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Posted on December 12, 2024 in General
Arizona’s endangerment law ARS 13-1201, makes it a crime to put others at serious risk of death or physical injury. Violation of this law is punishable by jail time, fines, and other penalties.
As we will see, you can be accused of endangerment for several kinds of behaviors. This is partly because the crime of endangerment can be subject to discretionary judgment by an arresting police officer and prosecuting attorneys.
The AZ Defenders law firm represents individuals charged with endangerment. If you are facing an endangerment charge, then call us at (480) 456-6400 to schedule a free consultation with an experienced Arizona criminal defense attorney.
The official definition of endangerment is contained in Arizona statute ARS 13-1201:
ARS 13-1201: Endangerment; classification
A. A person commits endangerment by recklessly endangering another person with a substantial risk of imminent death or physical injury.
B. Endangerment involving a substantial risk of imminent death is a class 6 felony. In all other cases, it is a class 1 misdemeanor.
The crime of endangerment is sometimes referred to as “reckless endangerment,” but as the statutory definition makes plain, reckless behavior is a necessary element of endangerment. In other words, there is no distinction between “ordinary” and “reckless” endangerment, they are both the same crime under Arizona law.
Whether you face a charge of endangerment depends heavily on three defined words, and these definitions are not always easy to understand. We take a closer look at three of these definitions below.
Arizona criminal law contains the following official definition of what constitutes reckless behavior from ARS 13-105(10)(c):
“Recklessly” means, with respect to a result or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense, that a person is aware of and consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the result will occur or that the circumstance exists. The risk must be of such nature and degree that disregard of such risk constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the situation. A person who creates such a risk but who is unaware of such risk solely by reason of voluntary intoxication also acts recklessly with respect to such risk.
Within the range of what your state of mind must be, recklessness falls between criminal negligence and intentional or purposeful behavior.
Criminal negligence means that you were careless about the possibility that harm could occur; at this level, prosecutors will claim that if you did not know that you could harm someone through your actions, then you “should have known.”
Intentional behavior means that you acted on purpose: you meant for the consequences of your action to occur.
You can think of recklessness as an extreme form of negligence; sometimes, you might hear it described as “gross negligence.” One example would be drag racing on a city street. Another would be to discharge a firearm into the air inside city limits. In either case, you may not mean for harm to result, but in the opinion of an arresting officer or prosecuting attorney, the risk was so great and the probability of harm so obvious that there is no excuse for doing it.
Endangerment does not mean putting another person at risk of injury. The kind of possible injury must be severe. Here is how Arizona statute ARS 13-105(39) defines what a serious injury is:
“Serious physical injury” includes physical injury that creates a reasonable risk of death, or that causes serious and permanent disfigurement, serious impairment of health or loss or protracted impairment of the function of any bodily organ or limb.
A serious physical injury is one that can kill someone, result in serious long-term health consequences, or risks serious disfigurement. Gunshot wounds or broken bones that could result from a traffic collision are examples of serious physical injuries.
The Arizona endangerment statute makes plain the two levels of possible punishment for a conviction: a Class 1 Misdemeanor charge, or a Class 6 Felony, depending on whether the underlying act posed a substantial risk of imminent death.
The tables below outline the difference between misdemeanor and felony-level endangerment convictions.
| Penalty | Class 1 Misdemeanor | Class 6 Felony |
| Incarceration | Up to six months in jail | Up to two years in prison |
| Fines | Up to $2500 in fines Up to $4575 with surcharge | Up to $150,000 |
| Probation | Up to three years | Up to three years |
| Penalty | Class 1 Misdemeanor | Class 6 Felony |
| Incarceration | Same as for a Class 6 Felony | For one prior felony offense, up to 2.75 years in prison For two prior felony offenses, up to 5.75 years in prison |
| Fines | Same as for a Class 6 Felony | Up to $150,000 |
| Probation | Up to three years | Up to three years |
Additional consequences of a misdemeanor or felony-level conviction in Arizona can include:
Note that it is not necessary for anyone to actually be harmed by the endangerment behavior. All that is necessary is to recklessly put another person at substantial risk of imminent death or serious injury.
The main defenses against a charge of endangerment in Arizona attack the elements of the crime. The prosecuting attorney must prove each element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt, so whether your actions met the definitional elements we cover above can become very important in determining whether you can receive an acquittal.
Here are some examples of endangerment defenses a skilled criminal defense lawyer might use on your behalf:
If you are charged with Endangerment, you need a Phoenix criminal defense attorney who can aggressively and expertly defend your endangerment case.
With so many permutations, Endangerment is a charge unlike any other in Arizona and can carry serious consequences. Don’t face that charge on your own. Call the attorneys at AZ Defenders today at 480-456-6400 or contact us online for a free consultation.