Also known as: GBI
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An injury that creates a substantial risk of death or causes serious and protracted impairment, disfigurement, or extreme pain. A deliberate intent to cause such injury supplies implied malice for common-law murder.
At an after-hours gathering Marcus grabbed a heavy steel server rack rail and swung it repeatedly at Lina's torso and head. Lina suffered broken bones and traumatic brain injury that placed her life in immediate danger. Marcus's choice of weapon and repeated targeting of vital areas showed he intended to inflict great bodily injury.
Goetz drew a handgun and fired at four youths he believed were about to rob him on a subway car. One victim suffered a serious chest wound requiring emergency surgery and extended hospitalization. The court examined whether Goetz reasonably feared great bodily injury when assessing his self-defense claim.
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Ewing was convicted of felony grand theft after stealing three golf clubs from a pro shop. Because his prior convictions included robbery and burglary that involved great bodily injury, California courts applied the three-strikes law and imposed a twenty-five-years-to-life sentence. Ewing argued the sentence was grossly disproportionate given the minor nature of the current offense.
Williams and the complainant gave conflicting accounts of events inside a hotel room. The complainant testified she submitted to intercourse only because she feared great bodily injury if she resisted. The jury had to decide whether her belief was reasonable and whether the defendant had intended to cause such injury.
Keeler kicked his pregnant wife in the abdomen during an argument, causing the fetus to suffer fatal injuries. The prosecution charged Keeler with murder of the fetus, alleging he acted with intent to inflict great bodily injury. The court considered whether the fetus qualified as a human being under the homicide statute.
Norman shot her husband in the back of the head while he slept after years of severe physical abuse. She claimed she reasonably believed he would soon inflict great bodily injury on her. The court evaluated whether the history of abuse supported a claim of imperfect self-defense or reduced culpability.
Yes. At common law a deliberate intent to inflict great bodily injury on another human being constitutes a form of implied malice that supports a murder conviction when the victim dies.
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Great bodily injury includes bodily injury that involves a substantial risk of death or causes serious and protracted impairment, disfigurement, or extreme pain.
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Yes. Such conduct is inherently likely to cause broken ribs, internal bleeding, or organ damage, allowing a jury to infer the required intent even if the defendant claims only an intent to scare or teach a lesson.
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Yes. The deliberate targeting of a vital area with a heavy object in a manner calculated to cause grave harm supplies the intent to inflict great bodily injury that constitutes implied malice for murder.
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…harshly those who have engaged in far more serious conduct. It imposes, for example, upon nonrecidivists guilty of arson causing great bodily injury a maximum sentence of nine years in prison, Cal. Penal Code Ann. § 451(a) (West 1999) (prison term of 5, 7, or 9 years for arson that causes great bodily injury); it imposes upon those…