits a crime. . .even if no such injury or damage occurs.
In
order for the defendant to be found guilty of recklessly creating a risk of
widespread injury or damage, the State must prove the following elements beyond
a reasonable doubt:
(1) that the defendant created a risk of
widespread injury or damage; and
(2) that the defendant acted recklessly.
The
first element the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that the
defendant created a risk of widespread injury or damage. The term “widespread injury or damage” means
serious bodily injury to five or more people or damage to five or more
habitations or to a building which would normally have contained 25 or more
persons at the time of the offense.
“Serious bodily injury” means bodily injury which creates a substantial
risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement, or protracted
loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.
The
second element the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that the
defendant acted recklessly. A person
acts recklessly with respect to the nature of his/her conduct or a result thereof when he/she
consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk. The risk must be of such a nature and degree
that, considering the nature and purpose of the actor’s conduct and the circumstances known to him/her,
its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a
reasonable person would observe in the actor’s situation.[1]
You
must realize that recklessness is a state of mind which cannot be seen but can
only be determined by drawing inferences from one’s conduct, words or actions,
and from all of the surrounding circumstances.
It therefore is not necessary for the State to produce witnesses to testify that the defendant said he/she
knew or believed that he/she
was acting recklessly. His/Her
state of mind is to be determined by you after you examine his/her conduct and actions, all that was said or done at that
particular time and place, and all the surrounding circumstances.
If
the State has failed to prove any one or more of the elements as I have
described them to you beyond a reasonable doubt, you must find the defendant
not guilty of recklessly creating a risk of creating widespread injury or
damage. If the State has proven each
element beyond a reasonable doubt, you must find the defendant guilty of the
crime of recklessly causing widespread injury or damage.
[CHARGE
IF APPROPRIATE]
This
count of the indictment also alleges that [the risk of widespread injury or
damage resulted from the reckless handling or storage of hazardous materials]
and/or that [the handling or storage of hazardous materials violated any law,
rule or regulation intended to protect the public health and safety].[2] If you find that the State has proven each of
the elements I have previously described beyond a reasonable doubt, then you
must determine whether it has also proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that [the
risk of widespread injury or damage resulted from the reckless handling or
storage of hazardous materials] and/or that [the handling or storage of
hazardous materials violated any law, rule or regulation intended to protect
the public health and safety].