Reckless Endangerment
Reckless Endangerment may be charged as either an A Misdemeanor or a D Felony, depending on the circumstances in New York. Penal Law 120.20, Reckless Endangerment in the 2nd Degree states that a person is guilty of reckless endangerment in the second degree when he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a substantial risk of serious physical injury to another person. This is an A Misdemeanor.
PL 120.25 reads, A person is guilty of reckless endangerment in the first degree when, under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to another person. Reckless endangerment in the first degree is a Class D felony.
The mental state needed for "reckless" is defined in Penal Law §15.05(3): "A person acts recklessly with respect to a result or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense when he is aware of and consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that such result will occur or that such circumstance exists. The risk must be of such nature and degree that disregard thereof constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the situation. A person who creates such a risk but is unaware thereof solely by reason of voluntary intoxication also act recklessly with respect thereto."
The phrase "serious physical injury" is defined in Penal Law §10.00(10) as "...physical injury which creates a substantial risk of death or serious and protracted disfigurement, protracted impairment of health or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ." The term "recklessly" is defined in subdivision 3 of section 15.05 of the Penal Law, and when read in conjunction with section 120.25, the latter section cannot be construed as being so vague and indefinite as to be deemed unconstitutional. The standards laid down by the statute are clear in their meaning and are capable of reasonable application to varying fact patterns. (People v. Klose, 18 NY 2d 141).