Reckless Endangerment

Reckless endangerment in Pennsylvania is not quite assault, but it is somewhat close. An offender with this charge knowingly committed an act that could possibly hurt another person, but went ahead and did it anyway. As long as a prosecutor can prove that the defendant knew exactly what he or she was doing while they did it, then this charge can be attained. Also, when it comes to this kind of situation, no one actually has to end up injured because of the act. All that is required is that there was apparent danger to people and/or the public as it was happening.

An offender may not even mean to put anyone in danger, and may even have made sure that no one else was around when they knowingly committed the act that got them a charge of reckless endangerment in Pennsylvania. But, even so, all a victim has to do in this State is prove that they were immediately in fear because of the act. For example, if a person and their group decide to blast guns in the air for some sort of celebration, that would be labeled reckless endangerment, because the accused would know that if anyone was hit by those bullets they would be injured or even die.

Another example of reckless endangerment would be if a person knew that they had a sexually transmitted disease, but knowingly slept with a lot of people afterwards. If they had no idea they had the disease, then it would be hard to prove that they were not simply being naturally promiscuous. But, there have been cases where men and/or women had sort of a vendetta against society because of the disease they accrued (such as HIV) and decided that they would try to infect others purposefully on a “sex rampage”.

A reckless endangerment charge in Pennsylvania is a second degree misdemeanor, and someone found guilty of it could spend up to twenty-four months in jail because of it. Their criminal defense attorney would do all they can to prove to the court that the actions committed by the defendant were not done with knowledge that anyone could be hurt as a result. Depending on the situation, there may not even be any jail time handed out if the facts are presented in the right fashion. An accused person should always attain an aggressive lawyer if they get a charge that can easily go in either direction, such as this one.