AACOG Basic Peace Officer Course (BPOC) Block 2 Practice Exam

Criminally negligent homicide hinges on criminal negligence: failing to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk that death could result from one’s conduct, and doing so in a way that grossly deviates from how a reasonable person would act in the situation. When that level of negligence causes someone’s death, the offense is committed. This is about a negligent mental state that leads to a fatal outcome, not an intentional act or a conscious disregard of risk (that would be recklessness) or an intentional killing. An accidental death with no such negligence isn’t the same offense. So the phrase that best matches the statutory idea is that a death is caused by criminal negligence. For example, a gross lack of care in a situation where a reasonable person would recognize a clear risk can meet this standard if it results in another’s death.