Criminally Negligent Homicide
Tennessee’s statute for criminally negligent homicide is perhaps the most circular definition contained in the Tennessee Code, defining criminally negligent homicide in the following manner:
(a) Criminally negligent conduct that results in death constitutes criminally negligent homicide.
Thus, this definition does not provide much help to someone who is trying to match a set of facts to the element of the crime since it simply says that criminal negligence that causes a death is criminally negligent homicide. Well, of course it is, but some deeper meaning must exist that allows this statute to be applied to a set of facts and to be the basis of homicide charges brought against individuals.
Fortunately, the definitions section that applies to the criminal code provides some guidance as to what constitutes criminally negligent conduct:
"Criminal negligence" refers to a person who acts with criminal negligence with respect to the circumstances surrounding that person's conduct or the result of that conduct when the person ought to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that an ordinary person would exercise under all the circumstances as viewed from the accused person's standpoint;
Basically, then, a person acts with criminal negligence if that person does not behave as a reasonable person would given the circumstances, knowing that such person’s behavior presents a substantial and unjustifiable risk to others. This definition could cover a wide variety of conduct, such as using explosives near a residence or starting a bonfire in a neighborhood that gets out of control. The key point to remember about this definition is that the person must be aware of the risk posed by his or her conduct and must behave in a way that a reasonable person would not.
Criminally negligent homicide is a Class E Felony in Tennessee, reflecting the fact that it is an unintentional form of homicide borne primarily out of carelessness. A first time offender convicted of this offense would be looking at approximately one to two years of imprisonment, which seems like a light sentence compared to other homicide offenses but is still a significant amount of time. Tennesseans living in Knox, Blount, Cocke, Sevier, Jefferson, Hamblen, Greene, Washington, Sullivan, or any other East Tennessee county should contact an experienced criminal defense attorney for assistance with any type of criminal charges.
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