Does a defendant need to be present at all to be found to demonstrate reckless indifference to human life?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Clark, 203 Cal.Rptr.3d 407, 372 P.3d 811, 63 Cal.4th 522 (Cal. 2016):

At the same time, physical presence is not invariably a prerequisite to demonstrating reckless indifference to human life. Where, for example, a defendant instructs other members of a criminal gang carrying out carjackings at his behest to shoot any resisting victims, he need not be present when his subordinates carry out the instruction in order to be found to be recklessly indifferent to the lives of the victims. (See People v. Williams, supra, 61 Cal.4th at pp. 12811282, 192 Cal.Rptr.3d 266, 355 P.3d 444.)

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