Negligence is a crime right?

Question

Some of you may have seen in the news about the woman who left her 2 year old child in the car for 8 hours and the girl died. And how the woman was not charged with murder because the prosecutor decided that it was an accident, however the woman went to the car several times and could have seen the girl, and it was not the first time that both parents left the little girl in the car. What I want to know is, is negligence not a crime? How can you forget that your child is in the car? How can someone forget the child in the car more than once? Isn't negligence defined as neglecting a person/child to the point where it brings harm to said person/child? As I understand it is a crime, am I wrong?

This happened in Cincinnati, OH, and the mother WAS NOT charged with a crime.

Answer 1

Though it sounds like it might be, no, negligence is not a crime. It is a civil cause of action, and may be an element of a crime - but it, of itself, is not a crime (and, Cyanne, it's not even a stand-alone crime under the MPC).

In the case described in the question, it's conceivable that under some states' laws, the woman in question might be guilty of criminally negligent homicide. That's homicide with an overlay element of criminal negligence. But I don't know Ohio law, or enough about the facts of the case to know if that's an available charge in that state.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

I suggest you study the Model Penal Code. Negligence itself is not a crime at all. It is a Culpable Mental State. For Homicide, Negligence is only used with Manslaughter, and never with Murder. Murder is a "wilful & malicious act" traditionally. Therefore, it requires a Culpable Mental State of either Purposely (1st degree murder) or Knowingly (2nd degree murder). If you are Reckless or Negligent, then you fall into the Manslaughter category. (Some states call Reckless a 3rd degree murder, but that is VERY rare.)

The definition of Negligence is:
"A person acts negligently with respect to a material element of an offense when he should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that the actor's failure to perceive it, considering the nature and purpose of his conduct and the circumstances known to him, involves a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the actor's situation."
Model Penal Code. s2.02

Answer 4

texican, you're on the right track but you're using the wrong latin. stare decisis means "let the decision stand". it has to do with supreme court cases, not criminal ones.

gross negligence is indeed a crime, when you are someone's legal guardian. the latin texican is looking for is "mens rea" which means an evil mind. you have to have intent to do harm.

negligence, however, is a civil suit. that means someone can sue you for being negligent, but the government won't throw you in jail.

the definition of negligence is as follows:
a person 1) has a duty to another, 2) fails to meet that duty, and 3) the person's failure caused harm to the second person.

and the level required is a reasonable person.

so since the mother had a duty to her daughter, that a reasonable person would understand and prevent, she breached that duty, and it killed her daughter.

i wouldn't be surprised to see this in court.

Answer 5

"Gross" negligence is a crime. For a crime to happen, you have to establish "stari decisis" (hope I spelled it correctly), which means that the actor had to either exhibit malice or gross negligence.

So maybe she exhibited gross negligence, but if you know anything about mothers and how much the care for their small children, you would know that the private hell she is now in will punish her far more and for far longer than any law ever will.

Unless she's a crackhead with an apathetic attitude, I'd say leave it as it is.

Answer 6

she or they should have been prosecuted for sure!!!! yes it is in deed a crime.