Also known as: extreme indifference to human life · manifesting extreme indifference · depraved-heart · depraved heart recklessness · MPC 210.2(1)(b)
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A standard of culpability in criminal homicide requiring recklessness that demonstrates a callous disregard for human life. The standard elevates an unintentional killing to murder rather than manslaughter because the risk created exceeds ordinary criminal negligence.
Yasmine ordered Roger alone onto a slippery deck at night in rough seas without a harness or partner. She then cut the lights and increased speed after he had complained about safety issues. Roger was swept overboard and drowned. The jury could find that Yasmine's deliberate choices created an obvious life-threatening risk she consciously disregarded, satisfying the extreme-indifference standard for murder.
Carla pushed Leo onto a narrow ledge outside the studio during a severe storm after he posted embarrassing footage. She ignored his protests about the danger. A gust knocked him off and he fell to his death. Her angry decision to place him in an obviously lethal position supports a finding of recklessness under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference.
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Captain Ruiz locked Lena in a storage compartment he knew would flood during a violent storm. He heard her pounding and yelling that water was entering yet refused to release her and walked away. The compartment flooded and she drowned. His deliberate refusal to act despite the known extreme risk of death meets the extreme-indifference threshold.
Enmund waited in the getaway car while his accomplices robbed a home and killed the occupants. He did not enter the house or use deadly force. The jury could not find that Enmund's conduct manifested the extreme indifference to human life needed for capital murder liability.
The Tison brothers helped their father and another inmate escape from prison by arming them and participating in a kidnapping and robbery. They stood by while the victims were shot. Their major participation combined with reckless indifference to human life satisfied the extreme-indifference standard.
Jackson accompanied older boys to rob a video store. He waited outside but knew one carried a gun. A confederate shot the clerk during the robbery. Because Jackson did not kill or intend to kill, his conduct could not be found to manifest extreme indifference supporting a life sentence.
Extreme indifference requires a conscious disregard of a very high risk of death that reflects a callous or depraved attitude toward human life. Ordinary recklessness or criminal negligence supports only involuntary manslaughter because the risk level and indifference are lower.
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Yes. The Model Penal Code presumption of extreme indifference arises from listed felonies, but the prosecution may still prove the mental state directly through other facts showing conscious disregard of a grave risk of death.
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No. The jury may reject the defendant's characterization and infer extreme indifference from objective circumstances such as the deliberate creation of an immediately life-threatening situation after becoming irritated by complaints.
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Major participation in the underlying felony combined with reckless indifference to human life can support murder liability and even the death penalty for adults, though juveniles require proof that they killed or intended to kill.
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…negligence"); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 507.020(1)(b), (2) (Supp. 1980) (defendant must "caus[e] the death of another person" under "circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life [and while] wantonly engag[ing] in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to another person"). It is an affirmative defense to capital felony murder in Arkansas if the "defendant did…