Reckless Homicide in Tennessee
The statutory definition of reckless homicide in Tennessee is incredibly simple, stating merely the following:
Reckless homicide is a reckless killing of another.
While the definition of reckless homicide surely makes sense, one must dig a little deeper, to the definition of reckless itself, in order to find out exactly what type of conduct constitutes a reckless homicide. The term "reckless," as discussed in a previous blog is defined as follows:
"Reckless" means that a person acts recklessly with respect to circumstances surrounding the conduct or the result of the conduct when the person is aware of, but consciously disregards 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 its disregard 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;
A reckless killing, then, is simply a killing in which the offender acts in such a way that it can be said that the offender disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk that his or her conduct would kill someone. From a practical standpoint, reckless homicide would likely be charged against someone who authorities believe has killed an individual but not under circumstances that would justify charging the offender with a more serious offense such as the more serious forms of vehicular homicide, which also involve reckless conduct
Reckless homicide is a Class D felony in Tennessee, meaning a defendant is looking at a maximum of twelve years of imprisonment if convicted, with most offenders looking at a likely range of two to four years if they are convicted and have minimal criminal histories. If you are an East Tennessean and are curious about your criminal charges, criminal history, or likely penalties, contact an East Tennessee criminal defense attorney to discuss your case.
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