Reckless Conduct

Reckless conduct is categorized as a crime against a person in Georgia, and it is generally treated as a misdemeanor, depending on the circumstances of your case. Keep reading to learn more about the offense of reckless conduct. 

Reckless Conduct in Georgia

Under O.C.G.A. § 16-5-60, reckless conduct occurs when a person causes bodily harm to or endangers the bodily safety of another person by consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk that their act or omission will cause harm or endanger the safety of the other person and the disregard constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would exercise in the situation.

What are the elements of reckless conduct?

The elements of an offense are the different factors that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt to secure a conviction on a particular charge. For the offense of reckless conduct, the State must prove the following: 

1. The person causes bodily harm or endangers the safety of another; and
2. The person consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that their act, or failure to act, will cause harm; or 
3. Endanger the safety of others; and 
4. The person’s disregard constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in the situation. 

For example, in Baker v. State, the Georgia Court of Appeals found that the evidence supported the Defendant's conviction for misdemeanor reckless endangerment. The Defendant left their nine-month-old and three-year-old children unsupervised on the upper floor of a two-story home near an unprotected downward flight of stairs. The Court noted that this was a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise and was in conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that endangered the children's safety.

Penalties

The offense of reckless conduct is punished as a misdemeanor. The consequences for a misdemeanor public indecency conviction could include a fine that cannot exceed $1,000.00 or imprisonment for no more than 12 months.

Reckless conduct and sexually transmitted diseases

A person can be charged with reckless conduct if they knowingly give someone a sexually transmitted disease. A person who is an HIV infected person who, after learning that they have HIV, does one of the following will be guilty of a felony:

1. Knowingly engages in sexual intercourse or performs or submits to any sexual act involving the sex organs of one person and the mouth or anus of another person, and the HIV infected person does not tell the other that they have HIV before engaging in a sexual act;
2. Knowingly allows another person to use a hypodermic needle, syringe, or both for the introduction of drugs or any other substance into or for the withdrawal of body fluids, and someone with H.I.V. previously used the syringe or needle; 
3. Offers or consents to have sexual intercourse with another person for money, and the HIV infected person does not tell the other person that they have HIV before engaging in a sexual act; 
4. Solicits another person to perform or submit to an act of sodomy for money and the HIV infected person does not tell the other person that they have HIV before engaging in sodomy; 
5. Donates blood, blood products, other body fluids, or any body organ or body part, and the HIV infected person does not tell the other person that they have HIV before donating.

The accused person can be punished by up to ten years in prison.