Also known as: great bodily harms · grievous bodily harm · GBH · serious bodily injury
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A level of physical injury that is significant or substantial as opposed to minor or moderate harm. The injury creates a substantial risk of death or causes serious permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.
Aidan locked Alfred in a conference room and struck him repeatedly in the head with a heavy stapler and closed-fist punches until Alfred lost consciousness. Alfred later died from a brain hemorrhage caused by the head trauma. The sustained blows to the head supplied the intent to inflict great bodily harm that established malice aforethought for common-law murder.
Melanie grabbed Elliott's laptop and fled. When Elliott pursued her, Melanie slammed a heavy metal door on his hand, crushing multiple bones and severing tendons. The resulting injuries constituted serious bodily injury that satisfied the aggravating element of robbery under the Model Penal Code.
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Bernice seized a metal gaff hook and jabbed it at Miguel, tearing his thigh after first shoving him against a rail and causing a severe concussion. The use of the gaff hook as an instrument likely to cause serious bodily injury permitted the factfinder to infer an intent to kill for purposes of implied malice.
After taking the laptop, Melanie pointed a realistic-looking replica pistol at Elliott and stated she would shoot him if he followed her. The threat purposely placed Elliott in fear of immediate serious bodily injury, satisfying an alternative aggravating element of robbery.
Walter injected an elderly patient with a large unauthorized dose of sedative to clear a path during a nighttime theft attempt. The injection created a substantial risk of respiratory arrest and death, constituting a threat of serious bodily injury that elevated the offense to first-degree rape under the Model Penal Code.
The prosecution charged a defendant with murder after he inflicted repeated head trauma that caused a brain hemorrhage. The state bore the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted with intent to inflict great bodily harm rather than in the heat of passion.
Great bodily harm requires significant or substantial injury that creates a substantial risk of death or causes serious permanent disfigurement or protracted impairment of bodily function. Ordinary bodily injury lacks this degree of severity. The distinction determines whether an intent to inflict such harm supplies implied malice for common-law murder.
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Yes. Repeated strikes to the head with a heavy stapler until the victim loses consciousness permit an inference of deliberate intent to cause serious injury. The choice of weapon and anatomical target support a finding of implied malice even without an explicit plan to kill.
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Yes. Crushing multiple bones and severing tendons produces protracted loss or impairment of function that meets the definition of serious bodily injury. The injury occurred during flight after a theft and therefore satisfies the aggravating element under Model Penal Code robbery.
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The prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted with intent to inflict great bodily harm. Shifting that burden to the defendant violates due process because the mental state is an essential element of the offense rather than an affirmative defense.
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…731 A. 2d, at 498. In the dissent's view, the facts increasing sentences in both Almendarez-Torres (recidivism) and Jones (serious bodily injury) were quite distinct from New Jersey's required finding of purpose here; the latter finding turns directly on the conduct of the defendant during the crime and defines a level of…