Also known as: recklessly indifferent · reckless indifferance · depraved indifference
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A mental state in which a person consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk to human life or to the rights or interests of others. The disregard exceeds ordinary negligence or lesser recklessness and supports elevated civil or criminal consequences when it produces harm.
Omar chained multiple interior exit doors shut during a crowded campus party to control access. When a fire broke out, attendees could not reach safety and Lena died in the resulting panic. The prosecution charged Omar with homicide, alleging his conduct created an extreme and unjustifiable risk to human life that supported implied malice.
Jordan, the hotel manager, hosted late-night open-bar events on a rooftop deck despite knowing the low railing and absence of a lifeguard. An intoxicated guest fell to his death. The trier of fact considered whether Jordan's decision reflected reckless indifference to the rights of others sufficient to support punitive damages.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The trustee of a family trust repeatedly made investments that favored one beneficiary over the others and ignored repeated objections. When the trust suffered losses, the beneficiaries sued. The exculpatory clause in the trust instrument could not shield the trustee because the conduct showed reckless indifference to the beneficiaries' interests.
Lena, the dispatcher, knew Carlos had already worked sixteen hours and was nodding off yet ordered him to complete an overnight route. Carlos fell asleep at the wheel and struck a pedestrian who died. Prosecutors relied on Lena's conscious disregard of the obvious danger to establish implied malice for murder.
A telemarketer for Radiance Media told customers the product would produce dramatic results without any factual basis for the statements. When customers complained, the company defended by arguing it had not intended any particular meaning. Liability for fraud turned on whether the statements were made with reckless indifference as to how they would be understood.
Reckless indifference requires a higher degree of risk to human life than the criminal negligence or lesser recklessness that supports involuntary manslaughter. It is the mental state that elevates a killing to depraved-heart murder under common law.
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An exculpatory clause cannot relieve a trustee of liability for a breach committed with reckless indifference to the purposes of the trust or the interests of the beneficiaries. Such clauses are unenforceable to that extent under the Uniform Trust Code.
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Yes. Punitive damages may be awarded when the defendant's conduct is outrageous because of reckless indifference to the rights of others. The trier of fact may consider the character of the act, the harm caused or intended, and the defendant's wealth.
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Yes. A reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life constitutes implied malice, often described as acting with an abandoned and malignant heart. This form of malice supports a murder conviction even without intent to kill or to inflict great bodily injury.
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…to the settlor are generally held effective except as to breaches of trust ‘committed in bad faith or intentionally or with reckless indifference to the interest of the beneficiary.’ ” New England Trust Co. v. Paine , 317 Mass. 542, 550 (1945), S.C. , 320 Mass. 482, 485 (1946). See Dill v. Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Co. , 343…