Depraved-heart murder — the most serious charge leveled against a Baltimore police officer for the death of Freddie Gray — allows prosecutors to charge a person with murder without having to prove that he intended to kill.
In an ordinary murder case, prosecutors have to prove not only that a person was killed, but that the person charged with the crime intended for someone to die. In a depraved-heart murder case, prosecutors must prove instead that the suspect knowingly did something that was likely to kill, and that he showed "extreme indifference" to the possible harm.
Maryland prosecutors have used depraved-heart murder charges against a man who participated in a gun battle between two gangs in which a 15-year-old bystander was killed. And they used it to charge a woman who shot her lover in the leg during an argument. The classic example of depraved-heart murder, Maryland's courts have said, is "shooting of a rifle into a passing passenger train with the result that a person on the train is slain."
In other words, Maryland's Court of Appeals said in 1997, the law prohibits "the deliberate perpetration of a knowingly dangerous act with reckless and wanton unconcern and indifference as to whether anyone is harmed or not."
In Maryland, depraved-heart murder is a type of second-degree murder. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
Baltimore police officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr. was charged with depraved-heart murder Friday in connection with Gray's death, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said.
Other states have similar laws.
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