depraved indifference
Heartless criminal negligence
Depraved indifference is a legal term describing extreme disregard for human life—not intending to kill, but acting with such reckless indifference to the risk that it rises to the level of criminality.
A drunk driver doing ninety through a school zone may not want to kill anyone, but demonstrates depraved indifference to the possibility.
The term appears most often in murder charges where no specific intent to kill can be proven: He was convicted of depraved indifference murder after firing blindly into the crowd.
- callousCruelly insensitive to others
- heartlessLacking pity or mercy
- reckless disregardConscious indifference to risk
- recklessCarelessly ignoring danger
- crueltyDeliberate harm-causing disposition
gross negligence · negligence · cold-blooded · wanton · malice · disregard · apathy · sociopathic · second degree murder · murder · manslaughter · criminal · moral turpitude · unconscionable · brutal · inhuman · human life · abandonment
depraved indifferencesanctity of life
Principle that existence is sacred
reverence for life · compassionate care · duty of care · benevolence · protective instinct
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